Christopher Edward Ryder (9 May 1947 – 2 October 2020) was a journalist and author originally from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Chris Ryder was born in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

in 1947. He attended

St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School (St Mary's CBGS) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. History The origins of the school can be traced to St Mary's School which was established i ...

. He worked as a journalist for several newspapers including the

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

, 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 the

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

. He was targeted for murder by the IRA as a result of his reports on the group's racketeering in the ''Sunday Times''. Between 1994 and 1997 he was a member of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland. In 2011 he brought a case against the Policing Board to the Fair Employment Tribunal for its failure to interview him for membership of the board. The board settled out of court. He wrote books on the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

, the

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

and the Northern Ireland Prison Services. He died in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 2020.

Bibliography

* Ryder, C. (1989). The RUC: A Force Under Fire. London: Methuen. * Ryder, C. (1991). The Ulster Defence Regiment: An instrument of peace. London: Methuen. * Ryder, C. (2001). Drumcree: The Orange Order's Last Stand. London: Methuen. * Ryder, C. (2004). The Fateful Split: Catholics and The Royal Ulster Constabulary. London: Methuen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryder, Chris 1947 births 2020 deaths 20th-century writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland People educated at St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast Writers from Belfast