Michael Viney

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Michael Viney MRIA (born 1933) is an artist, author, broadcaster, and journalist, based in Ireland. He was born in Brighton, England. He is best known for his writings on nature.

Career[]

In the 1960s he wrote for The Irish Times about social issues such as the fate of people in institutional care.[1] His articles were later incorporated into the Ryan Report on institutional abuse of children in Ireland.[2]

He began working at RTÉ Television as presenter in programmes aimed at social, consumer affairs and with items on household and family matters. He took training there as a TV director and became a production editor in 1976. He left Dublin in 1977 with his wife, Ethna, and daughter for a simpler life in County Mayo in their Thallabawn holiday home on one acre.

Nature writing[]

Viney has published "Another Life", a weekly column in The Irish Times, since 1977 when he settled in rural Murrisk, near the coast south of Louisburgh.[2][3] Over the years the focus of the column has shifted from sustainability to natural history.

Honours[]

In 1966, Viney won a Jacob's Award for his RTÉ Television documentary, Too Many Children.[4]

He is a member of Aosdána, an association of people who have achieved distinction in the arts.[5]

He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy in May 2017.[6]

Bibliography[]

Viney's books include:

  • Ireland: A Smithsonian Natural History. 2003[7]
  • Ireland's Ocean (co-written with Ethna Viney)

References[]

  1. ^ Brendan Kelly, "Walking through the past in today’s Sligo", Irish Medical Times, 13 October 2010
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Boland, Rosita (2010-07-10). "If I had stayed working in Dublin I'd probably be dead by now". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  3. ^ "First words from the west ; In his first Another Life column published in 1977, Michael Viney tells of adjusting to country life"". 2003-02-15. Archived from the original on 2018-02-03. Retrieved 2017-07-16. (via HighBeam Research, subscription required)
  4. ^ The Irish Times, "Television awards presented", December 8, 1966
  5. ^ Aosdana website
  6. ^ O'Sullivan (May 2017). "Michael Viney elected to the Royal Irish Academy". The Irish Times.
  7. ^ Paul Clements,"Our precious stake in a fragile world" Archived 2010-08-25 at the Wayback Machine, Fortnight magazine, January 2004
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