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An Eye on Ireland: A Journey Through Social Change - New and Selected Journalism
'For those of us around from the beginning, this collection jolts like jump-leads to the complacent heart. For the many who were not, dive into these columns from an Ireland of not so long ago. It's an eye-opener.'
MIRIAM LORD
FOR FOUR DECADES, Justine McCarthy's fearless journalism and commentary has challenged stereotypes and held power to account as she, in her own words, 'grew up alongside my country'.
The book opens with an extended piece of new writing in which Justine describes her formative years and entering the male-dominated Irish newspaper culture in the 1980s, a time when a woman getting too many bylines could, and did, lead to a National Union of Journalists bar.
From Mary Robinson making history as Ireland's first female president to a present-day RTÉ in crisis, over thirty years of stories are collected here. In her long career, Justine broke child sexual abuse scandals and reported from the frontline of the Northern Ireland Troubles; she covered the major reforming referenda, documented political turmoil and charted the role of Ireland on the world stage. She followed the times the country let down its people, through its ailing health system, its legal system, the domination of the church, and its treatment of women.
An Eye on Ireland maps a transformative era in Irish life towards a more progressive and just society, and one woman's extraordinary career at the forefront of change.
MIRIAM LORD
FOR FOUR DECADES, Justine McCarthy's fearless journalism and commentary has challenged stereotypes and held power to account as she, in her own words, 'grew up alongside my country'.
The book opens with an extended piece of new writing in which Justine describes her formative years and entering the male-dominated Irish newspaper culture in the 1980s, a time when a woman getting too many bylines could, and did, lead to a National Union of Journalists bar.
From Mary Robinson making history as Ireland's first female president to a present-day RTÉ in crisis, over thirty years of stories are collected here. In her long career, Justine broke child sexual abuse scandals and reported from the frontline of the Northern Ireland Troubles; she covered the major reforming referenda, documented political turmoil and charted the role of Ireland on the world stage. She followed the times the country let down its people, through its ailing health system, its legal system, the domination of the church, and its treatment of women.
An Eye on Ireland maps a transformative era in Irish life towards a more progressive and just society, and one woman's extraordinary career at the forefront of change.
407 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 10, 2025
A wonderful collection of columns and articles that see Ireland from the very start of 1990 until the present day. Some made me sad, some made me angry, some I didn't fully understand because I lacked the context around the column, but overall I'm very happy I read this. McCarthy is thorough and articulate in her writing, and I appreciated the great variety of topics chosen.
4/5 because, to be quite honest, you can tell she's a journalist and these are newspaper columns. There's no high literature here.
4/5 because, to be quite honest, you can tell she's a journalist and these are newspaper columns. There's no high literature here.
April 5, 2026
I really feel this suite of articles demonstrates the madness and joy that is ireland well. It’s actually best enjoyed in a single sitting, where you get to really appreciate the craft and passion that goes into the stories. Some of the columns feel more like the opening of a novel than a newspaper article, and some of the text feels more like a battle cry for the oppressed. A lot of us remember what happened, but this book reminds us of how those most impacted felt - a feeling that is often lost to time but perfectly recaptured in these pages.
August 11, 2024
Some country!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews