Seamus Martin (born 1942) is the retired international editor 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 is the brother and only sibling of

Diarmuid Martin Diarmuid Martin (born 8 April 1945) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland from 2004 to 2020. From 1976 to 2003 he held a variety of positions in the Roman Curia and in the diplomatic ser ...

the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

. He is a former member of board of the

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI; ) is a former broadcasting authority which regulated both public and commercial broadcasting sector in Ireland. It was established in 2009, effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Irel ...

the State regulatory body for broadcasting in the Republic of Ireland. Born in

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 ...

, he was educated at Gormanston College in

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

and the College of Commerce Rathmines (now part of the

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The insti ...

). He also studied economics at L'Ecole de la Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris. Martin has been one of Ireland's most versatile journalists, having been a leading sports commentator in his younger days in ''

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 ''

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 ...

'', sports editor of 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 ...

'' and a columnist in 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 ''Ev ...

''. Later he became Features Editor of ''The Irish Times'', a columnist in that newspaper and afterwards a foreign correspondent who covered the two most important stories of the late 20th century. As

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Correspondent of ''The Irish Times'', he covered the collapse of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

and the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. "What gave Martin's work its edge was his acute sense that what was occurring was no simple triumph of western values in an evil empire, but a complex difficult new phase in a nation's history. He brought to his analysis an Irishman's fatalistic sense that politics were both intensely personal and cruelly indifferent to the individual's fate. And he reported on what he saw with a keen awareness that of how the ending of socialism affected the daily lives of ordinary citizens, as emerging oligarchs seized immense wealth." As South Africa correspondent, he covered the rise of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

from

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

er to

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, the dissolution of the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

and the arrival of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

in South Africa. Later he became Editor of the electronic editions of ''The Irish Times'', winning several awards, including the Swiss IP Top award as best international news site in 1998. As an active Trades Unionist he has been a member of the London-based National Executive Council of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) of the Irish Council of the NUJ and "Father" of the Irish Times Chapel of the NUJ. His documentary series Death of an Empire on the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the New Russia won Gold at the 2012 "New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs" Awards. His novel ''Duggan's Destiny'' received favourable reviews in Ireland and the United States, notably from Kirkus Reviews. His memoir ''Good Times and Bad'' published by Mercier Press in 2008 has been a bestseller in Ireland and his TV documentaries ''Martin's Moscow'' and ''Time on your hands in Latvia'' have been widely shown on RTÉ television. In retirement, he lives in Ireland and spends some months of the year in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France where he maintains a small

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and a smaller

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

. He continues to work occasionally as a freelance from Russia and elsewhere for ''

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 ...

'' and the ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'' as well as for ''The Irish Times'', he was interviewed on

Russia Today RT, formerly Russia Today (), is a Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as pro ...

supporting the EU-sponsored report on the Russia-Georgia war in 2008. In March 2018, he wrote an opinion piece for ''The Irish Times'' concerning the

Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, also known as the Salisbury poisoning, was a botched assassination attempt to poison Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies in the cit ...

, in which the headline suggested it was unlikely that Vladimir Putin was responsible for the attack but the article itself did not.Unlikely that Vladimir Putin behind Skripal poisoning
Seamus Martin

References

*Duggan's Destiny Poolbeg Press 1997 *Good Times and Bad (From the Coombe to the Kremlin- a memoir) Mercier Press 2008

External links

The Irish Times Websitewww.IPtop.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Seamus 1942 births Living people Irish documentary filmmakers The Herald (Ireland) people Irish columnists Irish Examiner people Irish Independent people 21st-century Irish memoirists Irish newspaper editors 20th-century Irish novelists Irish sports journalists Writers from County Dublin RTÉ television presenters Sunday Tribune people The Irish Press people The Irish Times people Business Post people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Irish male novelists Broadcasters from County Dublin People educated at Gormanston College