Journalist Bruce Arnold dies aged 87

Former Irish Independent journalist and author Bruce Arnold has died aged 87.

Mr Arnold, whose phone was tapped under the government of Charles Haughey, worked for the Sunday Independent, The Irish Press and The Irish Times during his career, also serving as the Dublin correspondent for The Guardian.

Born in London in 1936, Mr Arnold studied English and French at Trinity College Dublin before entering journalism and later joining the Irish Independent as a political correspondent in 1972.

He wrote a column, ‘Politics and Politicians’, and various biographies of figures such as Charles Haughey and Margaret Thatcher.

Mr Arnold later became the London editor for this newspaper before he was appointed literary editor.

It was revealed in December 1982 that the telephones of Mr Arnold and Sunday Press journalist Geraldine Kennedy had been tapped.

The phone tappings were explained as an attempt to discover government leaks and were referred to as ‘Ireland’s Watergate’. Then Minister for Justice Sean Doherty instructed the deputy commissioner of the gardaí to tap the phones of both journalists.

Mr Arnold was also a distinguished art historian and wrote numerous books, both fiction and non-fiction, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin and an OBE in 2003.

His wife, Mavis Arnold, with whom he shared three children, died in 2017.

The couple met at Trinity College, with Mavis also working in journalism for titles such as The Sunday Independent, The Guardian and The Irish Press before pursuing a career as a psychotherapist.

A funeral mass for Mr Arnold will take place at St Paul’s Church in Glenageary at 12pm on Monday 13 May, followed by burial on Tuesday in St Anne’s Church, Knocknarea, Co Sligo at approximately 1pm.

“Bruce was a man of integrity and talent. He was dedicated to his craft, he wrote brilliantly and with great insight and was always on a mission to make the world a better and more truthful place,” his family said in an announcement.

“Although he wore his Englishness with pride, he was devoted to Ireland which was his home for over 60 years. He will be remembered for his energy, vitality and great sense of occasion.

“Farewell to a true gentleman, a bon viveur, a family man who led a rich and varied life. He will be greatly missed by his loving family and devoted friends.”

They requested that those in attendance wear bright clothes to his funeral mass.

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