I am Paul McElwee from Northern Ireland. I am a freelance journalist and online film critic. I grew up right on the border with Southern Ireland in the small town of Strabane with my parents, two sisters and one brother.
I have lived in Strabane all my life and have always had a very keen interest in journalism and film. Working initially in a customer service role in a call centre, I eventually took the plunge at 25 and went back to college. After doing a Media Studies degree in the University of Ulster I embarked on a journalism course at the North West Regional College (previously NWIFHE) in Derry. Finding journalism a tough industry to crack I was thrust back into the call centre business while searching for my big break. Alongside this, I indulged my interest in cinema and freelance in various newspaper publications, sending in stories when I could. My break in the industry came when, while working in the Ulster Herald, I was afforded the opportunity to become their resident film critic, a post I still hold almost ten years on. I have recently got the position of film critic for Donegal Daily.com, a news website here in Ireland A stint in radio, as a content assistant in BBC Radio Foyle and a producer-researcher role in Drive 105, followed where I gained invaluable skills and experience in radio journalism.
I have also written for culture websites doing reviews and also for MUMSRU, an online publication which caters for single mothers.