Mallie, Eamonn 1950-

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MALLIE, Eamonn 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born 1950, in Armagh, Northern Ireland; married; children: three. Education: Trinity College, Dublin, B.A. (with honors), 1974.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Belfast, Northern Ireland. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd., 47 Bedford Square, London WC18 3DP, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Journalist. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Northern Ireland, radio current-affairs producer, 1975; reporter, 1976-79, political correspondent, 1979—. Eamonn Mallie News Services, founder, 1990, and producer of Assembly in Focus and Global Gateway Headline News Internet broadcasts; Radio C4, political analyst in Northern Ireland; freelance broadcaster with Independent Radio News, Republic of Ireland, Agence France Presse, and to radio stations in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Latin America, and the United States. Consultant to BBC documentaries.

WRITINGS:

(With David McKittrick) The Fight for Peace: The Secret Story behind the Irish Peace Process, Heinemann (London, England), 1996, 2nd edition, Mandarin (London, England), 1997.

Tom Carr: An Appreciation, privately published, E. Mallie (Belfast, Northern Ireland), 1989.

(With David McKittrick) Endgame in Ireland (based on a television series), Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 2001.

Also author of The Provisional IRA.

SIDELIGHTS:

Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, journalist Eamonn Mallie reports on that region's political and social strife to news outlets throughout the English-speaking world, as well on a global scale, through his Internet news agency. Eamonn Mallie News Services. In addition to reporting on current events in Northern Ireland, Mallie has also authored several books that combine facts with more in-depth analysis, among them Endgame in Ireland and The Fight for Peace: The Secret Story behind the Irish Peace Process, both coauthored with fellow journalist David McKittrick.

In The Fight for Peace Mallie and McKittrick present what Times Literary Supplement contributor David Self dubbed a "lucid, even exciting, detective story" recounting the events leading up to the cease-fire declared in August of 1994 and subsequently rescinded in February of 1996—which rescission required the book's second edition. Recounting in detail the events leading up to the end of hostilities and including interviews with members of both the Irish and British civil service, police, and other key figures, the authors "focus on the changing perceptions of the republican movement …toward its traditional strategy of obtaining the goal of a united Ireland through physical force," explained M. L. R. Smith in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. Although the book was criticized for not questioning the basis for the establishment of the peace talks in the first place, Smith explained that The Fight for Peace succeeds in its purpose: to "concentrate on the mechanics of the peace process, [thereby] producing a successful narrative of events, rather than delving into the implications of the process itself." While Spectator contributor C. D. C. Armstrong objected to a text composed in what he termed "the breathless style of a mediocre thriller" where "clichés abound," Smith praised The Fight for Peace as a "work of immense value to the historical record" that "illustrates the pre-eminence of seasoned journalists when it comes to the study of the military and paramilitary dimensions" of the Irish "troubles." Noting that Mallie and McKittrick contribute "genuine revelations" to the historical record, International Affairs contributor Roger MacGinty praised The Fight for Peace as "a fast-paced and highly accessible narrative."

Based on a multi-part British television broadcast, 2001's Endgame in Ireland covers ground similar to The Fight for Peace in its focus on the peace talks undertaken in Ireland beginning in 1981. Drawing their information from interviews with high-level politicians, leaders of the Irish Republican Army, and terrorist groups loyal to Great Britain, as well as from numerous documents, Mallie and McKittrick bring readers up to date regarding the meetings, negotiations, and other efforts to end a centuries-long conflict between traditionally Catholic and Protestant factions. While noting that the book "gets off to an uncertain start" as the authors recount the 1984 bombing of a political conference in Brighton, England, an Economist contributor noted that Endgame in Ireland gains ground when the coauthors delve into the personalities on both sides of the peace-process table. Indeed, the reviewer noted, "Northern Ireland has, at least, been fortunate in its journalists" who, like Mallie and McKittrick, "strive, often in trying circumstances, to maintain the highest professional standards."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Economist, November 10, 2001, review of Endgame in Ireland.

International Affairs, January, 1997, Roger MacGinty, review of The Fight for Peace: The Inside Story of the Irish Peace Process, pp. 1984-1985.

Political Studies, December, 1998, M.L.R.Smith, review of The Fight for Peace, pp. 982-983.

Spectator, May 25, 1996, C. D. C. Armstrong, "Judge a Book by It's Title," p. 34.

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, October, 1998, M. L. R. Smith, "A Still-distant Prospect: Processing the Peace in Northern Ireland," pp. 363-367.

Times Educational Supplement, July 5, 1996, David Self, review of The Fight for Peace, p. 7.

Times Literary Supplement, July 26, 2002, Anthony McIntyre, "The Legal Fictions and the Awkward Questions," p. 25.