Nell McCafferty, one of Ireland’s most outspoken female voices has passed away.
Born in Derry, the 80-year-old passed away at a Donegal nursing home this morning.
Her family has just announced the passing of the author, journalist and feminist campaigner.
She was born in 1944 in Derry’s Bogside and graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast and then studied in France.
She became a journalist in her 20s and authored many books, including ‘Nell’, ‘In the Eyes of the Law’ and ‘The best of Nell’.
She worked for numerous publications down through the years including Irish Times, the Sunday Tribune and Hot Press and was a regular panellist on radio and television programmes.
Ms McCafferty was a founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement.
She became an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, the poor and for people who suffered injustice.
She was prominent in campaigns and issues that received national and international attention including Bloody Sunday, the Kerry Babies cases and sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
She received many awards, including an honorary doctorate of literature from University College Cork, in 2016.
McCafferty also spoke out against homophobia in the Catholic Church and Irish society and told RTÉ’s The Late Late Show in 2004 that being gay was the last great taboo in Ireland.
President Michael D Higgins described her as a “friend and ally” who had “enduring courage that was delivered with a curiosity that was ethical and fearless on the side of those without power”.
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald described Nell as :”Talented. Feminist. Fearless. Nell McCafferty lived and worked every day to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
“Most often, the powerful didn’t like it. That’s how she knew she was doing the right thing.
“Her writing and campaigning helped to change Ireland for the better.”
Her funeral details have yet to be announced.
