Change in the 1960s

• RTE:

  • In 1960 the government passed the Broadcasting Authority Act, allowing them to run a television and radio in Ireland.
  • Telefis Eireann (later became RTE) launched on 31 December 1961
  • By 1971, more than 50% of homes in Ireland had a television
• Television had changed Ireland in many ways, such as:

  • Foreign influence: people saw shows and news from USA, UK and other parts of the world and compared it to Ireland
  • Controversial topic debate: programmers like the Late Late Show debated topics such as homosexuality, contraception, religion, etc
  • Challenging the powerful: on RTE, the audience saw the powerful such as bishops, be questioned on their authority
• Education:

  • In 1966, the Minister for Education - Donogh O'Malley - aimed to increase the amount of educated workforce, to attract more MNCs. He reformed the education system by:
  • free schooling up to the Intermediate Certificate (old JC)
  • free transport for students
  • allowing grants to build schools
  • opening Regional Technical Colleges (now Institutes of Technology)

  These reforms caused the amount of Leaving Certificate students to go from 8600 in 1961 to 24000 in 1972. The act of Irish children putting a stop to their education after primary school was stopped by the 1970s.