The Nationalist's editor Michael Heverin retires after 31 years service at the paper

The Nationalist has bade farewell to its dedicated editor of 12 years, Michael Heverin, who steered this title through seismic changes in the newspaper industry and county with an unwavering commitment to bringing local news to the people of south Tipperary. 

Michael, a native of Castlebar,  Mayo, retired last Friday after 45 years service in regional newspapers, 31 of which were spent at The Nationalist. 

He was involved in leading this paper, first as news editor and later as editor, through massive technological changes, culminating in the newspaper embracing the digital revolution with news stories now carried on the paper’s website and social media accounts in tandem with the traditional printed edition. 

He has also been a front seat witness and reporter of the political, economic and social changes in south Tipperary and its sporting triumphs over the past three decades. The keen follower of politics and sport was very much a hands-on editor, who  loved to roll up his sleeves and join his team  in reporting the county’s  news and sport on top of   editing the paper  and the  myriad of other tasks that came with the job. 

  He reported  on every local and general election in south Tipperary, covered the All-Ireland fortunes of Tipperary’s hurling and football teams as well as reporting on club matches in nearly every parish. 

Michael, who lives in Clonmel, studied journalism at the College of Commerce in Rathmines. It was his number one and only career choice. “I had no plan B,” he said.  During his college years, he was involved in the launch of the college newspaper, The Rathmines Reporter, regarded at the time as the physically smallest newspaper in the country. It was printed on A4 sheets of paper folded over. 

“We produced an edition each day at the Careers Exhibition in the RDS and I edited a special edition in Irish that was presented to President Cearbhaill O Dalaigh during a visit to the stand,” he recalled.  

His first  job was    at the Wexford head office of People Newspapers in 1975 where he  remained  until 1989.  

The controversial proposal to build Ireland’s first nuclear power station at Carnsore Point was one of the big stories he reported on during his years at the Wexford People.

He joined the editorial staff of The Nationalist in May 1989 as news editor, a new post created by the recently appointed editor Tom Corr, who succeeded Brendan Long.

A story Michael broke in his early days in The Nationalist made international headlines. It was about a man who turned out to be alive and well in London after a funeral for him took place in Tipperary Town. Michael recalls interviewing the man about how he felt about the bizarre situation.  

He was fortunate to start work at The Nationalist the year the Tipperary senior hurling team won its first All-Ireland title in 18 years. 

Being involved in covering the end of the great famine in Tipperary hurling and the joy and celebrations it brought to the county is the stand out sporting memory of his career. 

“I come from Mayo which hasn’t had much of a record of All-Ireland successes and I had been involved in reporting on Wexford’s two All-Ireland final defeats in 1976 and 1977. I knew about the passion in Tipperary for hurling before I came to Clonmel but to be immersed in it so quickly was great,” he recalled. 

Michael said he learned to appreciate how much sport and particularly hurling means to the people of Tipperary during his years at The Nationalist. 

He believes the paper has always tried to reflect this huge interest and passion through the strength of its sports coverage.  

He recounts that one of the longest running stories he and his colleagues  covered was the controversy over the transfer of surgical services from Our Lady’s Hospital in Cashel to St Joseph’s Hospital in Clonmel, now called South Tipperary General Hospital. 

The transfer was strongly opposed in Cashel and was fought with protests and political campaigning. He remembers it as an issue that virtually pitted the towns of Cashel and Clonmel against each other. 

“It was a huge ongoing story and it was a balancing act to make sure we covered both sides of the story fully. I think we did that.” 

Michael was appointed the paper’s editor in 2008 following the retirement of Mr Corr. 

He took over at the helm of the paper at the tail end of the Celtic Tiger economic boom and over the next few years he led his team in chronicling the devastating impact of the Great Recession on the county.   

The closure of Kickham Army Barracks in Clonmel and closure of St Michael’s acute psychiatric unit at South Tipperary General Hospital along with job losses and emigration were among the major losses The Nationalist reported on and campaigned against under his editorship during the recession years.  

Michael reported on his last Tipperary general election as editor in February. 

At the time, the county and country appeared to be on a more prosperous path but that all changed  just a few weeks later when the Covid-19 pandemic struck the country.  

Like many businesses, the pandemic has had a major impact on the newspaper industry. Michael said the challenges created by Covid-19 are probably as great as anything The Nationalist has faced in the past including wars, recession and the changes in the way people get their news.   

Adapting to constant change is a skill Michael has ably accomplished over his long career. 

He has worked under several owners of The Nationalist and through al revolution in technology in the industry. 

 He started out his working life typing his stories on a manual typewriter, which printers transferred to news pages through hot metal typesetting.

 He recalls with a laugh that on his first day working in The Nationalist, he couldn’t understand why his typewriter wouldn’t work until he discovered it was an electric model that wasn’t plugged in.

As news editor, he was involved in leading The Nationalist’s editorial staff in the transition to computer technology, the introduction of colour printing and the direct input of news stories to a computer publishing system and the move to printing the newspaper off-site in Kilkenny. 

During his tenure as editor, he oversaw the introduction of several different publishing systems in the newsroom. 

The biggest transformations were moving the paper from the broadsheet format it had been printed in for more than a century to a compact format in 2014 and the advent of the paper’s news website and social media sites. 

Despite the huge technological changes in producing The Nationalist during his working life, Michael says the paper’s philosophy has always remained the same; to bring strong local news to its readers that they couldn’t find anywhere else. 

He said The Nationalist has always tried to give a voice to people who otherwise might not be heard such as the marginalised and those in need of medical attention. 

“We need to reflect the views, interests and concerns of our readers, highlight their grievances and give them a reliable and trustworthy platform to get their message across. 

“As the decline of rural Ireland gathered pace over the years, and continues today, it is vital that the local paper remains the voice of the people.

“This was the philosophy when The Nationalist was founded over 130 years ago and remains so today. 

“The country has changed beyond belief in that time but the role of The Nationalist remains the same. 

“With successive editors and editorial teams remaining true to those early beliefs, I have no doubt that it will continue in years to come,” Michael said.