Tributes to ‘national treasure’ Binchy

The worlds of arts, politics and journalism have led tributes to Irish novelist Maeve Binchy, who has died at the age of 72.

The former journalist and best-selling author died peacefully in hospital on Monday with her husband, children’s writer Gordon Snell, by her side.

Binchy wrote 16 novels and sold more than 40m books worldwide during her career.