Henry McDonald is a journalist and author. Formerly a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for '' The Guardian'' and '' Observer'', since 2021 he has been the political editor of ''The News Letter'', one of Northern Ireland's national daily newspapers, based in Belfast. McDonald has written extensively about the Troubles and related issues. He was born in the

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

Markets area of South Belfast and attended

St Malachy's College St Malachy's College, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the oldest Catholic diocesan college in Ulster. The college's alumni and students are known as Malachians. History The college, founded by Bishop William Crolly, opened on the feast of Sa ...

. McDonald was formerly involved in the Workers' Party of Ireland, a left-wing party that emerged from Sinn Féin in the early 1970s and was associated with the Official IRA. He travelled to the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(East Germany) with the youth wing of SFWP in the early 1980s. Much of his writing concerns paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, like the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seeks ...

(INLA). He has written a book on the INLA, ''INLA - Deadly Divisions'', which he co-authored with the now deceased Jack Holland. The book was first published in 1994 and has since been re-printed and updated. More recently, McDonald has written on

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 ...

paramilitary groups and has co-authored books on the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campai ...

(UVF) and UDA with

Jim Cusack Jim Cusack (2 November 1930 – 29 November 2019) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serv ...

. He also wrote a biography of Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader

David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was ...

, a personal biography ''Colours: Ireland - From Bombs to Boom'', and, in 2017, ''Martin McGuinness: A Life Remembered''. He was, for a period, a security correspondent for the BBC in Belfast. During the 1990s he was a staff reporter at Belfast newspaper ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewpoint, though it al ...

'', where he edited the youth pages. In 2017, he released his first novel, ''The Swinging Detective''. In September 2019, he released his second novel, ''Two Souls'', with Merrion Press.

Personal life

He briefly attended Edinburgh University before gaining a degree from University College Dublin. McDonald is a supporter of

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

and Everton. He has two daughters and a son from marriage. He also spent 12 years with author June Caldwell, living some of that time in Dublin where he taught journalism and feature writing at the Dublin Business School and the Irish Writers Centre.

Works

Non-fiction

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Fiction

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References

External links

The Guardian , Henry McDonald
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Henry BBC newsreaders and journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People educated at St Malachy's College Journalists from Belfast Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of University College Dublin The Guardian journalists The Observer people Novelists from Northern Ireland Biographers