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Freya McClements Profile
Freya McClements

@freyamcc

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Northern Editor @IrishTimes . Award-winning author of Children of the Troubles with @joeliveline . Represent NI on Round Britain Quiz @BBCRadio4 .

Derry
Joined March 2011
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@freyamcc
Freya McClements
5 years
All has changed in #Creggan #Derry - last night journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead on its streets by dissident republicans, today this mural is updated:
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@freyamcc
Freya McClements
3 years
Delighted to share the news that I’ve been appointed Northern Editor @IrishTimes . An honour to follow in the footsteps of so many great journalists, especially @GerryMoriartyIT , and looking forward to continuing to tell the stories of this place and its people
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Freya McClements
5 years
Delighted to be able to share the news I’ve been appointed @IrishTimes Northern Correspondent. Excited, proud, privileged that I now get to do what I love every day and very much looking forward to continuing to tell the stories of the North and its people
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@freyamcc
Freya McClements
6 years
Two years ago I walked away from a staff job with the BBC to be a writer. Today, this...
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@freyamcc
Freya McClements
2 years
Actor Jimmy Nesbitt is applauded at @IrelandsFuture event when he says he holds both an Irish and British passport and ‘would describe myself as an Irishman, from the north of Ireland, who in no way refutes or shies away from my Protestant culture. But it does not define me.’
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Freya McClements
4 years
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Freya McClements
4 years
Applause for John Hume as his remains leave his home in Donegal on his final journey back to Derry ahead of his funeral tomorrow morning ⁦⁦ @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
3 years
‘I think of John Pat running in those last few seconds of his life, and the fear… John Pat Cunningham is the only victim in this.’ The family at the heart of the Dennis Hutchings attempted murder trial speak out @FinucaneCentre
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Freya McClements
3 years
'My brother was lying there ... he was killed just because he was a GAA man.' @RelsForJustice launches project to remember all GAA members killed in the Troubles and calls for a memorial at Croke Park @NaomhEannaCLG via @IrishTimesCultr
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Freya McClements
9 months
Cheers for Eamonn McCann as he tells strikers in Derry’s Guildhall Square trade unions are ‘bigger than all the political parties, than orange or green… trade unions are the ‘sleeping giant’ of NI society.’ @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
4 years
“My Mum will be buying every copy in Tesco.” The Tyrone midwife on the cover of Vogue magazine
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Freya McClements
3 years
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Freya McClements
3 years
Saddened to learn of the death of Austin Currie, whose housing protest in Caledon in 1968 ignited the civil rights movement. I was privileged to return there within him in 2018... thinking tonight of that visit and of his family. RIP. via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
3 years
In tomorrow’s ⁦ @IrishTimes ⁩ - a special supplement ahead of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, including the story of 17yo victim Jackie Duddy, the famous white handkerchief and a new oral history of the day by his niece Julieann Campbell #BloodySunday50
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Freya McClements
5 years
Honoured and delighted that Children of the Troubles has been recognised as best Irish-published book of the year at the Irish book awards @AnPostIBAS - dedicated to memory of the children and with our heartfelt thanks to their families @joeliveline @HachetteIre
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Freya McClements
5 years
‘Nobody knows my son’s name. I want the world to know my son’s name.’ These are the words that inspired @joeliveline and I throughout the writing of #ChildrenoftheTroubles - read more in an exclusive extract published in tomorrow’s @IrishTimes book out 10th Oct @HachetteIre
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Freya McClements
5 years
Off to the printers today... #ChildrenoftheTroubles @joeliveline
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Freya McClements
5 years
Today’s post... Children of the Troubles has arrived! Beautiful job by our publishers @HachetteIre and a fitting testament to all the children and their families. Out on 10th October @joeliveline
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Freya McClements
4 years
This morning’s newsstand in #Derry #RIPJohnHume
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Freya McClements
3 years
UK government must ‘tell the truth’ and implement NI protocol, says Chris Patten. ‘The problem at heart is not the sausages you get from Sainsbury’s but the porkies that we all get, home and abroad, from Downing Street.’ via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
6 years
@BorderIrish Sorry to hear that Border. For what it’s worth I think you’re one of the most worthwhile things on Twitter (as well as one of the funniest!) You give a voice to the people along your length who wouldn’t have one otherwise - thank you for doing so x
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Freya McClements
3 years
“My children say, ‘you were refugees, seriously?’ We would have it that that was something that happened in a different country, not in Ireland.' 50 years on, I meet the refugees who fled South to escape the Troubles via @IrishTimesLife
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Freya McClements
3 years
Bidding farewell to our Northern Editor @GerryMoriartyIT as he retires today after 40+ years in journalism. A first-rate journalist and an absolute gentleman - I couldn’t have asked for a better colleague, mentor and friend. Wishing you many happy years of retirement Gerry
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Freya McClements
6 years
I’ve used CAIN as a history student, as a journalist and to research & write Children of the Troubles. Aside from Lost Lives I can’t think of a more valuable resource for those seeking to learn about and understand our recent past - it must be saved.
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Freya McClements
5 years
Northern Ireland could return to violence, study shows - “loss of memory of harm” with young people prone to a one-sided view and a romanticising of the conflict
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Freya McClements
3 years
‘Defenceless people were cut down by trigger-happy soldiers.’ An eyewitness account of Bloody Sunday by the best of journalists - and the best of men - ⁦ @MartinCowley3 ⁩, who was there for The Irish Times 50 years ago #BloodySunday50
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Freya McClements
3 years
'The soldier who shot our Jackie is probably the same age as our Jackie ... I keep hoping that one day when he sees his wee smiling photo he’ll say enough, it’s time for me to tell the truth.' The 50th anniversary appeal from Kay Duddy #BloodySunday50
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Freya McClements
4 years
Huge congratulations Dara McAnulty @naturalistdara , winner of the Wainwright Prize. A wonderful story told by a unique and remarkable advocate for nature. 'When young people are nurtured and accepted, miraculous things can happen.' via @IrishTimesBooks
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Freya McClements
4 years
The Derry woman who took on the British government - and won. ‘We were just two people who fell in love,’ says Emma DeSouza ⁦ @EmmandJDeSouza
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Freya McClements
5 years
A proud moment to see Children of the Troubles finally out in the world! Available now #PublicationDay @joeliveline @HachetteIre
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Freya McClements
2 years
Family of John Pat Cunningham condemns the erection of a memorial to Dennis Hutchings, the former soldier who died while on trial for his attempted murder last year
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Freya McClements
3 years
A privilege and a pleasure to spend the morning with the ‘Elders of the Rebel Alliance’ - Bernadette McAliskey, Eamonn McCann⁩ & Dermie McClenaghan - to remember the civil rights march in Derry on October 5th, 1968 that changed everything
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Freya McClements
6 years
I got Freya. Who would have thought it?? @neilhimself
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Freya McClements
3 years
Family of 14-year-old Annette McGavigan calls on UK gvmt to scrap legacy proposals on the 50th anniversary of her death via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
3 years
Walk retracing the steps of the original march in memory of the 14 victims of #BloodySunday leaves Creggan to applause from the watching crowd #BloodySunday50
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Freya McClements
1 year
'My brother was murdered, an 11-year-old child was murdered at the hands of the British army, and no one was held accountable.' Brother of Stephen McConomy on why relatives will 'fight on' for justice following passing of UK legacy Bill @FinucaneCentre
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Freya McClements
4 years
Remembering 5yo Denise Ann Dickson, who had just got a new schoolbag, got 10/10 for handwriting, and loved skipping on the street outside her house. The day she was killed she wrote in her school exercise book, 'I am a good girl.' RIP. #ChildrenoftheTroubles @joeliveline
@RelsForJustice
Relatives 4 Justice #NeverGivingUp
4 years
Today at 4pm we remember 5yr old Denise Ann Dickson, killed on this day 50yrs ago by the British army. She died instantly after a British army Ferret ran her over, a vehicle totally unsuitable for narrow urban streets. There has never been an investigation into Denise’s death
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Freya McClements
3 years
NI Assembly passes motion calling on the UK government to hold an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
5 years
“They took a child off the road, put his hood over his head and murdered him. I think the world should know these things.” From #ChildrenoftheTroubles by ⁦ @joeliveline ⁩ and I in today’s @IrishTimes - book out 10 Oct ⁦ @HachetteIre
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Freya McClements
4 years
Closure of ⁦ @easons ⁩ in the North is such a loss... was one of my first jobs and was such a thrill to see Children of the Troubles on its shelves. Staff in Belfast and Derry so supportive. Derry now left with no new bookshop and I’m sure many other towns will be the same
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Freya McClements
1 year
Donegal comes to the Ormeau Rd…
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Freya McClements
4 years
#UnquietGraves @RTEOne 9.35pm tells the important story of 120 people including children 14yo Michael Donnelly & unborn Baby Bowen murdered by the Glenanne Gang with UDR & RUC collusion - worth your time tonight @glenannefilm @sean_murray1 @joeliveline
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Freya McClements
5 years
Honoured and delighted that Children of the Troubles has been shortlisted for best Irish-published book of the year in the An Post Irish Book Awards @AnPostIBAS @joeliveline @HachetteIre
@AnPostIBAS
An Post Irish Book Awards
5 years
First up, the shortlist for @journal_ie BEST IRISH-PUBLISHED BOOK OF THE YEAR is revealed! #APIBAS #ReadersWanted
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Freya McClements
4 years
‘Pat Hume can move mountains. She had to scale so many obstacles working alongside her husband John during times of great personal and political risk.’ ⁦ @MonicaBelfast ⁩ on Pat Hume: The woman who never gave up
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Freya McClements
5 years
‘One of the best love affairs I’ve had in my life has been with home. It’s incredible in a place where there remains such division that people here are incredibly united about loving where they come from’: James Nesbitt on identity and the future of NI
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Freya McClements
3 years
Borderlines is a new @IrishTimes podcast coming next week from myself and @minihanmary and producer @DecConlon It's about delving deeper into questions of identity, culture, and the experiences that have shaped our guests. Listen now to our trailer 👇
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Freya McClements
4 years
John and Pat Hume Foundation to ‘inspire the next generation of peacemakers’ to be launched on Friday
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Freya McClements
9 months
This video shows the sheer extent of this picket line at Altnagelvin hospital in Derry. Multiple unions represented ⁦ @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
2 years
The voice of Liam Neeson opens the Ireland’s Future conference on Irish unity in the 3Arena in Dublin
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Freya McClements
3 years
Honoured to be present to remember 15-year-old Paul Whitters, one of 8 children killed by rubber/plastic bullets, on the 40th anniversary of his death. ‘We’ve never had an answer as to why he was shot ... the impact never ends’ his mother Helen says @FinucaneCentre @joeliveline
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Freya McClements
4 years
In the window of @columeastwood constituency office in #Derry today. #RIPJohnHume
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Freya McClements
3 years
50 years on, families of those killed in the loyalist bombing of McGurk's Bar call for a full investigation and condemn UK's legacy proposals as an attempt to 'bury its war crimes and to protect its killers' @mcgurksbar
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Freya McClements
5 years
The traffic signs on the Foyle Bridge #Derry tonight #coronavirus
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Freya McClements
5 years
The Crockett family and life on the #Brexit frontier: “I have no idea what I would class myself as. I have no idea whether I’m Irish, British, European. Any time anyone asks me where I’m from, I just say, the Border.”
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Freya McClements
4 years
'When the history of Ireland is written, if Pat Hume’s name is not beside John’s, it will be an incomplete history‘ ... 'Pat Hume did so much...Derry people know that, and remember that’ via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
5 months
Delighted to be shortlisted for a Justice Media Award for my reporting on the Legacy Act, it's thanks to the many families and their supporters who have trusted me with their stories.
@LawSocIreland
Law Society Ireland
5 months
Over 400 entries make this year's Justice Media Awards our most keenly-contested ever. Congratulations to all our shortlisted entries across broadcast, print and online journalism:
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Freya McClements
5 years
‘It feels like I won the battle and lost the war.’ As the UK leaves the EU, ⁦ @BorderIrish ⁩ is leaving Twitter. This is the Border’s farewell, in today’s @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
4 years
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, NI First Minister Arlene Foster & Robin Walker, NIO minister, prepare to lay wreaths at the war memorial in #Enniskillen marking Remembrance Day and the 33th anniversary of the Poppy Day bombing @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
3 years
Family and friends of Annette McGavigan gather at her mural in the #Bogside #Derry to remember the 14-year-old, 50 years after she was shot dead by a British soldier. Her family today appealed to the UK gvmt to scrap its plans to end all legacy investigations
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Freya McClements
1 year
Hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland over twice as long as in Republic; disparity rises to four times as long among those waiting more than 12 months for an appointment
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Freya McClements
2 years
So sad today to hear of the death of Dermie McClenaghan - civil rights campaigner, lifelong rebel and simply the nicest man you could ever meet. RIP Dermie
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Freya McClements
4 years
If you missed this earlier this wk - or like me went to back to buy more copies for relatives abroad and couldn’t find any left - our #JohnHume supplement is reprinted in this weekend’s @IrishTimes . One to keep. #RIPJohnHume
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Freya McClements
2 years
Joan Lingard, author of Kevin and Sadie series, dies aged 90. Her books were known and loved by generations of teenagers in Northern Ireland, not least myself. RIP.
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Freya McClements
4 years
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Freya McClements
2 years
'There were really talented women, who could have run in the election and they wouldn’t because they saw the abuse that women in public life get.' @naomi_long reveals women chose not to run in the Assembly election because of social media abuse
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Freya McClements
3 years
GAA and the Troubles: Resharing this this today, for the day that’s in it… delighted to say there’s been a huge response over the last wk with people getting in touch about loved ones and also backing a memorial at Croke Park @RelsForJustice
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Freya McClements
5 years
‘Borders aren’t encouraged to speak but ... when everyone’s talking about you and most of them haven’t a notion what they’re on about, you need to step forward and tweet’ - well said as always by ⁦ @BorderIrish ⁩ to ⁦ @PatrickFreyne1
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Freya McClements
3 years
UK government must outline conditions required for border poll, says Jeremy Corbyn at Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary lecture; he condemns 'outrage' of lack of prosecutions and 'double outrage' of UK legacy plans via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
5 years
“It’s important to remember them, you know ... That it wasn’t all for nothing.” TV documentary of Children of the Troubles ⁦ @joeliveline ⁩ repeated tonight at 11.35pm ⁦ @RTEOne ⁩ or on ⁦ @RTEplayer ⁩ & ⁦ @RTEPlayerInt
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Freya McClements
3 years
All you need to know about the damage wrought by the Troubles - and its long shadow. Powerful, poignant writing by my colleague ⁦ @MartinDoyleIT ⁩ A ghost estate and an empty grave: ‘I don’t think Northern Ireland was worth one life’ via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
2 years
Zak Hanna - the Orange Order member running for Ireland: 'We all live on the same island, it’s not a political or religious thing ... I just want to run.'
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Freya McClements
1 year
More candidates elected in Derry and Strabane for Sinn Fein - Paul Boggs and Feargal Leonard in Sperrin DEA and Christopher Jackson joins Caitlin Deeney in Waterside DEA - I’m told it could be the first time SF have had two councillors in the Waterside #LE23
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Freya McClements
7 years
One of the highlights of my journalistic career - becoming the first journalist to interview the @BorderIrish in almost 100 years. It’s a lovely border to talk to - very funny but also very worried about the future
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Freya McClements
2 years
‘How did I get to be 80? This doesn’t feel like 80 is supposed to feel.’ A treat to sit down with this self-confessed 'outlaw' as Eamonn McCann celebrates his 80th birthday... happy birthday Eamonn @eamonderry
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Freya McClements
6 years
‘I was hoping they wouldn’t shoot us when they saw the cameraman’ - the story behind the famous photo of #BloodySunday as families await a decision on prosecutions later today
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Freya McClements
5 years
The number of children killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland has been significantly underestimated, according to a new book, Children of the Troubles. Published today by ⁦ @HachetteIre ⁩ ⁦ @joeliveline
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Freya McClements
5 years
Bye, @BorderIrish - thank you for being the most fun thing in #Brexit and for giving your people a voice. Wishing you a long, happy, and above all peaceful retirement x via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
3 months
So sad to hear this news. Tommie was a first-rate journalist and first-rate human being. Forever grateful for his support and kindness towards me. RIP Tommie.
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Freya McClements
2 years
‘When people hear I won University Challenge they want to know what Paxman was really like.’ I wrote about why for me, Jeremy Paxman will always be University Challenge. #UniversityChallenge #UC #quiz
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Freya McClements
3 years
Delighted to have been part of this giving, as always, the Northern view, this time of the Treaty vote and its implications… #TreatyLive on now @RTEOne
@RTEOne
RTÉ One
3 years
Tonight at 7pm @mcculld and @SineadOCarroll present #TreatyLive 🗳 A show imagining how modern TV might have reported the Dáil's vote on the Anglo-Irish Treaty on January 7, 1922.
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Freya McClements
3 years
Lights shining in memory of the 14 victims of #BloodySunday , the wounded and all victims of the Troubles. Relatives of those killed received a standing ovation and were clapped and cheered as they held aloft their loved ones’ pictures at a 50th anniversary event in #Derry
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Freya McClements
6 years
Omagh: “We laid the first one here, then put them across in rows ... We continued on until this was completely full of bodies.” Thank you to everyone who spoke to me for this piece, it's one that will stay with me via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
5 years
Morning from the #Arranmore ferry #Donegal
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Freya McClements
6 years
I write in today’s @IrishTimesBooks on 50 yrs of Troubles lit, as influenced by a childhood surrounded by the books in my father’s shop and my own youthful writing ambitions - thanks @MartinDoyleIT for the space and the opportunity via @IrishTimes
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Freya McClements
1 year
'Even when Paddy became really well known he still came home and did the parish Bazaar in Aquinas parochial hall.' Fabulous piece by @SeaninGraham22 reporting from Dundrum, Co Down as local lad Patrick Kielty lands The Late Late Show
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Freya McClements
6 years
Hey @BorderIrish met your mate @MichelBarnier today - he says great to see you and don’t worry, he’s looking out for you
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