Austin Currie recalls squatting in Caledon and the impact it had in a 1979 studio discussion on RTÉ's 'Eye Witness' programme.

Currie talks about being thrown out of the Stormont parliamentary assembly and the resulting process of barricading himself in to the house in Caledon. The occupation only lasted for three or four hours, when he and two other protestors were thrown out. By this time, the media was there and he knew that an impact had been made.

Currie says that this was the first time that the national media in London reported the issue of housing discrimination in Northern Ireland. The prosecution case was later dismissed and the case against him was appealed and brought to the high court, where Currie was fined £5.

An ‘Eye Witness’ special on the Civil Rights Campaign. This programme was presented by Tom Savage and was broadcast on 16 May 1979.

'Eye Witness' was a series of five programmes in 1979 dealing with events of importance to Ireland. The programme was compiled from old film, stills, newspaper cuttings and eye-witness accounts, as well as an in-studio discussion.

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