Our members include journalists, photographers and creative artists working editorially in newspapers, magazines, books, broadcasting, public relations and information, online/interactive and also advertising and fashion photographers, advertising copywriters and editorial computer systems workers.

The NUJ in Ireland is fully involved in all the NUJ’s ongoing campaigns but also works on issues that are particular to members across Ireland.

The activities of the union in Ireland are overseen by the Irish Executive Council facilitated by a full-time staff based in Dublin.

Recent NUJ campaigns have included lobbying against the extension of the powers of the security forces in Northern Ireland to seize documents – an issue that is of grave concern to journalists working on sensitive stories.

The union has also campaigned vigorously around the investigation into the murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan and has been highly critical of the way it has been conducted.

And a major conference hosted by the NUJ’s Irish Executive Council on the professional implications of the controversial Privacy Bill 2006 and the Defamation Bill 2006 brought NUJ members and legal and media experts together from all over the island of Ireland.

More widely, the union seeks to defend and promote the professional and financial interests and welfare of its members, to promote the principles and practice of journalism, to defend and promote freedom of the media, speech and information and trade union principles and organisation.

To maximise our impact we need journalists across the Republic and Northern Ireland firstly to join the union and then, once a member, to get actively involved. All the great things we have achieved over the decades – improving terms and conditions and the health and safety of our members – could not have been done without the hard work of our chapels and branches.

So join the union , go along to chapel and branch meetings and start to make a real difference to your own working life and that of your colleagues.

How the union is structured

An advisory Irish Delegate Conference is held biennially of delegates from sectoral and geographic Branches. NUJ activists come from far and wide to discuss how to tackle the important issues of the day affecting NUJ members in the Republic and in Northern Ireland.

The Irish office also publishes the Irish Journalist