Few journalists could hope to leave as significant a mark on their society as Nell McCafferty did on modern Ireland. McCafferty, whose death was announced on Wednesday, brought to her work a fearless opposition to injustice in all its forms. That placed her in the vanguard of the movements for social reform which emerged at the end of the 1960s. Over the decades of struggle, argument, rebuffs and triumphs that followed, she remained a fierce voice for the oppressed and the marginalised.
As a Derry woman, a republican, a feminist, a socialist and a lesbian, she brought all of those social and cultural identities to her journalism for a range of publications, including more than 10 years with The Irish Times, where her ground-breaking reports on the day-to-day workings of the courts opened many readers’ eyes to a system that was often archaic, cruel and oppressive. A founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, she would go on to provide definitive coverage of the abhorrent treatment of Irish women, from the institutional failure and casual misogyny which underpinned the treatment of Joanne Hayes in the Kerry Babies case to the lonely death of pregnant teenager Ann Lovett in a grotto in Granard, Co Longford.
Her willingness to shine a light on unpalatable truths and her lack of respect for conventional pieties led her into conflict not just with opponents but also with allies. And as a child of the Bogside, she had a deep affinity for the republican position during the Troubles which also led to friction. But in a society that often over-valued conformity and avoided confrontation, she was never afraid of causing controversy in pursuit of her goals. History has proved she was right about most of them.
Alongside that willingness to speak awkward truths to power came warmth, humanity and an irreverent sense of humour that endeared her to many who came to know her through her media appearances. In this, as in her writing, she forged a path for the generations of women who would follow in the changed country which she helped to create.