The warmth of vindication.

The winter scene here in the West of Ireland is beautifully bleak outside the window, but I’m lovely and warm inside.

It is a self-satisfied glow that heats me.  This isn’t an emotion that I often allow myself, but I think it is warranted.

It is always a very affirming experience to have your work acknowledged by your peers.

Therefore I was surprised and pleased to be contacted a few days ago by email by Roy Greenslade of the Guardian.

He wanted to write about my role in the Dallas email story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/nov/30/investigative-journalism-scotland?CMP=twt_gu

I am grateful that he took the time to contact me and saw fit to write the above blog about my journalism.

The day that Roy’s blog was uploaded a friend said that a comment had appeared on a football supporters message board that I had pestered Roy for weeks to write about me.

I shared that world exclusive with Roy later on that day over the phone.

We both laughed like drains.

You will find in Roy’s blog links to the work of James MacMillan in the Daily Telegraph and Bryan McNally of the Sunday Mirror.

Both James and Bryan felt moved to record their appreciation and their thanks to me in my role in the Dallas email story.

Yesterday the commissioning editor of the Guardian Media section contacted me.

They wanted 400 words on how I broke the Dallas email story and my use of New Media.

I was happy to file to them and they have the copy.

As I was writing this blog I received an email from a journalist working for an English based soccer magazine:

“Genuine proper journalism,great work fella.”

It worth noting that as I write my name hasn’t been mentioned once in a Scottish title during the reportage of this story.

One Scotland, many cultures…

Of course, nothing succeeds like success and the last month has been awesome for this site and for my work.

The month of November saw 1.2 million pages sourced on this site.

ONE POINT TWO MILLION.

Those stats are with advertising folks as I write this.

I am going to try and take a back seat for the six weeks or so.

I have decided to publish a book covering the last two years of my journalism on Celtic related matters.

Of course, that’s the plan, but six weeks ago I didn’t have the Dallas email story.

My book editor is working away and we have 90 % of the material collated.

If anything it will be a culling process as much as a writing process.

The final chapter I have still to write.

It is the inside story of how I got and broke the Dallas email story.

There are few surprised contained therein.

The book should be published late January/early February.

10% of the royalties will go to those fine folk in the Celtic Graves Association.

A working title is:

“A Rebel Journalist.

From the Famine Song to Dallasgate.”

I like being a rebel………….