This is the third programme in the series, and hosted by Donagh of this blog and Irish Left Review.
There were ten issues of Gralton published from 1982-83, and three issues of Z Magazine, all in 1989.
Looking Left 003 from DCTV on Vimeo.
For online copies of Z Magazine, and issue one of Gralton, see below.
[This is an edited version of an article I wrote which first appeared in Football Studies 11, 1 (2008). The article itself is based on a paper I presented at the 2005 Irish Sport History Conference.]
In 1955 the Irish political, cultural, and religious establishment found itself challenged by an unusual and reluctant opponent: The Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The clash arose over a friendly soccer game between the Republic of Ireland and Yugoslavia, which was played at Dalymount Park on 19 October of that year. The Catholic archbishop of Dublin, Dr. John Charles McQuaid, one of the dominant figures in Irish 20th century life, called for the cancellation of the game. This was echoed by various government ministers, senior civil servants, and Catholic lay organisations. The Irish national broadcasting service Radio Televis Éireann (RTE) declined to cover the game after its main sports commentator, Phil Greene, pulled out of the broadcast.
The protests arose out of the continued persecution of the Catholic Church in communist Yugoslavia, and were similar in tone to other protests held in Ireland over the previous seven years. The fact that the game went ahead with an attendance of around 21,400 has been read by some as a counter-protest against the forces of conservative Ireland, especially the public influence of archbishop McQuaid. Indeed, the archbishop’s biographer, John Cooney, wrote that the Yugoslavia game was ‘a populist revolt against McQuaid’s iron rule; the first of his reign.’ (Cooney, p.309.)
This article will argue that the controversy reveals a clash of culture in 1950s Ireland, rather than one over politics or ideology. This is not to say that 1950s Ireland was bereft of clashes over politics or ideology, but that the Ireland v Yugoslavia game became a protest against an attempt by the dominant Irish conservative forces to interfere with the most popular cultural activity of working class Dublin, rather than one energised by a desire on the part of the working class to confront the government, the Catholic Church, or the permanent secretaries of the Irish civil service. The game also provides an entry into Irish working class life – an area often neglected by Irish historians, and one with a culture that, on this occasion at least, found itself in uneasy conflict with the Irish establishment.
The Kenny Report, the official title of which is “COMMITTEE ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING LAND, REPORT TO THE MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ROBERT MOLLOY, CHAIRMAN MR. JUSTICE J. KENNY (DUBLIN,1974), was begun in 1971 and finally published in 1974. Its findings have never been implemented.
Its recommendations formed part of the Green Party’s pre-election manifesto. And even though John Gormley is the Minister in charge of local government, and land reform, there has been absolutely no sign of the Greens pushing this in any form or fashion.
The fact that the report called for the effective end to land speculation is the main reason why it has been ignored by every political party in government.
At present, the report is out of print. It can be downloaded here (26MB).
Alternatively, it can be read below.
Enjoy.
This is the second progamme in the four-part series, Looking Left, which is being made for DCTV. The topic here is the Ripening of Time, the political journal of the Ripening of Time Collective, thirteen issues of which were published between 1976 and 1980. On the panel are Ursula Barry, UCD Women’s Education, Research and Resource Centre (WERRC); Michael Youlton of the Irish Anti-War Movement; and myself. The programme is hosted by Seán O’Siorchu.
You can download issues by right-clicking on each of the numbers here: no.7, no.9, no.11 (part of), no.13.
Alternatively, you can read them online, below the video file.
Enjoy.
Looking Left 2 : The Ripening of Time from DCTV on Vimeo.
Below is the first of four programmes on various left-wing publications in Ireland in the 1960s to 1980s. This one discusses the Irish People, which was the newspaper of Official Sinn Féin, later Sinn Féin the Workers Party, later The Workers Party.
On the panel are Dr. Brian Hanley, Queens University, Padraig Yeates, former editor of the Irish People, and myself.
It is hosted by Daniel Finn.
Copies of the Irish People are available here and here.
Enjoy.
Looking Left from DCTV on Vimeo.
Download here.
The Sound is a monthly current affairs programme, made by members of DCTV, Dublin’s public access station. Below is the first edition of The Sound, along with its contents. The programme is 73 minutes long, and is broadcast on DCTV (NTL Channel 802) on Mondays @ 12.30pm and Tuesdays @ 7pm. It is also available here.
1. Paula Geraghty on NATO’s 60th anniversary and its role in the world today. She is joined by Seamus Rattigan of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, and Michael Youlton of the Irish Anti-War Movement.
2. Mick O’Reilly talks to Mick Berney of ICTU about Congress and its role today, follwed by Mick giving his thoughts on the role it should be undertaking at this time.
3. Donnacha O’Briain talks to Nessa Ni Chasaide of Debt and Development Coalition Ireland about the G20 Meeting held last month (April 2009) in London, followed by a general discussion involving Fleachta Phelan of Comhlamh, and Molly Walsh of Climate Camp.
4. Seán Ó Siochru interviews Michael Taft, research officer with UNITE, about the economic crisis. This is followed by a general discussion involving Michael Taft, Mick O’Reilly and Jim Stewart, Trinity College Dublin. Jim also writes for www.progressive-economy.ie
The pamphlet, embedded below, dates from 1933 and the relaunch of the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), which took place at 5 Leinster Street, Dublin, on 3-4 June 1933. (The first Irish Communist Party was launched in October 1921, but dissolved on 26 January 1924.) It was held under the cover-name of the Dublin total Abstinence Association. The city had recently seen a series of violent anti-communist demonstrations – hence the need for secrecy. The meeting was hailed a success by all, and resulted in the election of Sean Murray as general secretary, and Jim Larkin Jnr as chairman. Forty-five delegates attended, representing 250 members.
The party was the direct result of the ‘bolshevising’ of the various revolutionary workers groups in Ireland – in simple terms, the creation of a single, disciplined, revolutionary party organised around factory cells rather than territorial branches. Along with the manifesto, the party also passed a number of resolutions, including a declared affiliation to the Comintern.