Sarah Carey

Sarah Carey is an Irish columnist, broadcaster and communications consultant. She writes for the Irish Independent. From March 2011 until August 2017 she presented Talking Point on Newstalk.[1][2] She is a former columnist for The Sunday Times,[3]The Herald and The Irish Times.[4]

Education and career

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 worked as a communications consultant for many companies, particularly in public affairs and infrastructure. Carey is also a professional chair and facilitator of conferences and workshops.[6] She worked for Esat Digifone.[5] and has also worked in the technology industry including Cape Clear and search engine Cuil. Carey was appointed by the Department of the Environment to the Appeals Board of the Register of Architects and Chartered Surveyors, serving two terms from 2013 to 2019.

Blog and early writing

In 2002 she began writing the blog GUBU, "An Irish woman's social, political and domestic commentary". Then, after reading the blog, Sunday Times Irish Editor Fiona McHugh offered Carey a column. The Sunday Times column ended when she started writing a weekly opinion column for The Irish Times in 2008.[7] 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.[8]

Moriarty Tribunal

Witness

Because she had worked as Marketing Coordinator for Esat Telecom, she was a witness at the Moriarty Tribunal.[9][10] 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.[11]

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.[12] Days later, she resigned from her job with The Irish Times.[13] 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.[14] and appears regularly on RTE television and radio programmes.

Personal life

Carey lives in County Meath and is married with three children.[15] Her father William Carey was a Fine Gael councillor for 47 years on Meath County Council.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ "Talking Point with Sarah Carey". Newstalk. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  2. ^ O'Toole, Fintan. "Why I will not appear on Newstalk again". Irish Times.
  3. ^ Sarah Carey (11 November 2008). "Don't let Rupert Murdoch decide Ireland's future". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  4. ^ Sarah Carey (26 August 2010). "Why are we paying for two opposing energy policies?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  5. ^ a b Bio at her own blog
  6. ^ "Sarah Carey | Bright and Engaging Columnist and Broadcaster | Speaker". Personallspeakingbureau.com. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  7. ^ Sarah Carey (10 October 2008). "Many pensioners are vulnerable, but certainly not all". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  8. ^ Sarah Carey (11 November 2008). "Don't let Rupert Murdoch decide Ireland's future". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  9. ^ Sarah Carey (24 March 2011). "Lying to tribunal over leak is black spot on my record". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  10. ^ Dearbhail McDonald (25 March 2011). "Blogger who got caught in Moriarty Tribunal web". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  11. ^ "Moriarty Tribunal – Inquiry into Payments to Politicians and Related Matters" (PDF). Moriarty-tribunal.ie.
  12. ^ Dearbhail McDonald (26 March 2011). "Carey quits 'Times' after report furore". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  13. ^ "Sarah Carey resigns as 'Irish Times' columnist" 26 March 2011, The Irish Times
  14. ^ Sarah Carey (20 May 2011). "Thanks to the Queen, we can be friends again". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  15. ^ Speaker Sarah Carey Pobal De Conference, 2014.
  16. ^ William Carey - Election History, Electionsireland.org
  17. ^ 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".