Ronan Bennett

Ronan Bennett(born 14 January 1956) is an Irish novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his work asshowrunner,writer andexecutive producerof the drug and gang-related crime drama television seriesTop Boy.His other writing credits include the 1997 crime filmFace,the 2009Michael Manncrime biopicPublic Enemiesand the 2017BBChistorical drama miniseriesGunpowder.He has since gone on to create, write and executive-produce theGolden Globe-nominatedthriller seriesThe Day of the Jackal,which has been renewed for second series.

Ronan Bennett
Bennett in 2019
Born	(1956-01-14)14 January 1956 Belfast,Northern Ireland
Education	St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast
Alma mater	King's College London
Occupation(s)	Novelist and screenwriter
Spouse	Georgina Henry ​ ​ (m.2003; died 2014)​
Children	2 (includingFinn Bennett)

Born inBelfast,Northern Ireland, Bennett moved toHackney,East London,where he lived with his wife and two children. Inspired by witnessing a twelve-year-old boy dealing drugs at his localTescosupermarket in Hackney, Bennett created and wroteTop Boy,a British crime drama television series focusing on gang culture and drug dealing in a predominantly black council estate in East London. Originally airing for two series onChannel 4,the show was cancelled in 2014 but was revived as an originalNetflixseries, produced by rap artistDrake.

Background

Bennett, the son of William H. and Geraldine Bennett, was born in Belfast but was raised inNewtownabbey,Northern Ireland, in a devoutRoman Catholicfamily. He attendedSt Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast,on theLower Falls Road,where he became politically active.He was accepted for a place atQueen's University,before being arrested for suspected involvement in anIRArobbery.

Long Kesh remand

In 1974, when he was 19, Bennett was convicted by a no-juryDiplock courtof murdering Inspector William Elliott, a 49-year-old police officer in theRoyal Ulster Constabulary,during anOfficial IRArobbery at the Ulster Bank in The Diamond shopping area inRathcoole,close to his home inMerville Garden Village,on 6 September 1974.His conviction was declaredunsafein 1975 and he was released fromLong Keshprison.

"Persons Unknown" trial and Wapping Autonomy Centre

Bennett had been writing in prison to Iris Mills in Huddersfield,to which he moved after his release from Long Kesh,becoming involved withanarchistpaperBlack Flag.Bennett was arrested there with Mills, aNew Zealandnational,and after an illegal attempt to deport them was made,they moved toParis,then London.In 1978, he was arrested, again with Iris Mills,for conspiracy to cause explosions with "persons unknown" and spent another 16 months in prison on remand. Bennett conducted his own defence,and he and his co-defendants were acquitted in 1979.In 1992, Bennett wrote a fictionalised account of what was known as the "Persons Unknown" Official Secrets Act trial,The Second Trial.Anarcho-punkband thePoison Girlsrecorded a song "Persons Unknown" and released it as a joint single withCrassto raise money for Bennett's anarchisticWapping Autonomy Centre.Mills and Bennett found funding, then rebuilt and decorated the centre, which did not last long, succumbing to vandalism by thepunkfans it attracted.

Later education and life

Bennett studied history atKing's College London,receiving a first-class honours degree. He later completed, in 1987, a doctorate on crime and law enforcement in 17th-century England,material he used inHavoc, in its Third Year.That same year, he was hired as a researcher byJeremy CorbynMP, later Leader of theLabour Party,in a move that provoked controversy and security concerns.

Bennett lives in London with his family. His partner since his time at King's College and wife since 2003 wasGeorgina Henry,former deputy editor ofThe Guardianand editor ofguardian.co.uk,the newspaper's website;Henry died in February 2014 fromsinus cancer.Bennett discussed the loss of his wife in aBBC Radio 3programme,Private Passions.

Since 2006, Bennett has co-hosted a regular Monday chess column withDaniel KinginThe Guardian,which seeks to be instructive, rather than topical.Through test positions taken from actual games, their amateur and expert assessments of the possible continuations are discussed and compared. It has been supposed thatNigel Short's column was axed to make way for the new feature and the justification for this change has been the subject of some debate in chess circles.

Work

Bennett has published five novels and two non-fiction works. It was his third novel,The Catastrophist,that brought him into the public eye. This novel was set in theBelgian Congojust before independence, with the rise and fall ofPatrice Lumumba.Critics hailed the novel, which drew comparisons toGraham Greene,Joseph ConradandJohn le Carré's African novel,The Constant Gardener.It was nominated for theWhitbread Awardin 1998. Bennett's fourth novel,Havoc, in its Third Year,was published in 2004. It is a dark tale of Puritan fanaticism, set in a town in northern England in the 1630s, in the decade before theEnglish Civil War.

In 1990, Bennett was co-author ofStolen Years: before and after Guildford,the memoir ofPaul Hill,one of theGuildford Fourwho were wrongfully convicted in 1975 for the Guildford and Woolwichpub bombingsand imprisoned for 14 years.Bennett has also written several acclaimed screenplays for film and television, among themThe Hamburg Celland the controversialRebel Heart.He contributes regularly to the British and Irish press.

In 2006, Bennett's novelZugzwang,was published week-by-week in the British Sunday newspaperThe Observer.The novel was written in weekly instalments with new chapters being submitted to the newspaper close to publication date. Each chapter was accompanied by illustrations by British artistMarc Quinn.

Politics

Bennett is aLabour Partymember.In November 2019, he endorsed the Labour Party leaderJeremy Corbynin the2019 UK general election.In December 2019, Bennett wrote inThe Guardian:"The Corbyn I know is a rare thing – warm, decent and interested in justice", and "The Jeremy Corbyn I met 35 years ago was all about solidarity. He was the ordinary one who has grown as a leader despite everything that has been thrown at him. He is asking us to join in building a society full of decency and love. Those two words alone do it for me."In the same month, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Bennett signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."

Bibliography

Fiction

• The Second Prison(1991) – shortlisted for the 1991Irish Times/Aer Lingus Prize.
• Overthrown by Strangers(1992)
• The Catastrophist(1998) – shortlisted for theWhitbread Novel Award.
• Havoc, in Its Third Year(2004) – winner of theHughes & Hughes/Sunday Independent Irish Novel of the Yearaward.
• Zugzwang(2006)

Non-fiction

• Stolen Years: Before and After Guildford(with Paul Hill, 1990)
• Fire and Rain(broadcast onRadio 4,1994)
• "Life and Death in Long Kesh"– Ronan Bennett's memoir and film review ofHunger,The Guardian(22 October 2008)

Filmography

Feature films

• A Further Gesture,akaThe Break(1997)
• Lucky Break(2001)
• Face(1997)
• Public Enemies(2009)

Television

• Love Lies Bleeding(1993)
• A Man You Don't Meet Every Day(1994)
• Rebel Heart(2001)
• Fields of Gold(2002)
• The Hamburg Cell(2004)
• Hidden(2011)
• Top Boy(2011–13, 2019–23)
• Gunpowder(2017)
• The Day of the Jackal(2024–present)
• The Associate(TBA)

Short films

• Do Armed Robbers Have Love Affairs?(2002)

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref(s)
BAFTA TV Awards	2012	Best Mini-Series	Top Boy	Nominated
	2024	Best Drama Series		Won
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards	2012	Best Drama Series		Nominated
Critics Choice Awards	2025	Best Drama Series	The Day of the Jackal	Pending
Golden Globe Awards	2025	Best Television Series – Drama		Nominated
IFTA Awards	2012	Best Writer – Television Drama	Hidden	Nominated
	2018	Best Script – Drama	Gunpowder	Nominated
	2020		Top Boy	Nominated
	2023			Nominated
RTS Awards	2012	Drama Series	Top Boy	Won
	2023			Nominated
	2024			Nominated

See also

• List of Northern Irish writers

External links

• Ronan BennettatIMDb
• 1998 interview withBlack Flagmagazine
• 1999 interview withSalonmagazine
• Zugzwang onThe Observerwebsite
• Bloomsbury author information on Bennett