RTÉ Coverage of General Elections - 1965 General Election

1965 General Election - First Election to be covered by RTÉ Television

The general election of April 1965 was the first to be covered by television. Studio One was converted into a special "Election Newsroom" with John O'Donoghue as presenter. Cameras were present at the counts in Dublin's Bolton Street, and in Wexford, Cork and Monaghan. Four reporters read results as they came in via specially installed teleprinters which were linked directly to the General Post Office in Dublin. Political correspondents, John Healy of the Irish Times and John O'Sullivan of The Cork Examiner, were joined by Garret Fitzgerald and Professor Basil Chubb to offer analysis of the unfolding results.

This clip from the news review of the year shows the result of the first count for Dublin North East from the count centre at Bolton Street.

With television reporting on an election for the first time, radio took a new approach to its coverage. From 3.00pm on the first day of the count, scheduled programmes were suspended. The RTV Guide announced that "This re-scheduling of broadcasting is intended to provide listeners with a running story of the election count, with intervals for music when the flow slackens."

Coverage was a mixture of analysis, forecasting and live reporting from the count centres. This clip gives a sample of the type of fare offered by radio to the listeners during the election count. Reporter John Ross in Galway observes the tic-tac men and notes that the only time there was quiet was during the Angelus.