At a commemoration service ahead of Costello’s 125th birthday, [David] McCullagh paid tribute to the modest leader.

“If he had known that he would be described as extraordinary, he would have been astounded – and probably horrified!” McCullagh said. “Because one of the extraordinary things about Jack Costello was his modesty. He had a complete lack of ego, of self-importance, of self-regard.”

McCullagh added that these were traits “not particularly common among politicians”.