Every week we take a look in the RTÉ Guide archives to check out the stories from years gone by. On this week in May 1986, the cover of the Guide was devoted to the Self-Aid concert, which was broadcast live on RTÉ 2 television and was part of a project to reduce unemployment, which hit almost a quarter of a million that year.
On a double-page spread inside the magazine, Patrick Quilligan talked to the people behind the event. "While the latest unemployment figures show a decrease in numbers and, in that elusive term, the 'seasonally adjusted' trend, nobody can take solace when 232,256 of their fellow countrymen and women are out of work," wrote Quilligan. "That statistic provided the spur for Self-Aid: Make It Work, which takes place in the RDS on Saturday and features the cream from the contemporary Irish rock scene. 'The success of the day will not be measured merely in the amount of money that is pledged or the number of jobs that's put up as the running total at the end of the day. The success will be immeasurable in one sense because what we're hoping to do is to motivate people and to say that unemployment is all our responsibilities. It's not just a number that's up there. We are trying to get the whole country thinking about unemployment, thinking about ways of solving it that haven't been thought of before, both on an individual level and a community level', says Niall Mathews, who along with Tony Boland is responsible for the event."
"The inspiration, of course, came from Live Aid," Quilligan wrote. "'We were sitting down taking notes last August after Live Aid. Then we were retining the idea until Christmas, [said Matthews]. Atter that we ran the gauntlet of all the State Agencies involved in employment and unemployment and other bodies like the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. We spoke to all those people who would have something to say about the idea and it held up very well.'
The producers of the televised programme hope that the carnival-like atmosphere that surrounded Live Aid will again be in evidence.There are plans for outside cameras in Cork, a studio and presenters in both Limerick and Galway, regular reports from correspondents in Waterford and Sligo besides the main studio in Dublin. There, all the 'big names' from Gay Byrne down will be doing their 'thing' extolling, exhorting, joking, gyrating, chatting and championing."
As Quilligan pointed out "the serious aspect of the day will not be forgotten. There will be representatives in studio from the various agencies and community groups. Anybody who has an idea on job creation will be able to link direct and if the idea is good enough they will be put on air. And people are encouraged to bring in items for auction for the fund. Christy Moore has recorded a special song to coincide with the release."
The event was not without controversy, with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions objecting to the change of name from Jobs Aid to Self-Aid, which they believed implied it was up to workers to create their own jobs instead of needing better economic and social policies. This controversy was acknowledged in Quilligan's piece. "There has been criticism in some quarters that Self-Aid is taking the onus off the government of solving the unemployed problem. 'What we are saying is, yes, unemployment is the responsibility of the government, but in a country where nearly everyone of us knows somebody who is unemployed it isn't only the government's responsibility, it becomes all of our responsibilities, it becomes a personal responsibility if there is something you can do about it. If you look at Ireland on a globe it's a silly little dot on the top that we think is so significant. There are so few of us living on the island that we should be in a position to at least try to do something about it ourselves. That's how this whole thing came about,' says Tony Boland."
"Researcher Cliona Kernan has been involved in vetting and filming business success stories and other ventures which will be putting their cases for additional funding on the day. The idea is to show people what has been done and what it is possible to do. Examples abound, she says. And another researcher, Anne-Marie Kearney, has been inundated with people phoning in with ideas on how they can help on the day. They vary from the lady who is having a sponsored non-stop chat for six hours with her friends as referees, to the civil servant, reputed to have the longers beard in Ireland (!) who is shaving it off on the day for cash of course. There are reports of a Self-Aid Rail on the day in boutiques, supermarket receptacles for cash, a sponsored swim in Ballytermot, fashion shows, marathon discos and a lolo-ball marathon."
