A 21 year old Kevin Myers addresses a student meeting in 1969.
At the age of 21, Kevin Myers appeared on the programme 'Seven Days'. In 1968 a group of UCD (University College Dublin) students, including Myers, had occupied Earlsfort Terrace and demanded that their voice be listened to about how UCD was being run.
Addressing the audience, Myers states:
"We will initiate the first processes of education in this place, we will decide now what this university is to do, where it is to go. This is a golden opportunity, one we must not throw away, it is one we should utilise to its full extent. So therefore I say to you: when we support the notion of a seminar, we support the notion of an occupation, not an occupation of the administrative corridor, but an occupation of our own minds, an occupation of our own principles, a belief in our own principles and a belief in our implicit right to do as we wish and to do when we wish, what we wish."
Myers obtained a degree in History in 1969 from UCD and subsequently began work as a journalist for RTÉ reporting from Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles in the 1970's. Myers went on to present the television quiz show 'Challenging Times' in the 1990's and has since published a number of books including his collections of columns in 'An Irishman's Diary'.
| Title: | Kevin Myers on Student Unrest |
| Clip Duration: | 00:00:31 |
| Material Type: | Video |
| Clip Title: | Myers on Educational Freedom |
| Series Title: | Seven Days |
| Information: | This episode of 'Seven Days' was broadcast on 11 March 1969. 'Seven Days' began broadcasting on 26 September 1966 and was RTE television's flagship current affairs programme for ten years. The programme's young production team was made up of producer Lelia Doolan, directors Eoghan Harris and Dick Hill, and reporters John O'Donoghue, Brian Cleeve and Brian Farrell. Muiris Mac Conghail became producer of '7 Days' in 1967 when the programme was merged with another current affairs programme, 'Division'. |
| Local Keywords: | Kevin Myers, UCD, Student Protests, Seven Days, 1969 |
| Coverage: | Ireland, Dublin |
| Genre: | Factual |
| Topic: | Arts and Culture |
| Provider: | RTÉ |
| Contributor(s): | Kevin Myers |
| Publisher: | RTÉ |
| First Broadcast Channel: | RTÉ One |
| Production Year: | 1969 |
| Country of Production: | Ireland |
| Original Identifier: | BA1844 |
| IPR Restrictions: | Rights Reserved - Free Access |
| Rights, Terms and Conditions: | Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
| Item Type: | part/extract |
| Colour: | Black and White |
| Sound: | Mono |
| Aspect Ratio: | 4:3 |
| Language: | English (eng) |
| Original Language: | English (eng) |
