Aengus Fanning

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Aengus Fanning (born 22 April 1942) is an Irish journalist and former editor of farming of the Irish Independent. Originally from Tralee in County Kerry, he has been the editor of the Sunday Independent for the past 22 years. He was boss and friend to the late Veronica Guerin.

He also has a keen interest in sport, having represented Kerry in Gaelic football in his youth - cricket is also a passion of his. He also plays the clarinet, and is a jazz fan.

A colourful character, his 22 year reign, of the Sunday Independent has not been without indicident. One of the most bizarre incidents occoured in 2001 when he was involved in a fisticuffs with a colleague at the newspaper - inspirational operations editor Campbell Spray[1]

The most controversial incident of his reign, however, has to have been the Sunday Independent's coverage of the death of disgraced Fianna Fáil politician Liam Lawlor - see Sunday Independent entry. Fanning's apology after the week after caused much debate - veteran Irish journalist and editor of Village magazine Vincent Browne said that Fanning "brazenly used a front-page apology to the Lawlor family to boast about the size of his newspaper's readership."^{[citation needed]}Reference: [Village, 3rd November 2005].

There is also of course thong gate - an amusing incident involving singer Sinead O'Connor. Mr Fanning denies the allegations, however, says "it's simply not true". The allegations were made in the Ireland on Sunday newspaper and The Phoenix magazine.

Aengus Fanning lives with Anne Harris, deputy editor of the Sunday Independent. She is the former wife of Eoghan Harris who is a columnist for the newspaper.