Nice to meet you!

I'm Fionola, and I'm a story-teller by trade; I've built my career with words. For over 20 years I've been writing professionally, spanning the full range of print and broadcast journalism in Ireland, the UK and beyond. I'm a published novelist and author, with a PhD in Philosophy and English Literature. And I work with a wide variety of clients as a media consultant, helping people find the best way to tell their stories to the world.

My initial foray into professional writing, bizarrely enough, was an article about Belfast's first lap-dancing club, for Fortnight magazine. I'd just finished my PhD thesis, which was later published as a book, Experiencing the Post-Metaphysical Self, by Palgrave Macmillan. After years of formal academic research, there was a liberating thrill in writing as a journalist. It was as if I was suddenly free to paint in colour, using wit, sharp humour and vivid images to get my point across. 

Soon afterwards, I began writing for the Irish Times, Ireland's historic newspaper of record, specialising in features about gender, politics, arts and culture. Later I moved into writing opinion pieces too. You can find hundreds of my articles on the Irish Times website.

In the course of my career, I have interviewed many leading authors, such as Martin Amis, John McGahern, Anne Enright, James Ellroy and PJ O'Rourke. But one of the most remarkable people I've ever met was Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster. I was the last person to interview her before she died in 2009, aged 97. 

Throughout my long career I've worked as a writer and commentator for BBC Northern Ireland, Time.com, the Guardian, the Observer, Village magazine and RTE radio and television. I've also made several radio programmes, including a BBC Radio 4 documentary about the Irish poet and medieval scholar Helen Waddell. For almost 15 years I've written a weekly opinion column in the Belfast Telegraph. And as a media consultant in both the public and private sector, I advise individuals, charities and organisations, working in close collaboration to find the best way to get their words across.

In 2023, I published my first novel, The Stamp of Beauty, with the Dalzell Press, and I'm currently working on a new novel, due for completion in 2025. I wrote for the Irish Times about the disturbing inspiration for The Stamp of Beauty, and the process of writing the novel, available here.

What motivates me as a writer, and as a human being, is people's stories. I am endlessly fascinated by the way people live their lives, the choices they make and the stories they tell about themselves. I'm moved, inspired, and constantly re-energised by the great fundamental need that we all have to make sense of the world around us, drawing meaning, truth and hope out of the chaos.

When I'm not writing my own or other people's stories, I love messing about with my two (very) small wooden boats, the Minx and the Mirror. I sail on Strangford Lough, in Co Down, among the islands off the western shore. When the sun sets, I return home to Belfast, where I live with my husband Robbie and our liver-spotted Dalmatian dog, Ripley.