The Taoiseach has led tributes to the distinguished Irish Timesjournalist, Mary Holland, who has died in a Dublin hospital after a long illness.
Ms Mary Holland
Ms Holland (68), who was born in Dover but grew up in Co Cork, died yesterday in St Vincent's Hospital after a long battle with the degenerative tissue disease scleroderma.
She is survived by her daughter Kitty and son Luke.
During her career as a reporter, columnist and broadcaster Ms Holland won many awards for her work highlighting social injustice and civil rights, particularly for women.
Her long career saw her working for such media companies as RTÉ, the Sunday Tribune, the Observer, Vogueand the New Statesman. She was also a co-founder of Magillmagazine.
Her courageous and compassionate reporting on Northern Ireland won her many accolades as helped lay the foundation for the current peace process.
She was also prominent advocate of abortion rights during the 1983 constitutional amendment referendum.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said this morning he learned of Ms Holland's death with deep regret. He described her as a "courageous journalist whose coverage of Northern Ireland was hugely influential in illuminating both the political complexity as well as the unfolding human tragedy of the past 35 years.
"In hindsight, Mary Holland's copy is a definitive chronicle of the Troubles from the civil rights marches through to the peace process."
Ms Geraldine Kennedy, editor of The Irish Times, said this morning there were three things in Ms Holland's life which made her so extraordinary. There was her pioneering membership of the Irish women's liberation movement in the 1960s, her following of the social agenda through the 1970s and her work on Northern Ireland.
"I think Mary herself would like to be recognised most for her work on Northern Ireland," Ms Kennedy said. "I think it is important to state that she was the first journalist, who travelled from Dublin to London to Belfast, she had the bigger perspective on what was happening. I think more than anything else she succeeded in explaining to the British that Northern Ireland was a political, not just a security problem.
"The type of journalism that Mary did was talk to the ordinary people and explain very, very big events in the light of the country."
Former SDLP leader Mr John Hume said Ms Holland was an outstanding journalist and committed to the peace process.
"What is very important is that she was the first journalist to come over from a major British newspaper to cover in detail, to write in detail, about the problems of Northern Ireland, because up until then there was no real interest at British level," Mr Hume said. "Mary was the first journalist to give us real coverage, and therefore, to make it a real issue.
"And later, of course, when she transferred to The Irish Times. She was all the time reporting in great detail about what was happening in the North and giving great understanding. And, of course, she had very strong feelings as well about the situation in the North, she very strongly wanted to see a lasting settlement."
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, extended his sympathy to Ms Holland's family and said she was a truly decent person, a marvellous writer and a faithful keeper of the public record. He said that what made Ms Holland so remarkable as a journalist was that she never forgot the "flesh-and-blood people - whether she was writing about them or for them".
"She was a witness to the darkest events in our recent history and wrote about them in a way that spared no one the brutal reality of the conflict. However, there was always the hope in Mary's work that a brighter future was available if the political will was there to make it happen. Mary also courageously covered many social issues in the south and was able to tell the story of many of society's most vulnerable."
The Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, Mr Séamus Dooley, said Ms Holland was "one of the most significant figures in Irish and British journalism. "Mary Holland was a journalist of fearless courage and integrity. With her passing a radical and compassionate voice has been silenced."
Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said she was a "greatly admired journalist because of her integrity and courage and she will be missed by all who knew her.
"Her coverage of Ireland from the 1970s did a lot to change how the North was covered as it challenged the bias and censorship of the time. She brought this same integrity to all her journalistic work and was often a voice for those most marginalised in our society," he added.
SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan called her a doyen of Irish journalism. "Mary was someone who in the best traditions of journalism enquired, informed and moved people. She moved ideas and she moved issues," he said.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson also paid tribute to Ms Holland's professionalism. "Mary Holland was one of the all time greats of journalism - serious, detailed, passionate and truthful," the Hartlepool MP said. "She made a huge contribution in bringing a proper understanding of Ireland to British eyes and ears and she will be sadly missed."