Irish president leads tributes to trailblazer journalist Nell McCafferty

The well known author and social commentator has died at the age of 80.

Journalist Nell McCafferty (PA) (PA Archive)

Ireland’s president has led tributes to renowned author, journalist and feminist activist Nell McCafferty, who has died at the age of 80.

The celebrated writer’s family said she died in the early hours of Wednesday at a nursing home in Co Donegal.

The former Irish Times journalist, originally from Londonderry, was a prominent voice on women’s rights issues across the island of Ireland and in 1970 co-founded the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement (IWLM).

Considered a journalistic trailblazer and fearless social commentator, McCafferty authored several books and also wrote for publications including the Sunday Tribune and Hot Press.

Campaigning for the legalisation of contraceptives in Ireland in the 1970s, she famously took part in an event known as the Contraceptive Train in 1971 when members of the IWLM travelled across the border to Belfast, bought a range of contraceptive products and took them to Dublin, where they staged a protest at the city’s Connolly station.

President of Ireland Michael D Higgins said McCafferty had “a unique gift in stirring people’s consciousness” and had a “fierce drive to tackle repression, poverty and authoritarianism”.

Mr Higgins said he and his wife Sabina were “privileged” to be friends with her and said she will be “deeply missed by us all”.

“Nell McCafferty was a pioneer in raising those searching questions which could be asked, but which had been buried, hidden or neglected,” Mr Higgins said.

“Indeed, this is one of the aspects which was most remarkable from the very beginning in her work.”

He added: “Nell had a unique gift in stirring people’s consciousness, and this made her advocacy formidable on behalf of those who had been excluded from society.

“A defining feature across Nell’s life was such a fierce drive to tackle repression, poverty and authoritarianism wherever she saw it.”

As one of the women who took the train in 1971, she set in train an unstoppable wave for equality and a changing of Ireland for the better. That change has not yet reached its conclusion but it would be nowhere if it wasn’t for warriors like Nell.

Taoiseach Simon Harris

Irish premier Simon Harris paid tribute to the journalist as a “fierce, fearless and fiery” campaigner who “suffered no fools”.

“If she was in the room or in the debate, you knew about it,” the Taoiseach said.

“Her passion and wrath was not scattergun – it had a laser-like focus on calling out inequality and injustice. She suffered no fools but had a kindness and warmth for many.

“Her wit and Derry turn of phrase made her impossible to ignore.

“As one of the women who took the train in 1971, she set in train an unstoppable wave for equality and a changing of Ireland for the better.

“That change has not yet reached its conclusion but it would be nowhere if it wasn’t for warriors like Nell.

“In an Ireland trying to emerge from the shadows and find who it was, Nell McCafferty was one of the people who knew exactly who she was and wasn’t afraid to enter every battle for gay and women’s rights. We all owe her a great debt for this.

“Nell McCafferty left Ireland a much better place than she found it and she played her part with spirit and style. May she rest in peace.”

Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill said McCafferty was a “trailblazer in every sense of the word”.

She added: “A proud feminist and a civil rights campaigner who used her voice to promote equality and fight injustices in our society.

“She eloquently spoke up for disadvantaged women through her work with the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, particularly highlighting the poverty and injustices women faced in the late 20th century across the island.

“Nell McCafferty was a towering figure in Irish journalism with great courage and honesty, and was an important figure during the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.

“A proud daughter of Derry, Nell’s wisdom, humour and humility will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her.

“I want to extend my deepest sympathies to her family and friends at this very difficult time.”

Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin said he was “deeply saddened” at McCafferty’s death.

“Nell was an exceptional journalist and campaigner – the voice of an era who helped to bring major advancements in civil rights and women’s rights,” the Tanaiste posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“She made an enormous contribution to public debate in Ireland.

“In addition to her brilliance as a writer, activist and feminist, Nell brought great warmth and humour to every engagement.

“She made a difference.

“Sympathies to her family, friends and former colleagues.”

She changed the way that all of us who came after her wrote journalism and did journalism, because she went straight to people

Press Ombudsman Susan McKay

Ireland’s Press Ombudsman, journalist Susan McKay, also paid tribute.

“She was an absolutely wonderful journalist, a really ground-breaking journalist,” Ms McKay told BBC Radio Ulster.

“She changed the way that all of us who came after her wrote journalism and did journalism, because she went straight to people.

“You know, if you look back at journalism before Nell, and indeed before some other brilliant woman of her generation, ordinary people were never asked for their opinion.

“They were written about by gents who thought that they knew how best to analyse society.

“Nell went straight into working-class places, she talked to people who had experienced real hardships and afflictions in their lives, and she brought their voices alive.

“She was tremendously brave and courageous and she wrote about all of the most important stories of her time.

“And it’s very, very sad that she has died, but she had been very ill for quite a number of years, and, you know, wasn’t really in a position to appreciate life to the same extent as she had been before.”

SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood described McCafferty as “a mould-breaker and establishment shaker”.

“She spoke truth to power like only a Derry woman could,” he said on X.

“An icon for so many people across Ireland.

“Nell will be sadly missed, but her activism will endure.”

Leader of the Irish Labour Party Ivana Bacik said she is “deeply saddened”.

She described McCafferty as a “wonderful, fearless and unique feminist icon”.

“It was an honour and a privilege to have known Nell, and to have had such fun with her over the years. Deep sympathies to all her family and friends,” she posted on X.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) described McCafferty as one of the “most renowned journalists” in Ireland.

She was a long time member of the NUJ and a former union activist.

Irish secretary Seamus Dooley said: “With the death of Nell McCafferty, a bright light has been extinguished.

“She was one of the most renowned journalists in the country as a reporter, columnist, author and broadcaster.

“The public recognised in her a deep commitment to social justice.

“The fact that she was so often referred to only by her first name is a reflection of her special place in Irish journalism and in the public consciousness.

Nell McCafferty could be hilariously funny, frequently controversial and delighted in being contrary. She was never afraid to challenge the consensus and took pleasure in afflicting the comfortable

Seamus Dooley, National Union of Journalists

“This stemmed from her unique qualities as a reporter and storyteller.

“Nell McCafferty could be hilariously funny, frequently controversial and delighted in being contrary.

“She was never afraid to challenge the consensus and took pleasure in afflicting the comfortable.

“Throughout her career, Nell blazed a trail for feminists and played a significant role in the development of the feminist movement in Ireland.

“Always provocative, Nell had the ability to trenchantly argue her case with unique style.”

McCafferty’s funeral will take place on Friday in her native Derry.

A requiem mass will be held at 12.30pm at St Columba’s Church, Long Tower in the city, followed by a private cremation in Co Cavan.