Magill
| MAGILL | |
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| Type | monthly magazine |
| Format | magazine |
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| Owner(s) | |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Political position | originally left wing now liberal conservative |
| Headquarters | |
| Editor | Eamon Delaney |
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| Website | www.magill.ie |
Magill is an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. Magill was widely perceived as groundbreaking, specialising in in-depth investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann (who wrote its anonymous Wigmore column) and Gene Kerrigan. It was relaunched in 2004 after an earlier closure.
Contents |
[edit] The Berry diaries
It first achieved a nationwide profile when it published the diaries of Peter Berry, the former Secretary (administrative head) to the Department of Justice in which he alleged that former taoiseach Jack Lynch had been less than forthright publicly about the truth surrounding the 1970 Arms Crisis which brought down two ministers, including Charles Haughey.(See link below)
In the 1980s as Ireland underwent rapid political change it became the major Irish magazine covering politics.
[edit] Regular changes in editor
Browne later appointed a series of editors with he becoming managing editor. Its early editors included Fintan O'Toole, John Waters and Colm Tóibín. (Tóibín went on to achieve renown as a novelist.) However clashes of personalities with Browne led each editor in turn to quit the post as did one of its major writers Gene Kerrigan.
[edit] Ceased publication, then re-opened
Magill ceased publication for a period in the 1990s before returning in 1997 as a joint effort between Browne and Michael O' Doherty, publisher of VIP Magazine. Its editors in its second incarnation included John Ryan, Emily O'Reilly Kevin Rafter and Niall Stanage.
[edit] Closures and relaunches in November 2004 and 2009
Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, whose government had collapsed dramatically in January, was featured on the front cover.
The magazine was sold by Browne in the early 2000s.
The title was sold and was re-opened under a new editor (author and former diplomat) Eamon Delaney and deputy editor Andrew Lynch in November 2004. Whereas the earlier Magill was famously populist, often carrying photographs of politicians with accusatory banner headlines, the new monthly Magill publishes reviews, commentaries, analysis and contains book reviews and business reports as well as a broader range of articles than were found in the Browne's fortnightly version. The new magazine was more right-of-centre than earlier versions.
Having dropped to an officially bi-monthly (and increasingly erratic) publication schedule in 2008, the magazine once again ceased publication in mid-2009 due to a lack of advertising as a result of the recession. A relaunch and a more explicitly 'cultural' title has been announced for early 2010.
[edit] Contributors
Many staff and freelance writers from newspapers contribute to the magazine including the Sunday Independent's political commentator John Drennan, Irish Times contributor Jim Duffy (who ceased his column when he became an advisor to the Leader of the Opposition in 2007) and an Irish government special adviser writing under the pseudonym Sean Sexton. Other people who have contributed to the new Magill include Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton, former Labour deputy leader Liz McManus, former British Conservative Party minister Jonathan Aitken, right wing retired United States diplomat George Dempsey and BBC Foreign Affairs Editor John Simpson. The legendary Wigmore column from the magazine's past incarnations also features.
The present incarnation of Magill was designed by Cobalt Design to make use of commissioned artwork as an important tool of communication. Issues feature several of Ireland's most established editorial illustrators, with work by Jon Berkeley; David Rooney; Kevin McSherry; Fintan Taite and Joven Kerekes.
Its December 2005 edition carried an exclusive interview with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Magill hosts a Politician of the Year awards ceremony annually.
[edit] External links
- Official Web Site
- Dáil debate on the Magill revelations about the contents of Peter Berry's diary (25 November 1980)
