Eamon Delaney

Eamon Delaney (born 14 July 1962) is an Irish newspaper columnist, author, editor, novelist, journalist and former diplomat. Delaney's bestselling memoir of life as an Irish diplomat produced a series of public scandals about the conduct of Ireland's foreign affairs.

Delaney attended University College Dublin (UCD). He was Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society from 1985 to 1986. He served Ireland as a diplomat from 1987 until 1995. after leaving the diplomatic corps, he became a full-time author; his first novel, The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy was published in 1985, and republished in 2002. His next book, an account of his eight years as a diplomat, An Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service 1987–1995 was widely discussed. Irish journalist Thomas O'Dwyer describes Delaney's wit as "wicked" and his 2001 book An Accidental Diplomat as having been, "a runaway bestseller." Delaney writes for the Irish Independent, and on an occasional basis for The Irish Times and other outlets.

In 2004 Delaney was named editor of the Dublin news and opinion magazine, Magill Magazine, a position that continued until its closure in 2009.

In 2009 Delaney published a book focusing on the life of his late father, the sculptor Edward Delaney entitled Breaking the Mould.

O'Shaughnessy hoax

In 1986, Delaney applied for a government pension to be granted to Cornelius O'Shaughnessy, fictional hero of Delaney's novel The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy, on the basis of the character's participation in the 1921 Irish War of Independence. Singer Gavin Friday lent Delaney the name and service details of his own grandfather, an actual veteran of 1921, to serve as the fictional O'Shaughnessy's commanding officer in the application. Delaney cited sufficient plausible historic detail in the application attracted the personal attention of Prime Minister Charles Haughey. Haughey asked Secretary of Defense Michael J Noonan to review the case, and three months later the government sent Delaney the appropriate service medals and approved the pension. Delaney revealed the hoax before the pension was actually paid.

Accidental Diplomat

According to The Times of London, Delaney's Accidental Diplomat, "lifted the lid on the internal workings of the Department of Foreign Affairs." The book was serialized in The Sunday Times which described Delaney as "spilling the diplomatic beans."

According to the Irish Times, Delaney's memoir was a "surprise bestseller."

Columnist

The Daily Mail credits Delaney with playing a key role in securing for the Irish Museum of Modern Art the opportunity to purchase a major collection of modern being deaccessioned by the Bank of Ireland before they were put up for auction on the private market in 2010. Delaney is the first cousin of Richie Boucher, chief executive of the Bank of Ireland at the time (their mothers are sisters.)

In 2011, a Delaney column in the Sunday Independent in which he argued that the gay rights movement is "overreaching" in seeking the "right to marry, to adopt children, and to intimidate opponents into silence," touched off a media flap. Those who criticized Delaney's column included actor Charlie Condou writing in The Guardian.

Personal life

Delaney is married, with children. Delaney's oldest child, Ciaran Wolfe Delaney, is named for Irish revolutionary Wolfe Tone.

Books

• The Casting of Mr. O'Shaughnessy 1985, 2002
• Breaking the Mould
• An Accidental Diplomat(ISBN 1-902602-39-0)

See also

• Auditors of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin)