Liz Allen (born 1969) is an Irish investigative journalist. She is a former crime correspondent of the '' Sunday Independent'' and author of two novels.

Early life and education

Born one of eight brothers and sisters in Cabra West,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, she developed a taste for writing at 14 by becoming a regular contributor to the letters pages of ''

The Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Eve ...

''. By 16 she had obtained a weekend job with the paper writing local footballers sports profiles. She studied law for a year at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

in Dublin before leaving to freelance for ''The Herald''.

Career

She and her publisher were prosecuted for offending against the Irish Official Secrets Act in 1995, after she used a police memo to write a story revealing that police had prior knowledge of Ireland's greatest bank robbery. Working at first for the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'', followed by the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

''; after the 1996 murder of colleague

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 ...

, Allen became crime correspondent at the '' Sunday Independent.'' One of her first stories for the paper was an interview with John Gilligan, suspected of the murder. After resigning from her position at the newspaper in 2000, Allen sued ''The Independent'', claiming

constructive dismissal In employment law, constructive dismissal occurs when an employee resigns due to the employer creating a hostile work environment. This often serves as a tactic for employers to avoid payment of statutory severance pay and benefits. In essence, ...

due to stress and anxiety. The Employment Tribunal found in Allen's favour, awarding her IR£70,500, the largest such award to that date. After appealing, the newspaper eventually settled out of court in October 2001. In 2003 Hodder and Staughton published her first novel, ''Last to Know,'' and in 2005 her second novel, ''The Setup''. In 2014 she founded the Glasthule Gallery in Dublin, which subsequently closed down in June 2018. Later that year she was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

with €3.7m in debts.

References

1969 births Living people Irish women novelists Irish women journalists Place of birth missing (living people) People from Dalkey {{Ireland-writer-stub