Newsman

Journalist and author Conor O’Clery has been responsible for bringing Irish readers a refreshing and in-depth view of Washington and America with his columns in the Irish Times newspaper. As Washington correspondent since 1991, Conor O’Clery has filed columns which have been insightful, timely, and invariably on the mark. 

Born in Belfast, O’Clery was educated by the De La Salle Brothers in Downpatrick, County Down, and attended Queen’s University in 1967, where he earned a degree in English in 1971. 

After working in the Northern Ireland Civil Service for eight years, O’Clery was hired by the Irish Times as its Belfast editor, a position he held three years. In 1975 he moved to London to edit the desk there, and later spent four years as Moscow correspondent until 1991. His next stop will be China, when the paper opens a new bureau there this summer. 

O’Clery has published three books, two of which were based on his experiences as foreign correspondent. Melting Snow dealt with the Soviet Union, while America – a place Called Hope? dealt with the Clinton election. 

O’Clery and his wife, Zhanna, live in Bethesda, Maryland, Where Zhanna O’Clery is renowned for entertainning paramilitaries and politicians from both sides in the Irish conflict.