Ciaran McKeown

Ciaran McKeown (1943 – 1 September 2019) was a peace activist in Northern Ireland.

Early life and education Born in Derry to a Roman Catholic family, the son of a schoolmaster McKeown served as a Dominican novice for eight months in his youth.

He attended Queen's University Belfast, where he studied philosophy, becoming the first Catholic to be elected president of the university's student council. He became president of the Union of Students in Ireland in 1969, based in Dublin,

Journalist In 1970, McKeown became a reporter for The Irish Times, After the events of 1976-77 he found it difficult to return to full-time journalism.

Peace activist

Although McKeown became known as a thoughtful and calm presence in the leadership of the organisation, his criticisms of the reluctance of church authorities to speak out on sectarian issues caused some tensions. Corrigan and Williams won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, but McKeown was not made a party to it. However, the Ford Foundation made a grant to the group, which included a salary for McKeown, enabling him to become full-time editor of Peace by Peace, the group's newspaper, also completing a year as editor of Fortnight Magazine, in 1977.

McKeown, Corrigan and Williams all stepped down from the leadership posts in 1978, although McKeown continued to edit Peace by Peace. His articles brought him into conflict with the group's new leadership, while financial disagreements massively reduced the group's membership. Ultimately, his belief that the group should call for special status for paramilitary prisoners led to a split, with Williams and her leading supporter, Peter McLachlan, resigning in February 1980. McKeown could no longer survive on the group's salary, nor could he find work as a journalist, so he retrained as a typesetter.