'It Says In The Papers' presenter P P O'Reilly looks back to newspaper stories from Easter week 1916.
A special edition of 'Going Strong' is dedicated to the events of the Easter Rising. A regular presenter of 'It Says in the Papers' on RTÉ Radio P. P. O’Reilly brings viewers back 65 years to 1916, to explore what the papers said at the time.
P P O’Reilly describes a journey to work through a Dublin that has lost both its heart and many of its people. The flags that announced the insurrection on Easter Monday have vanished, and much of the city lies in ruins.
Throughout Easter Week, The Irish Times continued printing until Friday morning, when Westmoreland Street became a battleground. The Independent had already ceased printing on Tuesday, and the Freeman’s Journal building on Prince's Street North had been destroyed.
Among the stories covered by the newspapers were racing reports from Fairyhouse and coverage of the Irish Grand National. The Royal Marine Hotel in Kingstown advertised a luxury holiday week, boasting electric lighting throughout. International pages carried grim reports from the Western Front and news of 9,000 British troops surrendering to Turkish forces in the Middle East. To date, the war had claimed 13 million lives.
By midweek, international news no longer reached Dublin. The telegraph lines were down and a new conflict had taken hold, a war on the streets of Ireland. For the remainder of the week, newspaper columns reflected the violence unfolding outside their very doors. From its vantage point amidst the devastation, The Irish Times editorial observed,
Liberty Hall is no more than a sinister and hateful memory.
The paper declared the insurrection to be "daringly and systematically planned" and "recklessly invoked."
This episode of 'Going Strong' was broadcast on 20 April 1981. The presenter is Bunny Carr.
'Going Strong' presented by Bunny Carr and Ann O'Dwyer began broadcasting on 23 September 1975. The programme was aimed at senior citizens and retired people. Guests from around the country recalled their lives and the changes in Irish life that they had witnessed. Many of the guests would also perform a song or play a musical instrument. As well as offering advice to the elderly, Ann O'Dwyer sang songs requested by viewers and was accompanied on piano by Jack McGinn and, later, Jim Doherty. This popular afternoon programme ran until 1983.
