Informed 05 DM2023 NUJ’s new top team


Natasha Hirst is the NUJ’s president and Gerry Curran and Fran McNulty are joint vice-presidents. John Barsby continues as honorary treasurer


Natasha Hirst has been a super- active and energetic NUJ member as chair of the equality, photographers’ and development councils and on the Welsh Executive Council and Disabled Members’ Council. She is a regular speaker at NUJ events and always keen to spread the word among students and young members, visiting journalism colleges and organising online get-togethers with the union’s newest members. She spoke to many motions during DM2023, including one to ensure the union would encourage employers to adopt domestic abuse policies. “Nine years ago,” she told delegates, “I was living in a women’s refuge and was unable to work for almost three years. It was the NUJ which helped me to rebuild my life and get my career back on track. Becoming an NUJ activist gave me a voice and provided opportunities to make a real difference for myself and others.” She first became active in the NUS disabled students’ campaign while at university and served as NUS Wales president 2003-04. She was an equality officer for Wales TUC and now specialises in social justice, political and campaigns photography and is the chair of Disability Arts Cymru. She is deaf and neurodivergent and was educated in mainstream schools, learning British Sign Language as an adult. Fran McNulty is an award-winning journalist and has been an active member of the NUJ for almost 20 years. He is a presenter and reporter for Prime Time, the flagship programme of Irish national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He has also worked in radio and has reported all over the world, from South Africa to Palestine, and he has covered stories as varied as papal conclaves and


Gerry Curran and Fran McNulty


Natasha Hirst


illicit crack dens. Fran’s stories focus on social justice issues and the poverty and deprivation in some communities. He has held numerous officer roles in the union at RTÉ and sits on the Industrial Relations Tribunal, the station’s disputes resolution tribunal, and is a member of the Irish Executive Council and an active recruiter for the union. He said: “As NUJ vice-president, I aim to build on the work of the union in promoting the importance of press freedom.” Gerry Curran is media relations adviser


to the Courts Service in Ireland, and to five Chief Justices. He has a taste for colourful shirts and is a well-regarded and prominent figure in the media industry after starting a career in broadcasting 30 years’ ago. In the past 25 years he has served on local, branch, Irish and NUJ-wide committees in a variety of capacities. He said: “I feel energised at


John Barsby


the possibilities of change, in the world, in my work, and in our union. This is where I think the ‘in it together’ approach of the NUJ can best use my talents and efforts to harness various sources of energy in the union towards our common goals.” Former president John Barsby was


re-elected unopposed as the NUJ’s honorary treasurer. John is a former BBC journalist and long-serving member of the national executive council. One of Natasha’s first tasks was to give


a warm thanks to Pierre Vicary, the outgoing president. He said of his 55-year career as a journalist, he had been very honoured to be the NUJ president and one of the highlights had been addressing a meeting in Derry in support of Radio Foyle. As a night worker at the World Service, he had campaigned for better conditions for those working anti- social hours.


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