Eamon Delaney

Eamon Delaney (born 14 July 1962) is an Irish newspaper columnist,[1] author, editor,[2] novelist,[3] journalist[4] and former diplomat.[5][6][7] According to the Irish Independent, Delaney's best-selling memoir of life as an Irish diplomat "ruffled feathers" within the Irish diplomatic corps.[6]

Education and career

Delaney attended University College Dublin (UCD). He was Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society from 1985 to 1986. He served Ireland as a diplomat from 1987 until 1995.[8]

After leaving the diplomatic corps, he became a full-time author. His first novel, The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy was published in 1995, and republished in 2002.[9][10] The eponymous character of Mr O'Shaughnessy was, in the author's own words, "partly, but quite obviously, based on the career of the colourful Seán MacBride".[11]

His next book, an account of his eight years as a diplomat, An Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service 1987–1995 was widely discussed.[12][13] Irish journalist Thomas O'Dwyer describes Delaney's wit as "wicked" and his 2001 book An Accidental Diplomat as having been, "a runaway bestseller."[14][15] Delaney writes for the Irish Independent, and on an occasional basis for The Irish Times and other outlets.

In 2004 Delaney was named editor of the Dublin news and opinion magazine, Magill Magazine, a position that continued until its closure in 2009.[2][6]

In 2009 Delaney published a book focusing on the life of his late father, the sculptor Edward Delaney entitled Breaking the Mould.[7][16][17]

O'Shaughnessy hoax

In 1986, Delaney applied for a government pension to be granted to Cornelius O'Shaughnessy, fictional hero of Delaney's later novel The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy, on the basis of the character's participation in the 1921 Irish War of Independence. Singer Gavin Friday lent Delaney the name and service details of his own grandfather, an actual veteran of 1921, to serve as the fictional O'Shaughnessy's commanding officer in the application. Delaney cited sufficient plausible historic detail in the application which attracted the personal attention of Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Haughey asked Secretary of Defense Michael J. Noonan to review the case, and three months later the government sent Delaney the appropriate service medals and approved the pension. Delaney revealed the hoax before the pension was actually paid.[18]

Accidental Diplomat

According to The Times of London, Delaney's Accidental Diplomat, "lifted the lid on the internal workings of the Department of Foreign Affairs."[18][19][20][21] The book was serialised in The Sunday Times[22] which described Delaney as "spilling the diplomatic beans."[22]

According to the Irish Times,[23] Delaney's memoir was a "surprise bestseller."[24]

Columnist

In 2011, a Delaney column in the Sunday Independent in which he argued that the gay rights movement is "overreaching" in seeking the "right to marry, to adopt children, and to intimidate opponents into silence,"[25] touched off a media flap.[26][27] Those who criticised Delaney's column included actor Charlie Condou writing in The Guardian.[28]

Personal life

Delaney is married, with children.[citation needed]

Books

  • Delaney, Eamon (1995). The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-2002-3.
  • Delaney, Eamon (2001). The Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service, 1987-1995. New Island. ISBN 978-1-902602-39-4.[12][29][30][31]
  • Delaney, Eamon (2009). Breaking the Mould: A Story of Art and Ireland. New Island. ISBN 978-1-84840-056-6.[32]

See also

References

  1. ^ McInerney, Sarah (1 September 2013). "Seanad abolitionists set up One House campaign". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b Fay, Liam (22 August 2004). "Magazine rivals line up for fight". The Sunday Times. London. ProQuest 316650386.
  3. ^ "Mollycoddled reputation Novelist Eamon Delaney will not be celebrating Bloomsday. The much vaunted joys of Ulysses leave him seriously unmove". The Irish Times. 12 June 1999. ProQuest 310459569.
  4. ^ Walker, Stephen (10 April 2014). "Martin McGuinness: Banquet attendance about reconciliation". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  5. ^ Purdy, Martina (10 July 2014). "Work may need to be done on Stormont structures". BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "Ambassadors are being told to revive Ireland's battered image abroad". Irish Independent. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. ^ a b Dwyer, Ciara (3 January 2010). "New Tone in the art of fatherhood". Irish Independent. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  8. ^ Dwer, Ryle (4 August 2007). "An Irish honours system would be a one-way road to further corruption". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  9. ^ Muir, P.L. (21 September 2002). "Eamon Delaney takes a second bite at the literary cherry by re- issuing his first novel, The Casting of Mr O'Shaughnessy, a satire on Irish politics in general and its republican past in particular". The Irish Times. ProQuest 309513905.
  10. ^ "50 Books to be Won". London Sunday Mirror. 9 March 2003. ProQuest 339519276.
  11. ^ An Accidental Diplomat. p. 382.
  12. ^ a b McManus, Luke (12 July 2001). "An Accidental Diplomat by Eamon Delaney (book review)". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  13. ^ Dwyer, Ryle (4 August 2007). "An Irish honours system would be a one-way road to further corruption". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  14. ^ O'Dwyer, Thomas (26 September 2002). "Barrels of anthrax, no laughs". Haaretz. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  15. ^ "Bestsellers". The Irish Times. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Enduring Irish sculpture". Village. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  17. ^ Siggins, Lorna (8 July 2013). "Sculpture donated to international artist's home town". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  18. ^ a b Sheehan, Maeve (21 July 2002). "How Haughey was duped on medals for fake IRA hero". The Sunday Times. London. ProQuest 316847582.
  19. ^ Callahan, Helen (1 July 2001). "Intentional slips of the tongue". The Sunday Times. London. ProQuest 320820011.
  20. ^ King, Steven (1 July 2003). "Fudge makes Republicans greedy". The Belfast Telegraph. ProQuest 337124145.
  21. ^ Wharton, Nelson (4 July 2003). "The sad consequences of a piece of Irish skulduggery". The News Letter. Belfast. ProQuest 324785993.
  22. ^ a b Burns, Burns (17 June 2001). "Irish diplomat leaks tale of gin and spies". The Sunday Times. ProQuest 320800206.
  23. ^ "Bestseller". The Irish Times. 28 July 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  24. ^ Hegarty, Shane (3 May 2003). "Banking on history rewritten; Hillary Clinton's autobiography is the latest in a lucrative line of political memoirs". The Irish Times. ProQuest 309611471.
  25. ^ Quinn, David (8 November 2011). "The 'trial' of Eamon Delaney". Iona Institute. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  26. ^ Flanagan, Alan (6 November 2011). "Delaney's world of straight white men is far from reality". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  27. ^ Finnegan, Brian (2 November 2011). "Eamon Delaney's attack on gay people is full of all the oldest tricks". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  28. ^ Condou, Charlie (11 November 2011). "The Three of Us". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  29. ^ Smyth, Ted (7 July 2001). "Playing for laughs at the expense of balance An Accidental Diplomat by Eamon Delaney". The Irish Times. ProQuest 309385360.
  30. ^ Kenny, Mary (21 July 2001). "Droll and indiscreet disclosures". The Spectator. ProQuest 201170519.
  31. ^ Muiri, Pol O. (22 December 2001). "Eamon Delaney: An Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service 1987–1995". World of Hibernia. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  32. ^ Kiberd, Declan (2 January 2010). "Sculpting a life from statues". The Irish Times.