Joe Armstrong
Trading as: Joe Armstrong, Writer & Editor
Kells, Co. Meath
Telephone: 046 924 9285
Professional memberships
Qualified Teacher Status in UK; Secondary Teacher registered with The Teaching Council (Ireland); Member of National Union of Journalists; Member of Dublin Freelance Branch of NUJ.
Educational qualifications
BA (2.1 Hons) English & History BD (2.1 Hons) Theology BPhil (2.1) Philosophy
Training and professional development
Microsoft Excel, Shaw Academy, 2018 On-Screen Editing, SFEP, 2008 Proofreading, AFEPI training seminar, 2008 From Keyboard to Proof, Clé, 2001 Screenwriting, Screenwise International, 1991
Experience
Writer, author and editor for 25 years. Communicator, public speaker and broadcaster (RTE Radio One, TV3 and local radio); columnist with The Irish Freethinker and Humanist and former weekly columnist with The Irish Times for seven years; author of long-running columns e.g., in Reality and Face Up; former Managing Editor, Ireland, Peter Lang (Oxford) Ltd, international academic publisher, and previously its Commissioning Editor for Ireland; contributor to national and international publications, including The Sunday Times, The Sunday Business Post, The Sunday Tribune; author of Men’s Health: the Common Sense Approach (translated into several languages); co-author of From Special Care to Specialist Treatment: a History of Muckamore Abbey Hospital (Ulster Historical Foundation); former editor of Safety and Health at Work, Ireland; contributed to magazine of EU Agency for Safety and Health at Work; author of ICTU publication Workplace Stress in Ireland; former secondary school teacher (English and Religion) in London and Meath.
Services offered
Writing service. Can research and write from scratch. Writing of columns. Also, structural analysis of unpublished books/material – identifying what needs to be fixed. Rewriting and livening up a dry manuscript with journalistic eye. Corporate histories. Script doctor. Writing/editing for couples and wedding service providers, e.g., fashion, venues, photographers and videographers. Writing speeches for groom, Best Man, and CEOs etc. of companies. Speech writing.
Media
Speeches, columns, newspapers, books, journal articles, websites, blogs, magazines, corporate publications, publications of Irish and EU official bodies.
Subject areas
Secular life, post-religion, life’s meaning, love, marriage, relationships, Humanism, history, politics, trade unions, Ireland, Catholicism, women’s issues, thinking for yourself, integrity, humanity, honesty.
Clients include
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, the Pensions Board, National Educational Welfare Board, the Ulster Historical Foundation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Health Service Executive, and companies and private clients.
Examples of work undertaken
I love writing my current column ‘After God’ in The Irish Freethinker and Humanist. I am proud on my work on From Special Care to Specialist Treatment: a History of Muckamore Abbey Hospital (Ulster Historical Foundation). I’ve also been commissioned to write reflections and poetry for special State and corporate occasions and commemorations. I commissioned the prolific ‘Reimagining Ireland’ series (Peter Lang), and other series and many books.
Additional information
I am an Accredited Solemniser of Marriages in Ireland, an Accredited Celebrant with the Humanist Association of Ireland, and a Member of Toastmasters International. I am a writer, an author and a multi-award winning communicator. My RTE Radio One documentary ‘From Belief to Unbelief’ was a 2013 Finalist Award Winner at the New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Programs, and I won four Toastmaster speech competitions in 2018, at Club and Area levels, for the Tale Tales and Humorous Speech contests. I advanced to Division level in the 2019 Humorous Speech contest.