Brendan Donnelly, Director, The Federal Trust, has released the eulogy delivered on 13 October of Stephen Haseler and whom he describes as a mentor and intellectual force.

Brendan Donnelly spoke of Stephen as an intellectual force as well as a mentor and friend. This aspect of his life went well beyond his day job as a Professor of Politics. His intellectualism was not just something he practiced but something he lived and was eager to encourage others, from different backgrounds, different generations and different talents to share.

"A phrase I sometimes heard Stephen use, particularly about prominent American colleagues, was that of 'public intellectual.' Stephen might have regarded is as pretentious when applied to himself but I think it well captures Stephen’s desire and capacity to straddle both the world of academia and that of more direct political action," Donnelly writes.

"Politics for Stephen was the domain of moral choices, moral choices that needed to be made as consciously and transparently as possible and then pursued with good faith and coherence. He did not baulk in the slightest at the idea of a European superstate incorporating what he saw as being the best elements of the American dream, its egalitarianism, its optimism, its openness to new ideas and its republicanism. When I knew him, the most powerful motivating force of Stephen’s political interest was the European Union and its future development. I hope and he would certainly have hoped that all of us here today have the opportunity at some stage to raise a glass and think of him when we read in the marital columns of The Times that the divorce announced between the UK and the European Union will not now take place. If and when that happy day occurs, Stephen will certainly be very much in my thoughts and I hope he will be in yours as well."

Full text: Eulogy of Stephen Haseler