On This Week: Irish moments from history (September 28th - October 4th)
Welcome to On This Week, where we delve into the standout stories from the years gone by, featuring standout news stories, major sporting events, and pop culture highlights that helped shape Irish life. Here's your dose of Irish history from September 28th - October 4th.
This week in Irish life and news
1979: the Pope says, 'Young people of Ireland, I love you'
On 30 September 1979 Pope John Paul II celebrated a youth mass in Galway, where he gave the now iconic and most memorable quote of his visit when he declared "Young people of Ireland, I love you". The young congregation react with an outburst of applause and song.
Pope John Paul II arrived in Ireland in September 1979 for a 3 day visit. He was the first Pontiff to visit Ireland. During his three day stay, he visited Dublin, Drogheda, Clonmacnoise, Galway, Knock, Maynooth and Limerick.
This mass was broadcast live as part of RTÉ's comprehensive coverage of the visit on both television and radio.
2008: the Government guarantees the banks
The Celtic Tiger was in its death throes on this week 18 years ago when, in the early hours of September 30th, senior bankers, regulators and the government came to an agreement on a deal to guarantee Irish banks.
In the previous twenty-four hours, the banks had suffered a massive fall in share prices. International investors became anxious about the stability of the Irish banking system and began to withdraw large amounts of money.
In response to the turmoil, the state announced a two-year bank guarantee covering six Irish financial institutions including Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life & Permanent, and building societies EBS and Irish Nationwide. The deal was a state insurance policy covering all debt and deposits to the sum of €400 billion.
That's €100,000 for every Irish citizen.
The Irish stock market reacted positively to the announcement of the deal and the Irish banks clawed back their huge losses from the previous days. Bernard McAlinden of NCB Stockbrokers describes the move by the government as "radical" but says that in the extreme global circumstances, the move is warranted.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said that the deal is necessary for the survival of Irish banks and for economic life in Ireland.
We're talking about their basic capacity to access funds in a world market that is now drying up.
According to Jonathan Dodd, spokesman for the European Commission, the commission would investigate whether the Irish deal is in breach of competition rules as there are foreign banks operating in Ireland and they do not fall under the deal.
Nobody's quite sure what the long-term consequences of this enormous deal will be.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 30 September 2008. The reporter is David Murphy.
This week in arts and entertainment
1962: Sylvia Beach, the woman who published Ulysses
On this week in 1962, RTÉ broadcast an interview with Sylvia Beach, the woman responsible for publishing one of the most important pieces of modernist literature: Ulysses by James Joyce. In this excerpt from the programme 'Self Portrait: Sylvia Beach', Beach talked to Niall Sheridan about her encounters with James Joyce and how she came to publish 'Ulysses' from her small bookshop, Shakespeare and Company frequented by J. M. Synge, Ernest Hemingway, Austin Clarke, Samuel Beckett, Scott Fitzgerald and many other young writers. Ulysses was published in February 1922.
Beach described her first encounter with James Joyce at a party in Paris.
The Irish writer James Joyce is here.
The programme Self Portrait: Sylvia Beach was filmed in the garden next to the Joyce Tower, Dublin following the opening of the Joyce Museum. It was was broadcast on 2 October 1962.
Sylvia Beach died 3 days later.
The programme was remastered for the Bloomsday centenary and rebroadcast as part of 'The View Presents Sylvia Beach: The Woman Who Published Ulysses' on 14 June 2004.
1966: going clubbing in Dublin, 60s-style
On this week sixty years ago, Newsbeat reported on a new kind of club that was a lot hipper than the classic Irish dancehall. Club Arthur, then open for six months, was one of 100 "beat clubs" that had sprung up around Dublin since the early Sixties. Rather than large dance halls, the clubs often operated from cellars in buildings around the city centre. They offered a relatively cheap membership and entry policy and were so popular they could make up to £1000 a week, although running costs were growing higher.
The success of the beat clubs had also attracted the interest of the police who visit frequently seeking evidence of drug taking and sexual misconduct. The clubs had even been denounced from the pulpit with one priest condemning them as
Dens of iniquity
Michael Ryan, a band member and a director of Club Arthur believed it was the location of beat clubs in cellars, rather than in the suburbs like the nicer rugby clubs, that had caused older people to be suspicious.
Older people are squares
Ryan invited parents and the press to come to his club to experience first-hand what goes on there but his offer has not been taken up in great numbers. He was adamant the clubs were not evil, dangerous places. The band playing at Club Arthur in this report is Aesop's Fables.
According to the report, those who attended beat clubs did so primarily because of the music, but also because they could wear the clothes they like in surroundings complimentary to their clothes. Boasting an exciting and carefree atmosphere, the kids felt these clubs were different from the usual dance halls.
It's amazing the difference it makes when you have a good group, the way you feel.
This episode of 'Newsbeat' was broadcast on 30 September 1966. The reporter is Cathal O'Shannon.
This week in sports
1981: George Best on growing up in Belfast
On this week in 1981, George Best and his wife Angela were guests on the Late Late Show. Then living in the USA, Best was still playing football and was considering being part of the Northern Ireland World Cup squad.
Best talked about being a boy with a talent for football in Belfast who would go on to break into the Manchester United first team at the age of seventeen.
I was fortunate I was born with a gift and I hoped I used it a little bit better than some would have.
This episode of the Late Late Show was broadcast on 3 October 1981. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
1983: John McEnroe in Dublin
On this week 43 years ago, tennis legend John McEnroe was in Dublin for the Davis Cup at the Fitzwilliam Tennis Club. McEnroe talked to Mary Fitzgerald of the children's TV show Anything Goes about how he became interested in tennis, who his influences were, and how he saw the future of the game in Ireland.
McEnroe began playing tennis at the age of eight, growing up looked to players like Rod Laver for inspiration. His said his biggest influence was his coach and former Wimbeldon doubles champion, the Mexican tennis player Antonio Palafox.
McEnroe was joined on the America Team for the Davis Cup by Peter Fleming, Gene Mayer and Eliot Teltscher. Their match against Ireland was held in Dublin between 30 September and 2 October.
At this stage in his sporting career John McEnroe had twice won the Wimbledon singles title in 1981 and 1983. In 1984 he won his third title beating Jimmy Connors in the final. McEnroe also holds five doubles titles at Wimbledon.
This episode of 'Anything Goes' was broadcast on 1 October 1983. The reporter is Mary Fitzgerald.
What was Number 1 in Ireland this week?
1977: 'Nobody Does It Better' by Carly Simon
The theme song for the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me was number one for a single week 49 years ago.
1994: 'Saturday Night' by Whigfield
Whigfield may have been a one-hit-wonder, but it was a very big hit. 'Saturday Night' topped the charts for four weeks in 1994.
2001: 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' by Kylie Minogue
The Australian icon scored a massive hit with this pop classic 25 years ago. It was number one for four weeks.
Famous Irish names celebrating birthdays this week
Jasmine Guinness
The model and designer turns 50 on September 28th.
Cecelia Ahern
The best-selling novelist celebrates her 45th birthday on September 30th.
Keith Duffy
The Boyzone star turns 52 on October 1st.
