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Voices from the Last 50 Years

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Voices from the Last 50 Years 50 VOICES FROM THE LAST 50 YEARS 50Voices from the Last 50 Years An Oral History of the National Youth Council of Ireland 1967 - 2017 1 National Youth Council of Ireland 3 Montague Street, Dublin 2, Co. Dublin www.youth.ie T: +353 (01) 478 4122 E: [email protected] First published in January 2018 by © National Youth Council of Ireland 2018 Author: Marie–Claire McAleer Design: Fuse Printed in Ireland by: Print Run ISBN 978–1–900210–47–8 national ~outh countil of ire\and ~cot,1~·1RL! M>II\UM•• M• NOG The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is the representative body for voluntary youth organisations in Ireland. It uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people. NYCI would like to acknowledge the Irish newspapers archives for permitting the reproduction of the newspapers clippings used in this report and Paul McCarthy, for permission to use the photograph of Olivia McEvoy. This oral history is based on the 50 interviews conducted as part of the study.The accounts of events included in the study reflect the views and lived experience of the interviewees. All reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the stories told and included in this report are authentic and reliable and as far as possible, that the dates and titles of individuals named in the report are correct. An Oral History of the National Youth Council of Ireland 1967 - 2017 50 Voices from the Last 50 Years Researched, Written and Edited By Marie-Claire McAleer Contents Foreword by Professor Maurice Devlin .......................................................................................1 Author’s acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 3 In the beginning… ......................................................................................................................... 7 NYCI on the International Stage ................................................................................................ 8 The 1970s ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Stories from: Michael Adams ............................................................................................................................... 12 Geoffrey Corry ............................................................................................................................... 14 Seumas O’Brien ............................................................................................................................. 16 Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil ..................................................................................................................... 18 Significant Policy Developments 1970 - 1980 ........................................................................... 20 The 1980s ...................................................................................................................................... 23 The Haughey-FitzGerald Contests to Court the Youth Vote .................................................. 25 Stories from: Dr. Fergus O’Ferrall......................................................................................................................... 26 Brian Merriman ............................................................................................................................. 30 Tom Costello .................................................................................................................................. 33 Peter Finnegan ................................................................................................................................. 36 Alan Graham ................................................................................................................................... 38 Richard Doherty ............................................................................................................................. 41 Mark Mortell ................................................................................................................................... 43 Dermot Rafter ................................................................................................................................ 46 Siobhán Corry ................................................................................................................................. 48 Mark Acheson ................................................................................................................................. 51 Dermot Lacey.................................................................................................................................. 52 Fidelma Joyce .................................................................................................................................. 54 Aoife Nic Lughadha ........................................................................................................................ 58 The 1990s ...................................................................................................................................... 61 The NYCI Assembly .................................................................................................................... 63 Stories from: Gearid Ó Maoilmhichíl ................................................................................................................. 66 Tom Curran .................................................................................................................................... 69 Anna Gunning ................................................................................................................................. 72 Simon Nugent ................................................................................................................................. 74 Peter Byrne ..................................................................................................................................... 76 Elaine Lowry .................................................................................................................................. 78 Teresa Heeney ................................................................................................................................. 80 Kevin Kelly ...................................................................................................................................... 81 Dan Boyle ....................................................................................................................................... 83 Ciaírin de Buis ................................................................................................................................ 84 Dr. Eammon Waters ......................................................................................................................... 86 Dnall Geoghegan........................................................................................................................... 89 Jillian van Turnhout ......................................................................................................................... 91 James Doorley ................................................................................................................................. 93 NYCI and Northern Ireland ....................................................................................................... 97 The Millennium.......................................................................................................................... 103 The Celtic Tiger Period, 2000 – 2007 ....................................................................................... 104 Stories from: Lisa Hyland ................................................................................................................................... 104 Orlaith McBride............................................................................................................................ 106 Duane Farrell ................................................................................................................................. 108 Colm Ó Mongáin.......................................................................................................................... 110 Mary Cunningham........................................................................................................................ 112 Olivia McEvoy .............................................................................................................................. 115 James O’Leary ............................................................................................................................... 117 Eddie D’Arcy ................................................................................................................................ 119 Jennifer Dowling ........................................................................................................................... 122 The Recession and Post-Recession Period, 2008 – 2017 ....................................................... 124 Stories from: Anna Cunniffe ............................................................................................................................... 126 Vicky Rattigan .............................................................................................................................. 128 Michael Barron.............................................................................................................................
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