In the aftermath of World War Two, Ireland slowly begins to open up to the world. Episode one looks at how the formative experiences of our leading minds were interwoven with key events both at home and abroad: economic protectionism and emigration in the Fifties; Ireland joining the United Nations; the war in the Congo; the foundation of the IDA; JFK’s visit to Ireland; the missionary tradition; Vatican II; Biafra; 1968; the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland and across the world; and, finally, Ireland’s admission to the EEC in 1973.
In the late 1960s, while many of Ireland’s best and brightest had left Ireland in search of wider horizons, back home Ireland’s joining the European Economic Community in 1973 was to signal the end of a lengthy period of isolationism and protectionism. The programme also looks at the advent of militant feminism in Ireland and the pivotal moment of the “Pill Train” to Belfast. While social change was coming slowly to Ireland during the 1970s, many other young Irish were gradually making their way in the wider world. Many of these emigrant Irish were joining other in sowing the seeds of global change. These new ideas would shape their homeland – and the rest of the planet – in the future.
Episode three looks at the emergence of a new dawn in the Irish economy and Irish politics between the periods of 1990 – 2006. A look at how a new Ireland became articulated by key events such as The Good Friday agreement and the creation of a buoyant economy.
In the fourth and final episode of the series, Ireland’s leading minds turn their attention to the future. Beginning with the seminal Ireland v. England rugby match in Croke Park at the start of 2007, our participants reflect on Ireland’s coming of age, our changing values and identity and our place in the world. In a world seemingly under threat from corporate globalization, climate change, hunger and disease, as well as international conflict, where lies Ireland – and the planet’s – future? And does Irishness matter at all in this increasingly international world? And what is Irishness now anyway?