LINKS TO CASE STUDY 1 - FPEE IN THE FIRST PROGRAMME FOR ECONOMIC EXPANSION, WE LEARNED ABOUT HOW NEW IDEAS INFLUENCED GOVERNMENT POLICY IN RELATION TO THE ECONOMY. WE SAW HOW IRELAND S POLITICIANS WERE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE POST-WAR WORLD WAS BECOMING A GLOBAL ONE, AND IRELAND COULDN T AFFORD TO BE ECONOMICALLY ISOLATED. CASE STUDY 2 HELPS US TO LOOK AT HOW THESE CHANGING ATTITUDES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 1960S DIDN T ONLY CHANGE ECONOMIC POLICY, BUT ALSO PEOPLE S ATTITUDES AND VALUES - SOCIAL NORMS, HOW THEY VALUED EDUCATION, THE ARTS AND MUSIC IN SOCIETY, THE ROLE AND INFLUENCE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SOCIETY, THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY
EDUCATION IN IRELAND BEFORE 1960 IN CASE STUDY 1, WE SAW IRELAND LOOKING TO ATTRACT FOREIGN COMPANIES TO IRELAND THROUGH, FOR EXAMPLE, THE IDA. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN ATTRACTING THESE COMPANIES IS THE AVAILABILITY OF AN EDUCATED WORK FORCE. IN 1962, THE OECD REPORTED THAT IRELAND S EDUCATION SYSTEM WAS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE, NOTING ESPECIALLY THAT IT DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES AND THAT EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS WAS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY LINKED TO A PERSON S WEALTH https://youtu.be/xxtzu7tgqyw
REFORMING EDUCATION IN THE 60S FROM 1959-64, PATRICK HILLERY WAS MINISTER FOR EDUCATION. HE INTRODUCED A NUMBER OF REFORMS: PRIMARY SCHOOLS NO LONGER REQUIRED TO TEACH THROUGH IRISH FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR REBUILDING AND REFURBISHING OF SCHOOLS SCHOLARSHIPS FOR SECOND LEVEL IN 1967, DONOGH O MALLEY BECAME MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND INTRODUCED FREE SECOND LEVEL EDUCATION FOR ALL. THIS WAS A MAJOR MILESTONE FOR IRELAND, AS IT OPENED UP HIGHER EDUCATION IN IRELAND TO ALL THE PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE WEALTHY. MANY CREDIT O MALLEY WITH MAKING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL CHANGES IN IRISH HISTORY. Donogh o Malley
REFORMING EDUCATION IN THE 60S OTHER REFORMS: ABOLITION OF THE PRIMARY CERT NO LONGER REQ D FOR SECOND LEVEL GRANTS FOR COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY SCHOOL TRANSPORT SCHEME FOR RURAL AREAS WHERE THERE WERE NO SECONDARY SCHOOLS COMMUNITY AND COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS BREAKING THE RELIGIOUS DOMINATION OF SCHOOLS REGIONAL TECHNICAL COLLEGES (RTCS) AT THIRD LEVEL TO FOCUS ON SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION, IN LINE WITH THE PROGRAMME FOR ECONOMIC EXPANSION. THESE ARE NOW CALLED INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY. THE BUDGET FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION INCREASED BY 600% FROM 1963-1973
RELIGION IN IRISH SOCIETY VATICAN 2 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS THE DOMINANT FORCE IN IRISH SOCIETY, WITH THEIR TEACHINGS INFORMING THE 1937 CONSTITUTION, LAWS - LIKE THE MOTHER AND CHILD SCHEME - AS WELL AS PEOPLE S DAILY LIVES. IN 1962, THE NEW POPE, JOHN XXIII, CALLED THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, SOMETIMES CALLED VATICAN II, TO MODERNISE THE CHURCH AND EXAMINE HOW IT FIT IN WITH THE CHANGED WORLD THAT HAD EMERGED FROM THE ASHES OF WORLD WAR 2. IT BROUGHT ABOUT MANY REFORMS: ALLOWED CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LAY PEOPLE SIMPLIFIED THE CLOTHES PRIESTS AND BISHOPS WORE MASS TO BE SAID IN THE LOCAL LANGUAGE INSTEAD OF LATIN. THE PRIEST WOULD NOW FACE THE CONGREGATION DURING MASS MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE FAITHFUL RECOGNISE AND OPEN A DIALOGUE WITH OTHER CHRISTIAN FAITHS - ECUMENISM
HOW DID VATICAN 2 CHANGE RELIGION IN IRELAND? THE MYSTERY OF MASS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES WERE TAKEN AWAY. RESTRICTIONS BEGAN TO BE PHASED OUT, FOR EXAMPLE, WOMEN AND MEN NO LONGER HAD TO SIT ON OPPOSITE SIDES IN CHURCHES, WOMEN WERE NO LONGER REQUIRED TO COVER THEIR HEADS IN CHURCHES, LAY PEOPLE COULD TAKE PART IN CEREMONIES. THE DOMINANCE OF LATIN IN SCHOOLS WAS REPLACED BY ENGLISH, IRISH AND MODERN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES LIKE FRENCH; CLASSICS WAS REPLACED BY MODERN HISTORY. IT ALLOWED PEOPLE TO BEGIN QUESTIONING THE CHURCH AND ITS TEACHINGS IN A MORE OPEN WAY THAN EVER BEFORE.
CHALLENGING THE CHURCH THE FOCUS ON ECUMENISM OPENED A DIALOGUE BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS ECUMENICAL SERVICES INCLUDING SEVERAL RELIGIONS BEGAN. BEFORE VATICAN II, WHEN THEN MINISTER NOEL BROWNE ATTENDED THE PROTESTANT FUNERAL OF DOUGLAS HYDE, HE WAS PUBLICLY CHASTISED BY THE HIERARCHY. OTHER MINISTERS HAD STOOD OUTSIDE. THE SOCIAL STIGMA OF MIXED-MARRIAGES FADED. CATHOLICS WERE ALLOWED TO ATTEND TRINITY COLLEGE FROM 1972. PREVIOUSLY VIEWED BY THE CHURCH AS A PROTESTANT INSTITUTION - CATHOLICS HAD TO WRITE TO THEIR BISHOP FOR SPECIAL PERMISSION, WHICH WAS ALMOST NEVER GRANTED. WITH MORE LAY PEOPLE INVOLVED, THE AUTOCRATIC POWER OF THE HIERARCHY WAS CHALLENGED. THE CHURCH S INFLUENCE ON YOUNG PEOPLE WAS CHALLENGED BY THE SETTING UP OF COMMUNITY AND COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS OFTEN CO-EDUCATIONAL AND WIDENING OF EDUCATIONAL ACCESS. IN 1968, WHEN POPE PAUL VI ISSUED HIS ENCYCLICAL HUMANAE VITAE, ON THE EVILS OF ARTIFICIAL CONTRACEPTION, MANY IN IRELAND PUBLICLY REJECTED IT. THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED A DECADE BEFORE. IT WAS IN RESPONSE TO THE INVENTION AND ENORMOUS POPULARITY OF THE CONTRACEPTIVE PILL THE PILL. CONTRACEPTION WAS ILLEGAL IN IRELAND UNTIL 1980, AND EVEN THEN ONLY ALLOWED WITH A PRESCRIPTION. Contraception Trains click link for video: http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1666-women-and-society/370226-contraceptive-train/
CHANGING ATTITUDES TO RELIGION Primate of Ireland, Dr John Charles McQuaid blessing the new national Children s hospital in Crumlin.
POP CULTURE BEFORE THE 60S DE VALERA S IRELAND SEE QUOTE ON P. 419 THIS WAS LARGELY THE IRELAND THAT EXISTED IN THE 40S AND 50S. MANY CALLED THE 50S IN IRELAND THE LOST DECADE. THOSE WHO LEFT FOR AMERICA AND BRITAIN FOUND A WORLD CHANGING MUCH FASTER THAN THE ONE THEY D LEFT AT HOME. IRELAND HAD A DRACONIAN CENSORSHIP REGIME MANY BOOKS AND FILMS WERE BANNED SIMPLY FOR MENTIONING CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS.
WHY DID POP CULTURE CHANGE? INFLUENCED BY IRELAND S NEW OPENNESS THANKS TO THE FPEE AND THE ARRIVAL OF TELEVISION, IRISH YOUNG PEOPLE WERE NOW FAR MORE INTERESTED IN AND HAD MORE ACCESS TO BRITISH AND AMERICAN POP CULTURE. THIS INTRODUCED IRISH YOUNG PEOPLE TO NEW IDEAS LIKE ROCK N ROLL MUSIC, THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT, AND THE IDEA OF PROTEST AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AGAINST CAUSES THEY FELT WERE UNJUST.
CHANGES IN POP CULTURE THE BEATLES WERE A GLOBAL PHENOMENON. THEY WERE MOBBED WHEN THEY CAME TO IRELAND IN 1963. THEY REPRESENT A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE INFLUENCE POPULAR ENTERTAINERS HAD. TRADITIONAL VARIETY THEATRES WERE REPLACED BY DANCE HALLS, PLAYED BY SHOWBANDS LIKE THE BOSTON AND THE MIAMI. THIS UNIQUELY IRISH MUSICAL STYLE FUSED ROCK, COUNTRY AND WESTERN AND FOLK - THEY WERE ENORMOUSLY POPULAR, PULLING IN CROWDS AS BIG AS ANY INTERNATIONAL STAR. FASHION TRENDS AND STYLE CHANGES WERE IMPORTED. THE WORD COOL BEGAN ITS MODERN USAGE. THERE WAS A RESURGENCE IN THE POPULARITY OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND FOLK MUSIC AS WELL, WITH BANDS LIKE THE DUBLINERS AND PLANXTY ENJOYING HUGE POPULARITY IN IRELAND AS WELL AS INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS. PROTEST MOVEMENTS BEGAN LIKE THE IRISH ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT. A NEW LAW PASSED IN 1967 EASED CENSORSHIP ON WRITERS AND ARTISTS.
WOMEN IN SOCIETY BEFORE THE 60S THE 1937 CONSTITUTION STATED THAT THE NATURAL PLACE OF A WOMAN WAS IN THE HOME AND THAT HER PRIMARY FUNCTION IN SOCIETY WAS THAT OF A WIFE AND A MOTHER. WOMEN WHO WORKED FOR THE STATE HAD TO RESIGN FROM THEIR JOBS ONCE THEY GOT MARRIED. THIS WAS CALLED THE MARRIAGE BAR AND ENDED IN 1977. WOMEN WERE FAR LESS LIKELY TO WORK DURING THE 1950S, LESS THAN 1 IN 4 WORKERS WAS A WOMAN. WOMEN WERE FAR LESS LIKELY TO RECEIVE 2 ND OR 3 RD LEVEL EDUCATION OTHER THAN TRAINING TO BE A TEACHER OR A NURSE AND SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS WERE COMPLETELY CONTROLLED BY THE CHURCH. DIVORCE WAS ILLEGAL (UNTIL 1995), MEANING WOMEN LIVING IN ABUSIVE MARRIAGES HAD NO WAY OUT. CULTURALLY, UNMARRIED WOMEN WERE OFTEN TREATED WITH SUSPICION.
WOMEN IN SOCIETY BEFORE THE 60S WOMEN WHO FELL FOUL OF IRELAND S HYPOCRITICAL ATTITUDES TO SEX AND SEXUALITY WERE OSTRACISED FROM SOCIETY. SINGLE MOTHERS, FOR EXAMPLE, WERE OFTEN HELD AGAINST THEIR WILL IN INSTITUTIONS RUN BY THE CHURCH AND FUNDED BY THE STATE, LIKE THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES, THEIR BABIES TAKEN FROM THEM WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION TO BE ADOPTED IN AMERICA OR BRITAIN. FOR MANY WOMEN, THIS KIND OF LIFE WAS COMPLETELY UNAPPEALING, DEGRADING EVEN. MANY DECIDED TO LEAVE. DURING THE LOST DECADE OF THE 1950S, MANY MORE YOUNG WOMEN WERE EMIGRATING THAN YOUNG MEN. THIS MEANT IRELAND ESPECIALLY RURAL IRELAND HAD MANY MORE YOUNG MEN THAN YOUNG WOMEN AND ONE OF THE LOWEST MARRIAGE RATES IN EUROPE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7elrv-hy8y
WHY WAS THERE A CHANGE IN WOMEN S ROLE IN SOCIETY? EASING OF CHURCH INFLUENCE ON LAW AND PUBLIC OPINION MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR WOMEN TO CHALLENGE THE MALE-DOMINATED BIASES IN THE SOCIETY THEY LIVED IN. THE EMERGENCE OF SECOND-WAVE FEMINISM ENCOURAGED WOMEN TO EMPOWER THEMSELVES AND TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR OWN LIVES, WITH WRITERS LIKE BETTY FRIEDAN (THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE.) AND GERMAINE GREER INFLUENCING WORLD OPINION. CHANGES IN ATTITUDES AND CULTURE EMPOWERED WOMEN, GIVING THEM, FOR EXAMPLE, NEW AND LIBERATING WAYS TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES IN MUSIC, DANCE AND FASHION. FREE ACCESS TO SECONDARY EDUCATION GAVE WOMEN MORE OPPORTUNITIES. THE MEDIA BEGAN CREATING CONTENT ESPECIALLY MAGAZINES THAT TARGETED THE NEW, INDEPENDENT MINDED WOMAN OF THE 60S, DISCUSSING CONTROVERSIAL AND TOPICAL ISSUES LIKE SEX AND CONTRACEPTION.
A CHANGED POSITION FOR WOMEN? IT IS TRUE TO SAY THAT MORE WOMEN ENTERED THE WORKFORCE AND THAT MORE WOMEN WENT TO SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY DURING AND AFTER THE 1960S. BUT WOMEN CONTINUED (AND CONTINUE) TO BE PAID LESS THAN MEN. MOST WOMEN WERE STILL HOUSEWIVES AND MOST OF THOSE WHO WORKED REMAINED IN THE TRADITIONAL JOBS FOR WOMEN TEACHING AND NURSING. GENERALLY, PUBLIC DISCOURSE AND ATTITUDES REMAINED (REMAIN?) MALE-DOMINATED, EVEN CHAUVINISTIC.
CONTEXTUALISATION WHAT SOCIAL CHANGES TOOK PLACE IN IRELAND DURING THE 1960S? EDUCATION RELIGION CULTURE, MEDIA AND THE ARTS WOMEN
CASE STUDY 2: THE IMPACT OF RTÉ, 1962-1972 NOW THAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT MANY OF THE MAJOR CHANGES TAKING PLACE ACROSS IRISH CULTURE AND SOCIETY, THE CASE STUDY ASKS US TO EXAMINE WHAT IMPACT RTÉ THE ARRIVAL OF TELEVISION TO IRELAND HAD AS PART OF THOSE CHANGES.
RTÉ AND ME TAKE SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH IRISH MEDIA, RTÉ IN PARTICULAR. WE RE BEING ASKED TO EXAMINE RTÉ S IMPACT IN THE PERIOD 1962-1972, SO IT S WORTH STARTING BY ASKING OURSELVES: WHAT IMPACT DOES IT HAVE ON US, TODAY? TODAY, MOST OF YOUR MEDIA USAGE IS ONLINE AND THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT FORMS OF MEDIA NOWADAYS. SOME WOULD EVEN SAY MOST OF OUR TV COMES FROM THE INTERNET THESE DAYS, WITH SITES LIKE NETFLIX. IT S THEREFORE LIKELY THAT YOUR EXPERIENCE OF THE IRISH MEDIA AND RTÉ IS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM YOUR PARENTS AND THEIR PARENTS EVEN OLDER BROTHERS AND SISTERS. THE WORLD IS A MUCH SMALLER PLACE TODAY. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT RTÉ? IS IT GOOD OR BAD? DO YOU HAVE NO FEELINGS ABOUT IT? HOW MUCH TIME TO YOU SPEND USING RTÉ SERVICES WATCHING TV / LISTENING TO THE RADIO / RTÉ.IE? WHAT KIND OF CONTENT DO YOU ENGAGE WITH THAT COMES FROM RTÉ? SPORT? TALK SHOWS? DRAMA? COMEDY? NEWS? DO YOU THINK RTÉ IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF MODERN IRISH CULTURE AND SOCIETY THAT IS TO SAY, YOUR CULTURE AND SOCIETY? PUT ANOTHER WAY - DO YOU THINK RTÉ IS RELEVANT TO YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE YOU TODAY?