Richard Oliver Sinnott (30 June 1947 – 3 January 2022) was an Irish academic, political commentator and broadcaster.

Career

Initially attracted to a life in the priesthood, Sinnott enrolled as a student at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 1968, graduating in 1971 with an honours degree in history and politics. He went on to acquire a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in politics under the tutelage of Brian Farrell. Sinnott spent two years from 1972 to 1974 at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, undergoing preparatory coursework which later led to a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

that was awarded in 1983. On his return from Washington, he initially held a research fellowship at the

Economic and Social Research Institute The Economic and Social Research Institute (Institiúid Taighde Eacnamaíochta agus Sóisialta in Irish) is an Irish research institute founded in 1960 to provide evidence-based research used to inform public policy debate and decision-making. ...

in Dublin. Appointed an assistant lecturer in politics at UCD in 1976, Sinnott was later promoted to full lecturer and went on to become an associate professor and eventually full professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He made regular appearances on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

as an election pundit and was elected a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

in 2012.

Personal life and death

Sinnott was born in

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

in June 1947. His father, also named Richard, was a pharmacist and his mother, Peggy, was a nurse. Sinnott married Margaret Murray in December 1971. He died after a long illness on 3 January 2022, at the age of 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinnott, Richard 1947 births 2022 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Georgetown University alumni People from Wexford, County Wexford