''Magill'' was an
Irish politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
and current affairs magazine founded by
Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish people, Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a night ...
and others in 1977. ''Magill'' specialised in investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as
Eamonn McCann
Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish political activist, former politician and journalist from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 to 2017. In ...
(who wrote its anonymous ''Wigmore'' column) and
Gene Kerrigan
Gene Kerrigan is an Irish journalist and novelist who grew up in Cabra in Dublin. His works include political commentary on Ireland since the 1970s in such publications as ''Magill'' magazine and the '' Sunday Independent'' newspaper. He has als ...
. It was relaunched in 2004 after an earlier closure before closing again in 2009.
Berry diaries
It first achieved a nationwide profile when it published the diaries of Peter Berry, the former Secretary (administrative head) to the
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
in which he alleged that former
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Jack Lynch
John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...
had been less than forthright publicly about the truth surrounding the 1970
Arms Crisis
The Arms Crisis was an Irish political scandal in 1970 in which Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney were dismissed as cabinet ministers for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle arms to the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland. At t ...
which brought down two ministers, including
Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...
.
In the 1980s as Ireland underwent rapid political change it became the major Irish magazine covering politics.
Changes in editor
Browne later appointed a series of editors with him becoming managing editor. Its early editors included
Fintan O'Toole
Fintan O'Toole (born 16 February 1958) is an Irish journalist, literary editor, and drama critic for ''The Irish Times'', for which he has written since 1988. He was drama critic for the ''New York Daily News'' from 1997 to 2001 and is Advisin ...
,
John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
and
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín ( , ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet.
His first novel, ''The South (novel), The South'', was published in 1990. ''The Blackwater Lightship'' was short ...
. (Tóibín went on to achieve renown as a novelist.) However clashes of personalities with Browne led each editor in turn to quit the post as did one of its major writers Gene Kerrigan.
Closures and relaunches
Magill ceased publication for a period in the 1990s before returning in 1997 as a joint effort between Browne and
Michael O' Doherty, publisher of ''
VIP Magazine''. Its editors in its second incarnation included
John Ryan,
Emily O'Reilly
Emily O'Reilly is an author and former journalist and broadcaster who became Ireland'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 ...
,
Kevin Rafter,
Eamon Delaney and
Niall Stanage
Niall Stanage (born 18 June 1974) is a Northern Irish journalist and associate editor of the American political newspaper '' The Hill''.
Biography
Stanage was born in 1974 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and attended Carryduff Primary School and ...
.
The magazine was sold by Browne in the early 2000s. It was acquired by Ian Hyland who had previously acquired ''
Business & Finance
''Business & Finance'' (sometimes ''B&F'') is an Irish business magazine published by Catalyst Media, that was established by Hugh McLaughlin in September 1964. It provides news, comment, and analysis on Irish and international news stories. ...
''.
The title was re-opened under a new editor (author and former
diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
)
Eamon Delaney and deputy editor Andrew Lynch in November 2004. Whereas the earlier ''Magill'' was famously populist and leaned to the left, often carrying photographs of politicians with accusatory banner headlines, the new ''Magill'' published reviews, commentaries, analysis, book reviews and business reports as well as a broader range of articles than were found in Browne's fortnightly version. The new magazine was more right-of-centre than earlier versions.
The re-launch was viewed with particular relish in the world of political journalism because Magill was seen as the centrist answer to ''
The Village'', edited by
Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish people, Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a night ...
, the one-time editor of Magill.
Upon becoming editor, Delaney told ''
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 ...
'' that, "I respect the hard Irish left but it's the woolly liberal consensus of
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
and
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, ...
I have a problem with... They have this raft of outdated orthodoxies: the Americans are bad, the Israelis are evil,
travellers are our greatest problem. One in three Irish people is supposed to be living in poverty and Vincent will, no doubt, interview them all."
[
Having dropped to an officially bi-monthly (and increasingly erratic) publication schedule in 2008, the magazine once again ceased publication in mid-2009 due to a lack of advertising as a result of the recession.
]
Browne regains control in 2017
In April 2017 it was announced that Vincent Browne had regained control of the Magill title, after purchasing it from Business and Finance publisher Ian Hyland. The plan is to have a relaunched print edition initially of one-off specials, as well as online content.
Contributors
Many staff and freelance writers from newspapers contribute to the magazine including the '' Sunday Independents political commentator John Drennan
John Drennan (born Sean Armstrong) is an Irish political journalist and writer. He is a columnist for the '' Sunday Independent'', an occasional TV panelist and a frequent contributor to radio shows. From County Laois he was educated at St. Pat ...
, ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'' contributor Jim Duffy (who ceased his column when he became an advisor to the leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
in 2007) and an Irish government special adviser writing under the pseudonym ''Sean Sexton''. Other people who have contributed to the new ''Magill'' include Fine Gael
Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...
deputy leader Richard Bruton
Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North from 2016 to 2024, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He was the Cha ...
, former Labour deputy leader Liz McManus, former British Conservative Party
The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...
minister Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and wa ...
, right-wing
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
retired United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
diplomat George Dempsey and BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Foreign Affairs Editor John Simpson. Michael O'Sullivan, Michael O'Sullivan (biographer) Michael O'Sullivan may refer to:
Individual
*Michael O'Sullivan (actor) (1934–1971), American actor
*Michael O'Sullivan (cricketer) (born 1973), former English cricketer
*Michael O'Sullivan (footballer) (born 1962), former Australian rules footba ...
biographer of Mary Robinson and Seán Lemass was Literary Editor when the magazine was edited by John Ryan and Emily O'Reilly.
The last incarnation of ''Magill'' was designed by Cobalt Design to make use of commissioned artwork as an important tool of communication. Issues feature several of Ireland's most established editorial illustrators, with work by Jon Berkeley
Jon Berkeley (born 1962) is a Dublin-born illustrator and children's author.
Background
He travelled widely in the 1980s, working freelance in London, Sydney and Hong Kong before returning to Dublin in 1992, where he formed a loose coalitio ...
; David Rooney; Kevin McSherry; Fintan Taite and Joven Kerekes.
Its December 2005 edition carried an interview with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
''Magill'' archive
from Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish people, Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a night ...
's ''Politico.ie'' website
Defunct magazines published in Ireland
Defunct political magazines
Monthly magazines published in Ireland
Political magazines published in Ireland
Magazines established in 1977
Magazines established in 1997
Magazines established in 2004
Magazines disestablished in 2009
Magazines published in the Republic of Ireland