John S. Horgan (born 26 October 1940) is a former Labour Party politician, professor of journalism at

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...

and, from 2007 to 2014. the first Press Ombudsman in Ireland.

Early life and family

Horgan is the grandson of John J. Horgan, a solicitor and politician associated with both the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...

and the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

. The son of doctors he was brought up in County Kerry, his mother Gwen (Jane) Richards was an English born Methodist whose father was also a doctor. He graduated in 1962 from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

.The Long View
The Irish Echo, October 2018. Horgan's Ph.D. thesis was supervised by Professor

John Joseph Lee John Joseph Lee (born 9 July 1942) (commonly known as J.J. Lee), is an Irish historian and former senator. He has held the chairs of Modern History in University College Cork and Professor of History and Glucksman Professor for Irish Studies an ...

and became the book ''Seán Lemass: The Enigmatic Patriot''. Horgan is married to Mary Jones, their daughter Jane Horgan-Jones is a

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council was ...

or for the Labour Party.

Political career

Horgan began his career in 1962 as a journalist on the ''

Evening Press The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', which h ...

''. He later worked as a staff journalist on the ''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...

'' and ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', where he wrote about religion and education. In 1969 Horgan was elected as a member of the 12th Seanad Éireann, representing the National University. He was re-elected in 1973, to the 13th Seanad. At the general election in 1977 he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a TD for Dublin County South. After boundary changes for the general election of 1981 he was not re-elected in the new constituency of Dublin South and he was also unsuccessful at the general election in February 1982. He did not stand again. After John O'Connell resigned as one of the two Labour Party

Members of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEPs) for

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Horgan was appointed to replace him on 21 October 1981. He served in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

only until March 1983, when he resigned to take up an academic post.

After politics

Horgan was appointed in 1983 as a lecturer in what was then the

National Institute for Higher Education A National Institute for Higher Education (NIHE) ( ga, Foras Náisiúnta um Ard-Oideachas) was a category of higher education institution established in Ireland to provide higher level technical education above the standard of the then establish ...

in Dublin. In 1989 it became

(DCU) and he was appointed Professor of Journalism, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. He was also a member of the Interim Radio Commission, the Commission on the Newspaper Industry and the Forum on Broadcasting.

Press Ombudsman

In August 2007 the newly formed Press Council of Ireland appointed Horgan as Ireland's first-ever Press Ombudsman. The Press Council began operations on 11 January 2008. Its Code of Practice sets out the standards expected from newspapers and periodicals published in Ireland, and members of the public can raise complaints about articles that directly affect or involve them, and that may breach the Code. The Ombudsman's role is to mediate and, if necessary, adjudicate on cases where a complainant has not reached agreement with a publisher. More complex cases may be referred to the full Press Council. The new system was launched partly to provide an alternatively to increasingly costly litigation and to head off the threat of a new privacy law. On 9 January 2008 the Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, announced that a proposed new privacy law would be postponed for two years to give the Press Ombudsman "an opportunity to establish himself and the credibility of his office". On 28 March 2014, Horgan announced that he would step down as Press Ombudsman on 1 September 2014.

Peter Feeney Peter Feeney was County Councillor and Mayor of County Galway, Ireland in 2008-09. Feeney won against the only other candidate, Seán Ó Tuairisg. Feeney had been a Fine Gael councillor for Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ire ...

succeeded Horgan in the post.

Published works

Books by Horgan include: * "Great Irish Reportage" (editor). Dublin: Penguin Ireland. * ''Broadcasting and Public Life: RTÉ News and Current Affairs 1926–1997''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2004. * ''Irish Media: A Critical History Since 1922'', London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 2001. * ''Noel Browne: Passionate Outsider'', Dublin:

Gill & Macmillan Gill is an independent publisher and distributor based in Dublin, Ireland. History In 1856, Michael Henry Gill, printer for Dublin University, purchased the publishing and bookselling business of James McGlashan, and the company was renamed McG ...

, 2000. * ''Seán Lemass: The Enigmatic Patriot'', Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1997. * ''Mary Robinson: An Independent Voice'', Dublin:

O'Brien Press The O'Brien Press is an Irish publisher of mainly children's fiction and adult non-fiction. History The O'Brien Press was founded in 1973, evolving out of a family-run printing and type-house. Its first publication came in November 1974 and n ...

, 1997. * ''Labour: The Price of Power'', Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1986. * ''Humanae Vitae and the Bishops: The Encyclical and the Statements of the National Hierarchies'', Shannon: Irish University Press, 1972. * ''The Church Among the People'', Ohio: Pflaum Press, 1969
OCLC 3135844
* ''The Last Revolution: The Destiny of Over- and Under-Developed Nations'', (translator) by

Louis-Joseph Lebret Louis-Joseph Lebret (1897–1966) was a French Dominican social scientist and philosopher and pioneer of development ethics, who sought to "put the economy at the service of man" and advanced the notion of the "human economy". Life Louis-Joseph Le ...

, Dublin: Gill & Son, 1965
OCLC 1430125

References

External links

*
Dublin City University – Staff Profile – Prof John Horgan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horgan, John 1940 births Living people Evening Press people Irish non-fiction writers Irish male non-fiction writers Labour Party (Ireland) MEPs Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 12th Seanad Members of the 21st Dáil MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1979–1984 The Irish Times people Members of the 13th Seanad Ombudsmen in the Republic of Ireland Members of Seanad Éireann for the National University of Ireland Labour Party (Ireland) senators People educated at St Gerard's School, Bray Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of University College Cork Academics of Dublin City University