Emily O'Reilly is an author and former journalist and broadcaster who became

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's first female Ombudsman in 2003, succeeding Kevin Murphy. On 3 July 2013, she was voted European Ombudsman by the European Parliament. She was re-elected in 2014 and in 2019, in each case for a mandate of five more years. She was educated at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism.

Early life

O'Reilly is from Tullamore,

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

and her family moved to Dublin when she was 8 years old.

Journalism

She began her career as a journalist in the 1970s. She held senior positions with ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (irish language, Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. History Foundation The paper's first issue was published o ...

'' and the '' Sunday Tribune'', as well as serving as a political columnist at ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' and as the Political Editor of ''

The Sunday Business Post The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland. Founding to Irish financial crisi ...

''. In 1991 she made an extended appearance on the British television discussion programme '' After Dark'', alongside among others Patrick Cosgrave, J. P. Donleavy, David Norris and Francis Stuart. In 1998, she became the editor of '' Magill'' magazine. She resigned in September 1999 when the magazine's sister publication, ''In Dublin'', was banned by the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board for advertising brothels and prostitution services. O'Reilly was also a broadcaster on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

and Today FM. O'Reilly is the author of three books: ''Candidate: The Truth Behind the Presidential Campaign'' (1991), about

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

; ''Masterminds of the Right'' (1992) about

political Catholicism The Catholic Church and politics concerns the interplay of Catholicism with religious, and later secular, politics. The Catholic Church's views and teachings have evolved over its history and have at times been significant political influences ...

in Ireland; and a biography, ''

Veronica Guerin Veronica Guerin Turley (5 July 1959 – 26 June 1996) was an Irish investigative journalist focusing on organised crime in Ireland, who was murdered in a contract killing believed to have been ordered by a South Dublin-based drug cartel. Bor ...

'' (1998). In the course of her journalistic career, she won two awards: Journalist of the Year and Woman Journalist of the Year.

Irish Ombudsman and Information Commissioner

In April 2003, she was proposed as the Irish Ombudsman and Information Commissioner. On 1 June 2003, she received her

warrant of appointment A warrant of appointment is the official document presented by the president of Ireland to persons upon appointment to certain high offices of state, signed by the president and bearing the official seal of the president. Warrants are presented t ...

from the

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...

, at

Áras an Uachtaráin (; "Residence of the President"), formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the List of official residences, official residence and principal workplace of the President of Ireland. It is located off Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, ...

. She said of her job title, "I will be an ombudswoman but will have no difficulty in being referred to as either". In 2007, as Information Commissioner, she was appointed to the additional position of Commissioner for Environmental Information under the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations. She was appointed for a second term in 2009. In December 2013, she resigned from these positions and was succeeded by Peter Tyndall.

Transparency and accountability of Irish public bodies

In a speech delivered in Dublin on 20 June 2006 to the Institute of Public Administration, O'Reilly criticised "some service providers, both public and private" for retreating from dealing personally with the public through the use of call centres and the Internet. She mentioned the Irish

Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners (), commonly called Revenue, is the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters. Though Revenue can trace itself back to predecessors (with the Act of Union 1800 amalgamating ...

in this context, pointing out that a significant proportion of the clients of these bodies "do not have access to the web" and therefore the level of personal contact is inadequate as a consequence. She also believed that public access to information under the Freedom of Information Act had been "excessively curtailed", often in order to protect sectional interests, such as the performance of schools. She advised that the Act should be extended to include a number of public bodies previously exempted from the law, including the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

, the

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 2 ...

and the

National Asset Management Agency The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA; ) is a body created by the Government of Ireland in late 2009 in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble. NAMA functions as a '' bad bank'', acquiring ...

and that fees charged were a further inhibitor.

European Ombudsman

O'Reilly was appointed European Ombudsman by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

in 2013, and re-appointed in 2014 and 2019. O'Reilly's third and final term ended in 2024 when she was succeeded by Teresa Anjinho.

Bibliography

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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Emily Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin Irish magazine editors Irish non-fiction writers Irish women non-fiction writers Irish women journalists Magill people Nieman Fellows Ombudsmen in the European Union Ombudsmen in the Republic of Ireland RTÉ people Sunday Tribune people The Irish Press people The Irish Times people Business Post people Today FM presenters 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people 2003 in Ireland Irish women editors Irish women magazine editors Irish women radio presenters Place of birth missing (living people)