Sally Hayden

Sally Hayden, an Irish journalist and photographer, specialises in migrations, conflicts, and humanitarian crises. She has a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from University College, Dublin and a master’s degree in International Relations from Trinity College, Dublin, for which she wrote her thesis on post-conflict societies and theories of civil war resolution. She has worked for international media outlets including The Guardian, The New York Times, the BBC, and CNN International, and also as a volunteer mentor for the Refugee Journalism Project. Her work as a reporter led to the publication of her debut book My Fourth Time, We Drowned (in Spanish, Cuando lo intenté por cuarta vez, nos ahogamos, Capitán Swing, 2023), which was awarded the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, among others. In this book, which grew from a Facebook message asking for help, from an Eritrean refugee held in a Libyan detention centre, she gives a nonfiction account of the migrant crisis across North Africa.

She is currently correspondent for The Irish Times in its Beirut office and adjunct professor at the University College of Dublin School of Law.