Sarah Carey
Sarah Carey is an Irish columnist and broadcaster. She writes for the Irish Independent. From March 2011 until August 2017 she presented Talking Point on Newstalk.[1] The reason for her contract termination has never been explained by Newstalk.[2] She is a former columnist for The Sunday Times,[3]The Herald, The Irish Catholic and The Irish Times.[4]
Education and early work
Carey has a degree in History from Trinity College, Dublin, and a post-graduate diploma in Business Studies from the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in University College, Dublin (U.C.D.).[5] She has performed freelance PR/marketing work for a number of companies and the political party Fine Gael. She has also worked for Esat Digifone.[5] Carey has also worked in the technology industry including Cape Clear and search engine Cuil
Blogging and newspaper columns
In 2002, she began writing the blog GUBU, "An Irish woman's social, political and domestic commentary". Then Sunday Times Irish Editor Fiona McHugh, offered Carey a column after reading the blog. The Sunday Times column ended when she started writing a weekly opinion column for The Irish Times in 2008.[6] The blog also ended in 2008. Carey revealed that in her time at The Sunday Times, opinion columnists had been forbidden from expressing views in favour of the Lisbon Treaty.
Moriarty Tribunal
Witness
Because she had worked as Marketing Coordinator for Esat Telecom, she was a witness at the Moriarty Tribunal.[7][8] In 2004, she leaked information provided to her by the tribunal about political donations made by Denis O'Brien to political parties in Ireland. The information included a letter of thanks to O'Brien from Michael McDowell of the Progressive Democrats. These leaks were published by journalist Stephen Collins in The Sunday Tribune. She denied to her legal team that she had been the source of the leak. When told she would be questioned under oath, she admitted she was the source. Carey said "her motives were political" as the Tribunal had only highlighted O'Brien's donations to Fine Gael, and not those to other parties. The Tribunal judge publicly rebuked her in 2004 for wasting the tribunal's time in identifying the source of the leak, describing it as "irresponsible" and "not remotely justified".[9]
Moriarty Tribunal report and aftermath
When the final Tribunal report was published in March 2011, she appeared on Prime Time, a national TV news analysis show, in which she defended the leak and her support for Mr O'Brien.[10] Days later, she resigned from her job with The Irish Times.[11] In a statement, the editor, Geraldine Kennedy, a former T.D. and Progressive Democrat colleague of Michael McDowell's, said that "her credibility as a columnist had been damaged by the findings of the report of the Moriarty tribunal and its aftermath." She continues to write for other newspapers.[12] and appears regularly on RTE television and radio programmes.
Personal life
Carey lives in County Meath, and is married with three children.[13] Her father William Carey, was a Fine Gael councillor for 47 years, on Meath County Council.[14][15]
References
- ^ "Talking Point with Sarah Carey". Newstalk. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ O'Toole, Fintan. "Why I will not appear on Newstalk again". Irish Times.
- ^ Sarah Carey (11 November 2008). "Don't let Rupert Murdoch decide Ireland's future". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
- ^ Sarah Carey (26 August 2010). "Why are we paying for two opposing energy policies?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- ^ a b Bio at her own blog
- ^ Sarah Carey (10 October 2008). "Many pensioners are vulnerable, but certainly not all". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ Sarah Carey (24 March 2011). "Lying to tribunal over leak is black spot on my record". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- ^ Dearbhail McDonald (25 March 2011). "Blogger who got caught in Moriarty Tribunal web". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- ^ http://www.moriarty-tribunal.ie/images/sitecontent_426.pdf
- ^ Dearbhail McDonald (26 March 2011). "Carey quits 'Times' after report furore". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- ^ "Sarah Carey resigns as 'Irish Times' columnist" 26 March 2011, The Irish Times
- ^ Sarah Carey (20 May 2011). "Thanks to the Queen, we can be friends again". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
- ^ Speaker Sarah Carey Pobal De Conference, 2014.
- ^ William Carey - Election History www.electionsireland.org
- ^ Greens have bottled it, time for a deal with rural Independents. "I'm forever quoting my father when it comes to politics, but as a man who spent nearly 50 years as a Fine Gael county councillor, he's seen it all before".