Nell McCafferty: renowned author and feminist activist has died

Renowned author, journalist and feminist activist Nell McCafferty has died at the age of 80.

She died in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday) at a Co Donegal nursing home, her family said.

The former Irish Times journalist, originally from Londonderry, was a prominent voice on women's rights issues across the island of Ireland and in 1970 co-founded the Irish Women's Liberation Movement.

Irish premier Simon Harris was among the many people paying tributes.

He described her as a "fierce, fearless and fiery" campaigner who "suffered no fools".

"If she was in the room or in the debate, you knew about it," the Taoiseach said in a statement.

"Her passion and wrath was not scattergun, it had a laser-like focus on calling out inequality and injustice. She suffered no fools but had a kindness and warmth for many.

"Her wit and Derry turn of phrase made her impossible to ignore.

"As one of the women who took the train in 1971, she set in train an unstoppable wave for equality and a changing of Ireland for the better. That change has not yet reached its conclusion but it would be nowhere if it wasn't for warriors like Nell.

"In an Ireland trying to emerge from the shadows and find who it was, Nell McCafferty was one of the people who knew exactly who she was and wasn't afraid to enter every battle for gay and women's rights. We all owe her a great debt for this.

"Nell McCafferty left Ireland a much better place than she found it and she played her part with spirit and style. May she rest in peace."

President Michael D. Higgins said: "“It is with great sorrow that so many people will have learnt of the death of Nell McCafferty.

Nell McCafferty was a pioneer in raising those searching questions which could be asked, but which had been buried, hidden or neglected. Indeed, this is one of the aspects which was most remarkable from the very beginning in her work.

"For example, Nell knew that standing behind the rituals of courts and unfortunate defendants, there was always a complex story which she had a gifted empathy to understand. In her column, ‘In the Eyes of the Law’, she opened people’s eyes to the operation of the District Court and its interaction with those who found themselves before it.

"Nell had a unique gift in stirring people’s consciousness, and this made her advocacy formidable on behalf of those who had been excluded from society. A defining feature across Nell’s life was such a fierce drive to tackle repression, poverty and authoritarianism wherever she saw it.

"Across so many areas, including her work on the Kerry Babies case captured in her book ‘A Woman to Blame’, the Troubles, her own life experience and so many other areas beside, Nell’s writing remains a compelling and courageous record of those decades."

Deputy Irish premier Micheal Martin said he is "deeply saddened" at the passing of Nell McCafferty.

"Deeply saddened at the passing of Nell McCafferty," Mr Martin tweeted.

"Nell was an exceptional journalist and campaigner - the voice of an era who helped to bring major advancements in civil rights and women's rights.

"She made an enormous contribution to public debate in Ireland.

"In addition to her brilliance as a writer, activist and feminist, Nell brought great warmth and humour to every engagement.

"She made a difference. Sympathies to her family, friends and former colleagues."

The leader of the Irish Labour Party Ivana Bacik said she was "deeply saddened to hear of Nell McCafferty's death at the age of 80".

She described the journalist as a "wonderful, fearless and unique feminist icon".

"It was an honour and a privilege to have known Nell, and to have had such fun with her over the years. Deep sympathies to all her family and friends," she said on X.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood paid tribute to journalist Nell McCafferty as "a mould breaker and establishment shaker".

"She spoke truth to power like only a Derry woman could," he said on Twitter.

"An icon for so many people across Ireland. Nell will be sadly missed, but her activism will endure."

And broadcaster Dearbhail McDonald and author Sinead Gleeson said on X: "An incredible character and colleague who broke the mould in so many ways for women and women writers. The contraceptive train, her ground-breaking work in the District Court,"

"Her journalism was ground-breaking (a rare female voice in Troubles discourse) her feminism absolute, her queer visibility a lifeline for LGBTQI people. RIP."