Journalist and author Henry McDonald dies in Belfast

57-year-old wrote extensively about the Northern Ireland conflict

Henry McDonald: died in Belfast aged 57.
Henry McDonald: died in Belfast aged 57.

The death has occurred of well-known journalist and author Henry McDonald.

The 57-year-old father of three children died in hospital in his native Belfast on Sunday. He had been suffering from illness.

Mr McDonald was political editor with the Northern Ireland daily newspaper the Newsletter since 2021. He was formerly Ireland correspondent for The Guardian and Observer newspapers for more than 20 years.

He also worked for a time as security correspondent with the BBC and as a staff reporter with The Irish News.

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Born in the Markets area of south Belfast, much of his writing concerned the conflict in Northern Ireland. He co-authored a book on the Irish National Liberation Army, INLA-Deadly Divisions, with the late Jack Holland. He was co-author, with fellow journalist Jim Cusack, of books on the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association

He was the author of a biography of former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble as well as a biography of former Sinn Féin deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness.

He wrote a personal biography in 2005, Colours: Ireland – From Bombs to Boom. He was also the author of two novels, The Swinging Detective, published in 2017 and Two Souls, published in 2019.

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan is the Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times