Book: Keeping the Faith by Alf McCreary

Drawing on his extensive experience and journalistic skills, Alf McCreary takes us on a journey of reflection on the unholy alliance between religion and politics, the role of journalists and the importance-and fragility-of truth in a world of 'fake news'.

When people talk about the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland, that Irish euphemism for death, suffering, misunderstanding, bitterness, cruelty and immense personal tragedy, it seems far away, even though I lived and worked as a journalist through it all.'

...and what about Alf McCreary himself: how did the human being behind the headlines fare, having borne witness throughout his life to conflict and its aftermath, in Northern Ireland and in many countries in the developing world? After a sixty-year career and a lifetime observing opposing factions carrying too much faith, not enough hope and too little charity, the award-winning journalist brings us with him on a personal pilgrimage of reflection.

In Keeping the Faith, McCreary tells the story of his life, from his childhood in Bessbrook, through his storied career with the Belfast Telegraph, and up to the final days of Ian Paisley. Largely forgotten figures like Telegraph editor John E Sayers are restored to the narrative, while the work of under appreciated mediators, like Prime Minister Terence O'Neill, is re-evaluated. We hear from both Gordon and Joan Wilson, whose lives were changed forever by the bombing in Enniskillen. We also read about peacemakers and bridge-builders and the unheralded heroes who realised that if we cannot speak the message of reconciliation, we are left with nothing to say.

Throughout it all, the power of compassion and forgiveness among the sometimes forgotten communities of conflict shines through, the belief in hope for a better future and the importance of keeping the faith and seeking the truth in a world made insecure by the phenomenon of 'fake news'.

Lord Eames OM, who has written a Foreword for the book says of Alf McCreary: "What we have here is a writer prepared to observe life, people and situations with a remarkable degree of human understanding."

Alf McCreary is an award-winning journalist and author of over thirty book. He is renowned for his work with the Belfast Telegraph and for a wide range of other publications, and for his reports and commentaries on faith issues as well as politics and current affairs. A former Head of Information at Queen's University Belfast, he continues to publish as a freelance writer locally, nationally and internationally.

Keeping the Faith by Alf McCreary is published today by Messenger Publications - Paperback, 112 pages, 978-1788126786, €14.95/£12.95, publishing 20 May 2024. See: www.messenger.ie/product/keeping-the-faith/