Aengus Fanning (22 April 1942 – 17 January 2012) was an Irish journalist and editor of the '' Sunday Independent'' from 1984 until his death in 2012. Originally from

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, he was also a former editor of farming for the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

''. Fanning was listed at number 31 on a list of "most influential people" in Irish society compiled for ''

Village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

'' magazine.

Early life

Fanning was boss and friend to the deceased journalist

Veronica Guerin Veronica Guerin (5 July 1958 – 26 June 1996) was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered by drug lords. Born in Dublin, she was an athlete in school and later played on the Irish national teams for both football and basketball. After stud ...

. Fanning's family owned the Irish local newspaper ''The Midland Tribune''.Foley, Michael; "Making a "tabloid broadsheet" work", ''The Irish Times'', 21 March 1997, p. 6. Retrieved 20 October 2011. Fanning was a graduate of

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

(UCC).Kenny, Ivor; ''Talking to Ourselves: Conversations with editors of the Irish news media''. Galway, Kennys' Bookshop, 1994. (pp. 207-224). 090631240X He also had a keen interest in sport, having represented Kerry in

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

in his youth - cricket was also a passion of his. He also played the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, and was a jazz fan.

Career

Fanning took over editing the ''Sunday Independent'' in 1984 from Michael Hand. Under Fanning's leadership, the newspaper adopted what Irish newspaper historian John Horgan called a "new emphasis on pungent opinion columns, gossip and fashion" which resulted in the paper overtaking its main rival, ''

The Sunday Press ''The Sunday Press'' was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group following the defeat of his Fianna Fáil party in the 1948 Irish general election. Like its sister n ...

''. For a time, Fanning's deputy editor was journalist

Anne Harris Anne Harris may refer to: *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 Eogha ...

. In a 1993 interview with Ivor Kenny in the book ''Talking to Ourselves'', Fanning described himself as a

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic ...

who was opposed to both

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a uni ...

and

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

terrorism. Fanning also expressed a strong advocacy of the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

, arguing that the goal of a good newspaper is to be as commercially successful as possible:

"If three or four papers out of 15 are successful and the others are not, they might say they're not driven by the market, they have some higher vocation: to serve the public interest or some pompous stuff like that. That's how they feel good about themselves. Fair enough, if that's how they want to explain the world. It's a grand excuse for relative failure... I think we live or die by the market, it will always win through."

Fanning recruited a number of noted writers to contribute to the newspaper, including historians

Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...

and

Ronan Fanning Ronan Fanning (6 May 1941 18 January 2017) was an Irish historian. Biography The son of an Irish doctor and English Montessori teacher, Fanning was educated at St Michael's College, Dublin and C.B.C. Monkstown. He received his undergraduate d ...

, journalists

Shane Ross Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is a former Irish Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2 ...

and

Gene Kerrigan Gene Kerrigan is an Irish journalist and novelist who grew up in Cabra in Dublin. His works include political commentary on Ireland since the 1970s in such publications as '' Magill'' magazine and the '' Sunday Independent'' newspaper. He has als ...

, poet

Anthony Cronin Anthony Gerard Richard Cronin (28 December 1923 – 27 December 2016) was an Irish poetry, Irish poet, arts activist, biographer, commentator, critic, editor and barrister. Early life and family Cronin was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford on ...

and novelist

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

. However, his editorship was not without controversy; the columns published by

Eamon Dunphy Eamon Martin Dunphy (born 3 August 1945) is an Irish media personality, journalist, broadcaster, author, sports pundit and former professional association football, footballer. He grew up playing football for several youth teams including Stella ...

and

Terry Keane Terry Keane (1939 – 1 June 2008), born in Guildford, UK, was an Irish social columnist and fashion journalist. Life Born Ann Teresa O'Donnell in Guildford, Surrey, UK in 1939, Keane studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. She dropped out ...

drew criticism. Foley noted some Irish commentators criticised Fanning's ''Sunday Independent'', claiming the newspaper was publishing "a mix of sleaze and prurience". Fanning also defended the controversial Mary Ellen Synon, who called the Paralympics games 'perverse'. One of the more bizarre incidents occurred in 2001 when Fanning was involved in a fisticuffs with a colleague at the newspaper - operations editor Campbell Spray. Two of Fanning's three sons by his first wife, Mary – Dion and Evan – wrote for the ''Sunday Independent''. He died of cancer in January 2012, aged 69, and is survived by his second wife,

, also of the ''Sunday Independent''."Sunday Independent editor Aengus Fanning dies"
. ''RTÉ News'', 17 January 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanning, Aengus 1942 births 2012 deaths Alumni of University College Cork Irish Independent people Sunday Independent (Ireland) people People from Tralee