Michael Viney MRIA (born 1933) is an artist, author, broadcaster, and journalist, based in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Best known for his writings on nature, he has contributed to ''

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 ...

'' since 1962.

Career

In the 1960s he wrote for ''The Irish Times'' about social issues such as the fate of people in institutional care. His articles were later incorporated into the

Ryan Report The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) was one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. Commencing its work in 1999, it was commonly known ...

institutional abuse Institutional abuse is the maltreatment of a person (often children or older adults) from a system of power. This can range from acts similar to home-based child abuse, such as neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and hunger, to the effects of assist ...

of children in Ireland. He began working at RTÉ Television as presenter in programmes aimed at social, consumer affairs and with items on household and family matters. He took training there as a TV director and became a production editor in 1976. He left Dublin in 1977 with his wife, Ethna, and daughter for a simpler life in County Mayo in their Thallabawn holiday home on one acre.

Nature writing

Viney has published "Another Life", a weekly column in ''The Irish Times'', since 1977 when he settled in rural

Murrisk Murrisk () is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, on the south side of Clew Bay, about 8 km west of Westport and 4 km east of Lecanvey. Murrisk lies at the foot of Croagh Patrick and is the starting-point for pilgrims who visit the m ...

, near the coast south of

Louisburgh Louisburgh () is a small town on the southwest corner of Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It is home to Sancta Maria College and the Gráinne O'Malley Interpretive Centre. Transport Road access Louisburgh is located on the R335 regional ro ...

. (via

HighBeam Research HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was headquar ...

, subscription required) Over the years the focus of the column has shifted from sustainability to natural history.

Honours

In 1966, Viney won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for his

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

documentary, ''Too Many Children''. He is a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, an association of people who have achieved distinction in the arts. He was elected to the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

in May 2017.

Bibliography

Viney's books include: * ''Ireland: A Smithsonian Natural History''. 2003Paul Clement
"Our precious stake in a fragile world"
, ''Fortnight magazine'', January 2004 * ''Ireland's Ocean'' (co-written with Ethna Viney)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viney, Michael Irish columnists Irish nature writers Irish environmentalists Jacob's Award winners Aosdána members Members of the Royal Irish Academy Sustainability advocates The Irish Times people People from Brighton People from County Mayo Living people 1933 births