Anne Harris (journalist)

Anne Harris (born 25 August 1947) is the former editor of the Sunday Independent. Her daughter Constance Harris writes for the newspaper as a fashion writer. She is the former wife of Eoghan Harris who is an opinion columnist for the newspaper.[1]

In 1972, Harris wrote a controversial article defending the 1972 Aldershot Bombing, an article she later expressed regret for.[2] Harris also worked for the Irish Press, as well as the political magazine Hibernia and the fashion magazine Image.[3] Harris was originally a socialist and a feminist. In the 1980s she abandoned socialism in favour of the free market, but remained a feminist.[3] Harris also become known for her opposition to Irish nationalism and Irish republicanism, similar to her then-husband Eoghan Harris and Conor Cruise O'Brien, and this position was reflected in the Sunday Independent's coverage of Northern Ireland.[3] This caused some commentators to claim Harris was a "Southern Unionist".[3]

Harris lived with Sunday Independent editor Aengus Fanning until his death in 2012.[4]

On 5 February 2012, the Sunday Independent announced Anne Harris would succeed Fanning as the publication's editor.[5]

On 20 December 2014, Harris ended her tenure as the Sunday Independent's editor;[6] at her going-away party, the marketing department of Independent News and Media gave her a painting of the number "30%" to commemorate the fact Harris had raised the newspaper's circulation to 30% of the Irish market.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ O'Reilly, Emily; Veronica Guerin: the Life and Death of a Crime Reporter, Vintage, 1998. This book contains a critical discussion of Anne Harris's role in the Sunday Independent.
  2. ↑ A kiss for pluralism in the yacht club 13 May 2007
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Foley, Michael. "A Socialist who went to market" (Profile of Anne Harris), The Irish Times, 27 March 1997.
  4. ↑ "Sunday Independent editor Aengus Fanning dies". RTÉ News, 17 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Anne Harris is our New Editor" Sunday Independent, 5 February 2012, Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sunday Independent editor Anne Harris departs after final edition Irish Times, 21 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.