JOHN Powell, former Senior Steward of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, was laid to rest on Tuesday. He would have been 78 this month and had been in declining health for the past couple of years.

A veterinary surgeon, like his late father Jack, John Powell lived outside Nenagh in Co Tipperary.

A few days after he graduated from UCD in 1971 he suffered injuries which left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

However, he never allowed his condition to hold him back from living a full life.

He worked for the Department of Agriculture for many years, rising to a high level there, and he also held the top positions in the Irish Veterinary Association and Veterinary Council of Ireland. In 1993 he was honoured by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for his outstanding contribution to the profession.

Elected a member of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee in 1994, he served as Senior Steward from 2014 to 2016.

He was also a board member of Horse Racing Ireland where he “ruffled a few feathers”, according to his friend Brian Hanly who delivered the eulogy at his funeral service.

William Flood of Boardsmill Stud, also a former INHSC Senior Steward, said: “John was a lovely man and a rock of sense. Honourable, genuine and straight to the point, he would be immovable in his views if he felt it was the right course.

“He dedicated a lot of his time to racing administration and his incapacity did not take in the slightest from his ability to perform his various roles.”

He is survived by his wife Mary and brothers Charles and Richard.