Martin O'Brien is a multi-award winning Irish journalist, author, media/communications consultant and speech writer. A former Editor of The Irish News , he is the co-author of "In Good Time" - A Memoir by Harold Good with Martin O'Brien, which was published by Red Stripe Press (Dublin) in October 2024. He specializes in religious affairs and was Northern correspondent of

The Irish Catholic ''The Irish Catholic'' is a 40-page Irish weekly newspaper providing news and commentary about the Catholic Church. The newspaper is privately owned by editor-in-chief Garry O’Sullivan, managed by a private limited company and independent of ...

until he started work on "In Good Time". He covered the election of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

for

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

. He left the BBC on 31 March 2013, having been on the staff for 28 years, and has established his own business, Martin O'Brien Media, based in Belfast.

Personal life

O'Brien was born in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

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 ...

. He is a graduate in Politics and Scholastic Philosophy from

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, and served on the university's Senate from 1982 to 2006. He was the recipient of

The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations is a membership-driven forum for the shared concerns of a wide range of organisations and individuals involved in North–South Irish affairs. The Association was founded in 1938 ...

Montgomery Medal in 1993 for his Queens University's Master's dissertation on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Irish policy. He is married with two daughters and two sons.

Career

O'Brien began his journalistic career as a reporter with 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 ...

. Before joining the BBC, he was Editor of ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a Compact (newspaper), compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest-selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewp ...

'' from 1982 to 1984. At his appointment, at the age of 27, he was believed to be the youngest daily newspaper editor in the UK or Ireland. He is Associate Producer and originator of "Our Man in the Vatican" the 2010 BBC (Northern Ireland) TV observational documentary trilogy depicting a year in the life of

Francis Campbell Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell (born 20 April 1970) is a British diplomat and academic. Since January 2020, he has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. From 2014 to 2020, he was the Vice-Chancellor of St Mary's U ...

, then United Kingdom Ambassador to the Holy See - and its sequel "Our Man in the Vatican: The Papal Visit" which was broadcast shortly after the Pope's visit to Britain. It captured Ambassador Campbell's role in the planning and organisation of Benedict XVI's State visit to Britain. O'Brien worked as a producer in network development in

from 2011 until 2013. From 1996 to 2011 he produced

Sunday Sequence BBC Northern Ireland's Sunday morning speech radio programme ''Sunday Sequence'' has a magazine format and a focus on religion, ethics and current affairs. ''Sunday Sequence'' is one of BBC Radio Ulster's longest running programmes having been on ...

, BBC Radio Ulster's weekly religious affairs and ethics programme, winning four Andrew Cross Awards in religious affairs broadcasting. In March 2013 O'Brien covered the Conclave and the election of

for BBC Radio Ulster and broke the news of the election live on BBC Radio Ulster's

Evening Extra ''Evening Extra'' is the BBC's drive time news and current affairs radio programme in Northern Ireland. It is broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Sounds on weekday evenings, from 5pm to 6pm. It is presented by Richard Morga ...

programme as the white smoke bellowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, ahead of numerous other news outlets worldwide. In an article for BBC News On-Line he reported that the Irish Government will eventually re-open an Embassy to the Holy See. Previously he produced

Good Morning Ulster ''Good Morning Ulster'' is the flagship Northern Irish radio breakfast news programme BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the ...

and Sunday Newsbreak, winning a Radio Academy Sony Award for best radio current affairs programme in the United Kingdom. In May 2013 O'Brien was appointed Northern Correspondent of

, a Dublin-based weekly newspaper, and conducted the first ever media interview with an elderly Catholic priest who carried a bullet in his brain from a gun attack in 1974. In November 2015 in

he conducted the first wide-ranging interview with

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, ...

since she retired as President of Ireland in 2011.''The Irish Catholic'' 12 November 2015. Since he retired from the BBC O'Brien has contributed occasional columns and features to ''

and

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 ed ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Martin Journalists from Northern Ireland Living people People from Enniskillen Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from County Fermanagh Belfast Telegraph people The Irish News people