Press Releases08 Nov 04

'Nobody's Fool' - new biography of Archbishop Eames by Alf McCreary

As the Chairman of the Lambeth Commission on Communion which recently published the Windsor Report, most observers agreed that Robin Eames was given a near impossible task. Described by the Archbishop of York Dr David Hope as "the troubleshooter "of the Anglican Church, he was brought in at a time of upheaval to ease tensions and to find a way forward for an institution in crisis.

This new biography, Nobody's Fool, shows that Eames' willingness and ability to take on situations of almost impossible conflict extends far beyond the institutional Church. While the stakes remain high for the world-wide Anglican Church, Robin Eames' role as a significant peacemaker during the Northern Ireland Troubles meant that at times he had to play with fire. For the first time Nobody's Fool reveals the full extent of Robin Eames' involvement, and presents details which would have put him and others at risk had they been revealed earlier.

Based partly on extensive private conversations with the Archbishop, and also on interviews with other people including the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and other senior church and political figures, Alf McCreary describes his secret meetings with paramilitaries, and with British and Irish politicians at the highest level.

We also learn that, trusted by the Irish Premier Albert Reynolds and the British Prime Minister John Major, Robin Eames - unusually for a senior cleric- drafted a key section of the historic Downing Street Declaration of 1993. Eames is both a politician and a pastor, and the book is also moving in its descriptions of the personal toll which the violence took on the man behind the public image. The Remembrance Day explosion at the Enniskillen Cenotaph and his attempts at mediation during the Drumcree stand-off are just two episodes of extreme personal pressure with which he had to deal.

This is a revealing and candid book about an extraordinary Anglican Archbishop, and a warm and humourous man, who has an assured place not only in the history of his Church, but also in the history of his country. Writing in the Foreword, The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams states "This book deserves every praise and the warmest welcome."

Alf McCreary is a widely-experienced journalist and author who writes extensively on Irish affairs. For more than two decades he was a reporter, columnist and senior feature writer with the Belfast Telegraph, where he is currently the Religion Correspondent. He has won a number of British and regional Press awards and commendations for his work.

Nobody's Fool
ISBN: 0340862238 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date: 18th November 2004
Price: Stg£20.00, Hardback

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