Newton Emerson

Contributor

Newton Emerson has been a columnist on Northern Ireland in the Republic of Ireland since 2003. He is also a regular commentator on radio and television, and has written and presented programmes for the BBC, UTV and RTÉ, ranging from sketch shows to historical documentaries. He writes mainly about Northern Ireland’s government, economy and society, with a particular interest in the foibles of its public sector.

Background and Career
Newton Emerson was born and grew up in Co Armagh. He studied Economics at the University of York, then moved to Hong Kong after graduation in 1991, where he got his first job in publishing as a sub-editor on an American computer magazine. He returned to Northern Ireland in 1993 and worked for various business publications in Portadown, where the Drumcree dispute provoked him into founding the satirical Portadown News website. This resulted in an IPR award in 2003 and two books, as well as beginning his newspaper and broadcasting career.

He has appeared in The Irish Times and the Sunday Times since 2003, and in The Irish News since 2002. He has also been a columnist for the Sunday People and the Daily Mirror. His broadcasting credits include writing and presenting the BBC television documentary Craigavon: The Lost City, and creating, writing and presenting the Radio Ulster science series What’s Next.

Books