As part of our ongoing work to solidify the position of The Irish Times as Ireland’s pre-eminent source of trusted news and information, we have made a number of appointments in key parts of our editorial operation.
A new Investigations Unit has begun its work, strengthening our capacity to focus on high-impact projects that hold power to account.
The team will initially comprise Mark Tighe, Conor Gallagher and Rachel Lavin.
Tighe is an award-winning reporter with a 20-year track record of producing exclusive public-interest journalism, first at the Sunday Times and more recently at the Sunday Independent. He oversaw exposés on financial mismanagement at the FAI; visa fraud in language schools; and the abuse of woman soccer players on State-run courses. He is the co-author, with Paul Rowan, of the bestselling book Champagne Football (2020).
In the Pennsylvania Avenue big house, it was the Potus Plámáser’s turn in the bully seat
Ireland joins the hunt for Russian submarines
Postponing parenthood: How Ireland’s housing crisis is forcing people to delay having children
Nick Cave: ‘How did I stay so young? Twenty years of drug addiction and a good face cream’
Gallagher has been Crime and Security Correspondent since 2018, focusing on organised crime, national security and extremist groups. He has produced agenda-setting investigations for The Irish Times, including recent projects on a Georgia-based scam operation targeting people in Ireland, and an in-depth piece on the links between named lawyers in Ireland and Pravfond, the Kremlin’s soft power agency. He is the author of Is Ireland Neutral? (2023)
Lavin joins us from Bloomberg’s London office, where she has been Weekend Data Visualisation Editor. In that role, she worked on global breaking news events and produced data-led investigations. Before that, she was a senior data and digital graphics journalist at The Times/Sunday Times in London. She also worked for the Business Post.
You’ll be able to see the first project produced by the unit very soon.
Elsewhere, Europe Correspondent Naomi O’Leary moves to Paris to lead our coverage of France – Ireland’s nearest EU neighbour – at a critical moment for the country and for the European Union.
With the Macron presidency entering its final stages, Paris at the centre of some major geopolitical stories and the clock ticking towards a contentious presidential election in 2027, O’Leary will report on French politics as well as the wider story of the country’s economic, social and cultural life.
An Italian speaker who was formerly a Reuters correspondent in Rome, she will also cover Italy, where prime minister Giorgia Meloni faces the electorate next year.
Laura Slattery is moving from Business to Features on a permanent basis, having moved into that department last year. She will keep up her regular culture coverage and write across other subject areas.
An experienced business reporter and cultural critic, she had a weekly media column for The Irish Times for 14 years, and has written across many subjects areas – from economics and broadcasting to music, books and film.
In our national news section, Niamh Towey has been appointed Education Correspondent. She spent the past year as a reporter specialising in housing and established a reputation for landing exclusive stories. She has been an Assistant News Editor for the past four years and before that spent several years as a Digital Production Journalist.
Towey succeeds Carl O’Brien, formerly Education Editor, who has become Foreign Editor, steering our World coverage and overseeing our network of correspondents across the globe.
Fiachra Gallagher has been appointed to the position of High Court Reporter. He has been based in the High Court since January 2025, working on cases across a range of areas. He previously worked as a reporter in the Newsroom and, before that, spent time at BreakingNews.ie, the Roscommon Herald and the courts wire CCC Nuacht.
As you know, The Irish Times is owned not by a media baron or some global conglomerate but by a Trust whose sole purpose is to protect our financial and editorial independence. Any profits we make go towards supporting our journalism. This ongoing investment in our work is possible thanks to you, our subscribers.
We value your views. Please feel free to send comments, feedback or suggestions for topics you would like to see covered to feedback@irishtimes.com.
