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His family confirmed the news on Mr Moloney's blog The Broken Elbow, saying he died on Friday in New York after a brief illness. The post says: ‘Edmund “Ed” Moloney passed away on October 17, 2025 at the age of 77 in New York City after a brief illness. ‘Moloney was an award-winning Irish journalist, author and film-maker best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA. ‘He was a survivor of Polio as a child – an experience that shaped his personality and world view. He remained an advocate for disability rights and of the National Health Service to which he owed his life’. The piece adds that he ‘was born and educated in England, as well as Germany, Gibraltar and Malaysia’. ‘He moved to Belfast to attend Queens University, where he was introduced to Irish politics and republicanism. ‘During those early years in Belfast, he briefly joined the Official IRA, which focused on political rather than military activities. Later in his life, Ed survived several assassination attempts by that same group’. The piece in the Broken Elbow adds that ‘following university, he spent two years in Libya, teaching English as a foreign language, before returning to Belfast’. It adds that ‘his daily news articles, weekly columns, books, and films focused on Irish politics, featured in depth analysis of politicians and the politics of Northern Ireland’. ‘Moloney made the 30-year war against British rule in Northern Ireland – known as ‘The Troubles’ – his specialty. ‘Not only did Moloney’s journalism open him to attack from both sides and a close-up view of the worst horrors of the Troubles, it also brought him close to the victims and their families,’ it added. Mr Moloney was a former northern editor for both The Irish Times and Sunday Tribune. He has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian among others. In 2002, his book A Secret History of the IRA was published. It went on to become a bestseller. Mr Moloney also co-wrote an unauthorised biography of unionist leader Ian Paisley, which was published in 1986, before he authored a new edition in 2008 under the title Paisley: From Demagogue to Democrat? And in later years, he was the director of Boston College's Belfast Project, known as the Boston tapes, which collected interviews with former republican and loyalist paramilitaries with the aim of creating an oral history of the Troubles. According to a tribute from the NUJ, Ed Moloney faced several death threats and won a landmark case against attempts by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to compromise confidential sources. He was voted Irish Journalist of the Year in 1999, the same year he received a court order under the Terrorism Act requesting notes from his interview with a member of an illegal paramilitary group in Belfast charged with the murder of lawyer Pat Finucane. Moloney refused, writing in the NUJ’s Irish Journalist at the time that doing so would undermine public trust in journalism: “This stand is not about protecting the identity of a source. It is about protecting a source.” In October Belfast's High Court ruled in Moloney’s favour. The NUJ welcomed the victory having supported Moloney from start of the case. Local NUJ members and the broader trade union movement showed solidarity with Moloney during legal proceedings with The Belfast and District Trade Union Council bringing the Belfast Traders Council banner to rallies outside the court. Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, paid tribute to Moloney, who was awarded an NUJ gold badge for his commitment to the union’s Code of Conduct and the principles of press freedom. Mr Dooley said: “I am saddened to hear of the death of Ed Moloney. On behalf of the National Union of Journalists I extend sympathy to his family at this time. Ed was one of the most consequential journalists of his generation. "He will be remembered for his courage, dogged determination and unyielding commitment to shining a light into the darkest corners of Northern Ireland's troubled history. "During a crowded career he risked prison in defence of his sources and faced death threats for his investigative journalism. "He was fearless, courageous and outspoken and was never afraid of upsetting those who yielded power, influence and authority - either through elected office or membership of a proscribed organisation.” Ed Moloney had a vast range of contacts and was noted for his forensic attention to detail. At the Sunday Tribune he was supported by a committed editor, Matt Cooper, and a local editorial team. The NUJ proudly stood with Moloney as he resisted police pressure with the same characteristic determination familiar to those across the political divide and leaders of proscribed organisations who sought to instruct his work." On social media NI journalist Eamonn Mallie @EamonnMallie said: ‘It’s ‘goodbye’ to another fellow professional Ed Moloney. ‘He was an outstanding journalist, ever a contrarian, but that is what made him the professional that he was even if we clashed at times. Eamonn Mallie.’ Meanwhile journalist Vincent Browne @vincentbrowne posted: ‘Ed Maloney, perhaps the most brilliant Irish journalists of the last 50 years, has died in New York.’ Seamus Dooley, the assistant general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ireland, said he was saddened to hear of Mr. Moloney's death. "He will be remembered for his courage, dogged determination and unyielding commitment to shining a light into the darkest corners of Northern Ireland's troubled history," he said. "During a crowded career he risked prison in defence of his sources and faced death threats for his investigative journalism. "He was fearless, courageous and outspoken and was never afraid of upsetting those who yielded power, influence and authority, either through elected office or membership of a proscribed organisation." Author Matt Cooper @cooper_m said: ‘Just to add my condolences to his family on the death of Ed Moloney. He was a fearless and rigorous journalist who provided essential reporting on the North during his lengthy career. A crucial member of the Sunday Tribune breaking exclusive stories, writing excellent analysis.’ And TheIrishHistoryShow @IrishHistoryPod also posted: ‘Very sorry to hear about about the death of Irish journalist Ed Moloney this morning. He was a guest on the show where he talked about his biography of Ian Paisley.’
