Kevin Maguire in Conversation with Feargal Sharkey

Clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey was the lead singer of punk band The Undertones who now uses his powerful voice to improve our environment. Music hits included Teenage Kicks and My Perfect Cousin before he won applause for chart-topping A Good Heart in a successful solo career. Born in Derry in Northern Ireland, Feargal was acclaimed for his song writing and performing and now his campaigning.

Kevin Maguire is one of the country’s best known journalists. The Daily Mirror columnist is on TV and radio almost daily and has appeared on Have I Got News for You and Question Time. Still calling South Shields “home”, Kevin’s back regularly and is a visiting professor at Sunderland University. He pens a weekly column in the New Statesman magazine and before the Mirror worked on The Guardian and Daily Telegraph and regularly features on Good Morning Britain with Andrew Pierce. Kevin is a dad of three and has three grandkids. He co-authored a book on Great Parliamentary Scandals and recently bought a house in Cullercoats.

ABOUT WRITE FESTIVAL 2026

This event is part of The Word’s WRITE Festival which takes place throughout the whole of September. Enjoy a programme of unmissable events, workshops and performances! Find out more by viewing our full WRITE Festival programme.