Stephen Riley

Stephen Riley is a retired Canadian journalist who lives in Templepatrick, Northern Ireland.

Riley was born and raised in Canada, spending most of his life in Manitoba. At heart, he is still a "bush boy," having grown up in mining towns in northern Manitoba and northern Ontario. He has hunted, fished, hiked, camped, and canoed through hundreds of miles of boreal forest and lakes. His endless curiosity about different places and the people who inhabit them has been a driving force in his life.

From 1964 to 1978, Riley worked as a reporter, copy editor, and news editor in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Toronto, Fredericton, Winnipeg, Mexico City, and Belfast (just southeast of Templepatrick). During his time in Belfast (1971-73), Riley lived through the two worst years of the "Troubles."

From 1978 to 2000, he served as a television producer of current affairs features at CBC Winnipeg. During that time, he went back to Belfast to produce regional investigative programs with BBC Television. In 2000, he moved back to Northern Ireland for good, producing television at the BBC and then UTV, the BBC's direct TV competitor in investigative stories.

Riley was recognized for his in-depth reporting during the "Troubles." At CBC Winnipeg, he contributed to the station's reputation for high-quality journalism. In 1990 at CBC Winnipeg, he produced a controversial documentary about St. John’s Cathedral Boys’ School.

In 1994, he began research in earnest on God’s Paddlers. Riley interviewed nearly 100 people in Canada and the United Kingdom and reviewed hundreds of documents, including internal minutes and reports, personal letters and diaries, photos, and videotapes. In 2022, he donated his extensive research on St. John’s boys’ schools to the Canada national archives, preserving it for future generations.

Riley has been married to Mavis for 55 years. They have two children and two grandchildren, all dual citizens of Canada and Northern Ireland, just like him. In recent years, Riley's interests have included aviation history and aircraft restoration, art (acrylic painting), writing, reading, travel, and gardening. Previously, he was involved in amateur acting, radio deejaying, union organizing, and community activism. Throughout the years, Riley has lived in Winnipeg, Fredericton, Montreal, Saskatoon, Banff, Chicago, North Bay, Edmonton, Manitouwadge, Belfast, Yellowknife, Toronto, Flin Flon, Mexico City, Templepatrick, and Kenora. He maintains a special fondness for Winnipeg.