Fintan O'Toole is an acclaimed writer and author of more than 20 books including We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 and Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain. He is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s leading public intellectuals. He has been a columnist for The Irish Times since 1988, and has also worked as Literary Editor and drama critic for the paper. He has written extensively about social justice, political corruption, the Celtic Tiger and the economic crash, the Brexit referendum, US politics, including on the Trump administrations, and on many aspects of Irish history and culture. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a winner of the European Press Prize and the Orwell Prize and is advising editor of the New York Review of Books.

Background and Career
Fintan O’Toole was born in Dublin and grew up in Crumlin. He graduated from UCD with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy in 1978. He has held a number of other distinguished roles in journalism, academia and the arts before and since joining The Irish Times, including:

• Drama and literary critic for The Sunday Tribune and In Dublin
• Editor of Magill from 1986 to 1987
• Drama critic for the New York Daily News from 1997 to 2001
• Literary adviser to the Abbey Theatre from 1990 to 1991
• Contributor to the New York Review of Books, the Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement on topics ranging from the rise of the far-right to modern American society
• Visiting lecturer and professor in Irish letters at Princeton University between 2012 and 2024
• He has also contributed to, co-written and been the subject of a number of TV series, including BBC's The Late Show, Fintan O’Toole Power Plays (2011), and Fintan O'Toole: A Life in Our Times (2024).

Books
Fintan O’Toole has written multiple acclaimed books on subjects ranging from Irish identity and history to global politics, including:

• For and Against a United Ireland (2025) (co-written with Sam McBride)
• We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 (2021) (Winner of the 2021 An Post Book of the Year award and listed as one of The New York Times's 10 Best Books of 2022)
• Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain (2018)
• A History of Ireland in 100 Objects (2013) (Winner of Best Irish Published Book of the Year at the 2013 Irish Book Awards)
• Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger (2009)

Journalism Awards and Notable Achievements
Fintan O’Toole has received several high-profile and prestigious honours for his writing and insight, including:

• The Robert B Silvers Prize for Journalism (2024)
• The European Press Prize (2017), for his columns on Brexit
• The Orwell Prize (2017)
• NewsBrands Columnist of the Year (Broadsheet) in 2017, 2018, and 2020
• UCD Alumni Award in Arts & Humanities (2018)
• AT Cross Award for Supreme Contribution to Irish Journalism (1993)
• Elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a body of experts in the humanities and social sciences, in 2020
• Honorary international member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences