Private campaigner for public

The man behind yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling on the children’s referendum would like to stay that way — behind the scenes.

Intensely private, Mark McCrystal managed to spend half an hour fielding questions from Joe Duffy, who could normally get a life story out of a stone, without yielding any personal information.

What is known about the man whose name is now synonymous with a kick in the Government’s furiously clenched teeth is that he is aged 42, from Dublin but with northern roots, and single.