Political advisor PJ Mara has died.

The 73 year old former political strategist passed away in Dublin after a long illness.

He served as Government Press Secretary from 1987 to 1992 and returned to serve as Fianna Fail's Director of Elections on three occasions in 1997, 2002 and 2007 - each time resulting in a Fianna Fáil victory. 

FF leader Micheal Martin said: "In a series of general elections as well as the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement PJ proved himself to be the most effective campaign director in Irish political history.  He brought immense humour, judgement and commitment to the role."

He described him as "a true original who it was an honour and a pleasure to know and to work with."

In a statement UNICEF Chairman Paul Connolly said "It was with great sadness that I learnt of the sad passing of PJ Mara who has been a board member of UNICEF Ireland for 9 years.

While PJ was best known for his work in the Political and Communications sphere, it was his deep personal commitment to the cause of children's rights that drew him to support UNICEFs work for children throughout the world."

Despite his longstanding loyalty to Fianna Fáil, Mara had friends across the political divide - but was immortalised in the radio satire series Scrap Saturday as a henchman for then-Taoiseach Charles Haughey.

Those who knew him said the radio portrayal was not a true reflection of Mara in real life - though the portrayal was the only 'insight' into his relationship with Haughey, as otherwise he was seen as a confident and assured operator in his dealings with the media.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this obituary for Today FM's National Lunchtime News: