Eamon Delaney Explained

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

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.[7]

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.[8] [9] 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".[10]

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.[11] [12] Irish journalist Thomas O'Dwyer describes Delaney's wit as "wicked" and his 2001 book An Accidental Diplomat as having been, "a runaway bestseller."[13] [14] 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] [15]

In 2009 Delaney published a book focusing on the life of his late father, the sculptor Edward Delaney entitled Breaking the Mould.[6] [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.

Books

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: McInerney. Sarah. Seanad abolitionists set up One House campaign. https://web.archive.org/web/20150518081055/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/ireland/article1308030.ece. dead. 18 May 2015. . London. 1 September 2013.
  2. News: Fay. Liam. Magazine rivals line up for fight. The Sunday Times . London. 22 August 2004. .
  3. News: 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. .
  4. News: Walker. Stephen. Martin McGuinness: Banquet attendance about reconciliation. 23 April 2015. BBC. 10 April 2014.
  5. News: Purdy. Martina. Work may need to be done on Stormont structures. 22 April 2015. BBC. 10 July 2014.
  6. News: Dwyer. Ciara. New Tone in the art of fatherhood. 22 April 2015. Irish Independent. 3 January 2010.
  7. News: Dwer. Ryle. An Irish honours system would be a one-way road to further corruption. 23 April 2015. Irish Examiner. 4 August 2007.
  8. News: Muir. P.L.. 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. 21 September 2002. .
  9. News: 50 Books to be Won. London Sunday Mirror. 9 March 2003. .
  10. Book: An Accidental Diplomat . 382.
  11. News: McManus. Luke. An Accidental Diplomat by Eamon Delaney (book review). 22 April 2015. . 12 July 2001.
  12. News: Dwyer. Ryle. An Irish honours system would be a one-way road to further corruption. 14 May 2015. Irish Examiner. 4 August 2007.
  13. News: O'Dwyer. Thomas. Barrels of anthrax, no laughs. 22 April 2015. Haaretz. 26 September 2002.
  14. News: Bestsellers. 22 April 2015. The Irish Times. 9 February 2013.
  15. News: Ambassadors are being told to revive Ireland's battered image abroad. 22 April 2015. Irish Independent. 7 March 2009.
  16. News: Enduring Irish sculpture. 22 April 2015. Village. 24 September 2014.
  17. News: Siggins. Lorna. Sculpture donated to international artist's home town. 22 April 2015. The Irish Times. 8 July 2013.
  18. News: Sheehan. Maeve. How Haughey was duped on medals for fake IRA hero. The Sunday Times . London. 21 July 2002. .
  19. News: Callahan. Helen. Intentional slips of the tongue. The Sunday Times . London . 1 July 2001. .
  20. News: King. Steven. Fudge makes Republicans greedy. The Belfast Telegraph. 1 July 2003. .
  21. News: Wharton. Nelson. The sad consequences of a piece of Irish skulduggery. . Belfast . 4 July 2003. .
  22. News: Burns. Burns. Irish diplomat leaks tale of gin and spies. The Sunday Times. 17 June 2001. .
  23. News: Bestseller. 11 May 2015. The Irish Times. 28 July 2001.
  24. News: Hegarty. Shane. Banking on history rewritten; Hillary Clinton's autobiography is the latest in a lucrative line of political memoirs.. The Irish Times. 3 May 2003. .
  25. News: Quinn. David. The 'trial' of Eamon Delaney. 11 May 2015. Iona Institute. 8 November 2011.
  26. News: Flanagan. Alan. Delaney's world of straight white men is far from reality. 11 May 2015. Irish Independent. 6 November 2011.
  27. News: Finnegan. Brian. Eamon Delaney's attack on gay people is full of all the oldest tricks. 11 May 2015. . 2 November 2011.
  28. News: Condou. Charlie. The Three of Us. 14 May 2015. The Guardian. 11 November 2011.
  29. News: Smyth . Ted . Playing for laughs at the expense of balance An Accidental Diplomat by Eamon Delaney . The Irish Times . 7 July 2001. .
  30. News: Kenny . Mary . Droll and indiscreet disclosures . . 21 July 2001. .
  31. News: Muiri . Pol O. . Eamon Delaney: An Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service 1987–1995 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924164103/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-81596592.html . dead . 24 September 2015 . . 22 December 2001.
  32. News: Kiberd . Declan . Sculpting a life from statues . . 2 January 2010.

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