Geraldine Kennedy facts for kids

Geraldine Kennedy (born 1 September 1951) is an important Irish journalist and former politician. She made history as the first woman to be the editor of a big newspaper called The Irish Times. Before that, she was a Teachta Dála (TD), which is like a member of parliament in Ireland. She represented the Dún Laoghaire area from 1987 to 1989.

In 1982, Geraldine Kennedy's phone was listened to without her permission. This event, which became known years later, caused a major political figure to resign from his job as Taoiseach (Ireland's prime minister).

Starting Her Journalism Career

Geraldine Kennedy studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology. She began her career in journalism at a local newspaper, the Munster Express. After a short time, she moved to the Cork Examiner. She then joined The Irish Times.

In 1980, when the Sunday Tribune newspaper started, Kennedy became its political correspondent. She had previously written for a journal called Hibernia. When the Sunday Tribune stopped printing for a short time, she worked for the Sunday Press.

In early 1987, Geraldine Kennedy took the government to court. This was because her phone had been listened to without permission back in 1983. She won her case.

Her Time in Politics

In the 1987 Irish general election, Geraldine Kennedy ran for election. She was a candidate for a new political party called the Progressive Democrats. She ran in the Dún Laoghaire area.

She won enough votes to become one of fourteen TDs elected for the Progressive Democrats that year. This was a big achievement for the new party. As a TD, Kennedy was chosen to be the party's spokesperson for foreign affairs.

She ran for election again in the 1989 Irish general election. However, she did not win enough votes to keep her seat in Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament.

Returning to Journalism

After losing her political seat, Geraldine Kennedy went back to working at The Irish Times. She had worked there before. For several years, she avoided writing about party politics.

In the early 1990s, she returned to covering political news. By 1999, she became the newspaper's political editor. In late 2002, she became the first woman to be the editor of The Irish Times. This was a very important role.

Later, there was some discussion about the high salary paid to the editor. Some people felt that the pay was too much, especially when the newspaper was also making job cuts.

In 2006, Kennedy approved an article in The Irish Times. This article shared private details about an investigation into payments made to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The group investigating these payments asked Kennedy to tell them where she got the information. She said the documents had been destroyed.

This led to a legal case. The High Court ordered her to share her source. However, in 2009, the Supreme Court changed this decision. The Supreme Court said that journalists have a right to protect their sources. This was an important ruling for journalists in Ireland.

On 12 March 2011, Geraldine Kennedy announced that she would retire from The Irish Times. She had been the editor for nine years. She retired in June 2011. Kevin O'Sullivan, who was the news editor, took over her role.

In August 2012, she was appointed a special professor of journalism at the University of Limerick. She has also received five special honorary doctorates from Irish universities.