Eamonn McCann

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Eamonn McCann (b. 1943 Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish journalist, author, and political activist.

Contents

[edit] Life

McCann was born and has lived most of his life in Derry. He was educated at St. Columb's College in the city.

As a young man he was one of the original organizers of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). His political contemporaries included Bernadette Devlin, for whom he served as an election agent. McCann was highly critical of various other noted Catholic politicians in Derry, such as John Hume. He personally witnessed and participated in many of the key events of the early part of the Troubles, including the Battle of the Bogside in August 1969 and Bloody Sunday in January 1972.

Later he worked as a journalist for the Sunday World newspaper and contributed to the original In Dublin magazine among others. He currently writes for the Belfast Telegraph and has for many years written a column for the Dublin-based Hot Press magazine.[1] He is a frequent commentator on the BBC, RTE and other media.

A Trotskyist and outspoken atheist, he is a prominent member of the Socialist Workers Party in Ireland, and in recent Northern Ireland elections has stood as a candidate for the Socialist Environmental Alliance.[2] He is also Chair of his local branch of the NUJ, and vice-chairman of Derry Trades Council.

As a political activist, McCann has lent his support and considerable oratorial skills to many causes, including campaigns in support of abortion rights, immigrants and gay marriage. His journalistic work reflects his profound hostility to religion.

McCann was the partner of Mary Holland, the late journalist for The Observer, and The Irish Times. He has a daughter from that relationship, Kitty, who is now a journalist for The Irish Times, and a son, Luke, who is also a journalist.[3] Fellow SWP member and academic Goretti Horgan has been his partner since the mid 1980s and they have an adult daughter, Matty.

In the 2002 film Bloody Sunday, McCann's character is played by the Irish actor Gerard Crossan.[4]

McCann was tried in Belfast in May/June 2008 for his actions as one of the Raytheon 9. All defendants were acquitted except for McCann, who was found guilty of the theft of 2 computer discs. For this he received a 12 month conditional discharge.[5]

McCann is also a supporter of Derry City F.C.[6]

[edit] Books

His books include:

  • War And An Irish Town (1973), an account of his upbringing in Derry and the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the region
  • War and Peace in Northern Ireland - a critique of the political situation in Northern Ireland, notable for its criticism of both nationalism and unionism
  • Dear God - The Price Of Religion In Ireland, a radical debunking of Christianity

He has also edited two books on Bloody Sunday:

  • Bloody Sunday: What Really Happened (1992)
  • The Bloody Sunday Inquiry: The Families Speak Out (2005).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ McCann Column in Hot Press.
  2. ^ Socialist Environmental Alliance Website.
  3. ^ Mary Holland Obituary in the Guardian, 9 June 2004; Mary Holland Obituary in the Independent, 10 June 2004.
  4. ^ IMDB entry for Bloody Sunday.
  5. ^ "Raytheon 6 cleared", Derry Journal, 11 June 2008 (accessed 2008-06-12)
  6. ^ Mahon, Eddie (1998). Derry City, Guildhall Press, p. 83.
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