Alex Kane – freelance commentator and columnist

Alex Kane is a former Director of Communications for the Ulster Unionist Party and was based at the Assembly between 1999 and 2010 in a variety of roles for the party.  

He is now a very well known freelance commentator and columnist, writing and commentating for a range of platforms, including the BBC, UTV, RTÉ, Irish Times, Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter. For over a decade he was a weekly columnist for the Irish News and News Letter at the same time, the only person to ever have held the joint role. 

Away from politics his great passions are cinema generally (he began his writing career as a film critic); Laurel and Hardy particularly (who he describes as perfect training for political commentary in Northern Ireland); and Sherlock Holmes (his collection has now almost 2000 items).

He has also written extensively about his background in an orphanage and his post-adoption struggle to overcome his muteness.