Paul O’Brien, a military historian, works for the Office of Public Works at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. Author of fifteen books, he has written extensively on the military strategy of the 1916 Rising, as well as the British Army in Ireland. Two of his books, Blood on the Streets and Crossfire, were turned into the critically acclaimed drama-documentary A Terrible Beauty. He lives in Santry, Dublin with his wife, daughter and two cats.

Sergeant Wayne Fitzgerald joined the Defence Forces in 1990, serving with the 5 Inf Bn until 1997.  He has worked in a number of roles in the Army’s 2 Bde HQ and Air Corps HQ. In 2011 he was detached to Defence Forces HQ to work on www.military.ie. He then became the editor of the Defence Forces Connect newsletter. In May 2011 he was appointed editor of An Cosantóir, where he still works. Wayne has served overseas as a peacekeeper with the UN, EU and NATO PfP in Lebanon (1991), Kosovo (2002, 2010) and Bosnia (2008).