Bruce Croft Arnold (6 September 1936 – 2 May 2024) was an English journalist and author who lived in Ireland from 1957. His main expertise was in the fields of literary criticism and art criticism. In 1983 it emerged that his telephone had been bugged by Charles Haughey in the Irish phone tapping scandal. He and the other bugged journalists were considered to have "anti-national" views.

Early life

Arnold was educated at Kingham Hill School and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with a degree in modern languages (English and French) in 1960. His wife Mavis Arnold (née Ysabel Mavis Cleave) was also a journalist. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Arnold's older brother Guy Arnold was also an author, largely on African politics.

Journalism

Arnold worked for the main Irish newspapers based in Dublin – The Irish Times from 1965; The Irish Press and the Sunday Independent. He also acted as Dublin correspondent of The Guardian. He edited Hibernia and the Dublin Magazine (1962–68; formerly The Dubliner).

Death

Arnold died of pneumonia in the Glenageary area of Dublin, on 2 May 2024, at the age of 87.

Partial bibliography

Fiction

Non-fiction

Film

Libretto

Awards

He was an honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin (UCD), and in the 2003 Birthday Honours was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to journalism and UK-Irish relations.

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