Martin O'Brien is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

journalist, newspaper columnist, broadcaster, media/communications consultant and speech writer. He specializes in religious affairs and is the Northern Correspondent of

The Irish Catholic ''The Irish Catholic'' is a 40-page Irish weekly newspaper providing news and commentary about the Catholic Church. The newspaper is privately owned by editor-in-chief Garry O’Sullivan, managed by a private limited company and independent of ...

newspaper. He covered the election of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

for

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

. He left the BBC on 31 March 2013, having been on the staff for 28 years, and has established his own business, Martin O'Brien Media, based in Belfast.

Personal life

O'Brien was born in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He is a graduate in Politics and Scholastic Philosophy from

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, and served on the university's Senate from 1982 to 2006. He was the recipient of

The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations is a membership-driven forum for the shared concerns of a wide range of organisations and individuals involved in North–South Irish affairs. The Association was founded in 1938 ...

Montgomery Medal in 1993 for his Queens University's Master's dissertation on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Irish policy. He is married with two daughters and two sons.

Career

O'Brien began his journalistic career as a reporter with the

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

. Before joining the BBC, he was Editor of ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a Compact (newspaper), 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 view ...

'' from 1982 to 1984. At his appointment, at the age of 27, he was believed to be the youngest daily newspaper editor in the UK or Ireland. He is Associate Producer and originator of "Our Man in the Vatican" the 2010 BBC (Northern Ireland) TV observational documentary trilogy depicting a year in the life of

Francis Campbell Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell (born 20 April 1970) is a British diplomat and academic. Since January 2020, he has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. From 2014 to 2020, he was the Vice-Chancellor of St Mary's Un ...

, then United Kingdom Ambassador to the Holy See - and its sequel "Our Man in the Vatican: The Papal Visit" which was broadcast shortly after the Pope's visit to Britain. It captured Ambassador Campbell's role in the planning and organisation of Benedict XVI's State visit to Britain. O'Brien worked as a producer in network development in

from 2011 until 2013. From 1996 to 2011 he produced

Sunday Sequence BBC Northern Ireland's Sunday morning speech radio programme ''Sunday Sequence'' has a magazine format and a focus on religion, ethics and current affairs. ''Sunday Sequence'' is one of BBC Radio Ulster's longest running programmes having been on ...

, BBC Radio Ulster's weekly religious affairs and ethics programme, winning four Andrew Cross Awards in religious affairs broadcasting. In March 2013 O'Brien covered the Conclave and the election of

for BBC Radio Ulster and broke the news of the election live on BBC Radio Ulster's

Evening Extra ''Evening Extra'' is the BBC's drive time news and current affairs radio programme in Northern Ireland. It is broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Sounds on weekday evenings, from 4pm to 6pm. It is presented by Richard Morg ...

programme as the white smoke bellowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, ahead of numerous other news outlets worldwide. In an article for BBC News On-Line he reported that the Irish Government will eventually re-open an Embassy to the Holy See. Previously he produced

Good Morning Ulster ''Good Morning Ulster'' is the flagship Northern Irish radio breakfast programme broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster. The main presenting team is Sarah Brett and Chris Buckler: this core team is augmented with Joel Taggart, Mark Devenport, Declan Harvey ...

and Sunday Newsbreak, winning a Radio Academy Sony Award. In May 2013 O'Brien was appointed Northern Correspondent of

, a Dublin-based weekly newspaper, a part-time post, and conducted the first ever media interview with an elderly Catholic priest who carries a bullet in his brain from a gun attack in 1974. In November 2015 in

he conducted the first wide-ranging interview with

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

since she retired as President of Ireland in 2011.''The Irish Catholic'' 12 November 2015. Since June 2015 O'Brien has contributed regularly as a columnist to ''

'' in Belfast and also writes occasionally for ''

The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant pop ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Martin Journalists from Northern Ireland Living people People from Enniskillen Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from County Fermanagh Belfast Telegraph people The Irish News people