NI-born TV writer behind Day of the Jackal hit once wrongly convicted of IRA murder

Showrunner spent year in Long Kesh after RUC man was shot dead in Rathcoole in 1974 Ronan Bennett attends the UK premiere of The Day Of The Jackal in London A screenwriter who was wrongly convicted of an IRA murder has broken the record for viewing figures on Sky TV — with a series about an assassin. The Day of the Jackal, starring Eddie Redmayne and based on the Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name, has been written and created by Belfast-born Ronan Bennett..