Posted 19 March 2009
Newspapers and public opinion during the Irish economic crisis of the 1950s
Policy makers and key opinion formers concerned about Ireland's current economic downturn were reminded at a major UCD conference that this is not the first time that Ireland has faced an economic crisis.
During the 1950s, the Irish economy was also in crisis. In 1956, a large balance of payments deficit occurred as a result of an expansionary budget in the mid 1950s. The deficit was mainly financed by drawing on the external reserves of the Irish banking system - their liquidity base – and this resulted in a liquidity crunch in Ireland.
This was followed by a strong deflationary budget which removed the food subsidies and pruned the public capital programme. The result was that the GNP fell by 1% - 2%, which was soon followed by modest recovery in a benign external environment.
But what was the public opinion on the economic crisis at the time? Were economists forecasting doom and gloom scenarios? What were the options presented to get Ireland out of the crisis? How was economic progress to be achieved? Was industrialisation or agriculture considered the best way forward?
To investigate these questions, Professor Tom Garvin analysed the news articles in the three main Dublin Daily Newspapers of the time – The Irish Press, The Irish Independent, and The Irish Times. He presented his findings as a keynote address at a special conference at UCD to celebrate his 41 year contribution to the study of politics in Ireland.
Pictured far right (l-r) Former Taoiseach, Dr Gareth FitzGerald, Prof Tom Garvan and Prof Louden Ryan at the conference entitled Politics, Economy and Society: Irish Developmentalism, 1958-2008
According to Professor Garvin, one immediate and obvious contrast between the three newspapers was their attitude to farming. “The Irish Times and Irish Independent assumed that the economic future of the Republic of Ireland was agrarian,” he said. “And articles on agriculture, the reluctance of the young to go into farming, and the need for agricultural scientific education were commonplace – both papers had large farm readership.”
“In stark contrast, The Irish Press was determinedly pro-industry while remaining equally nostalgic about the small farm ancestry of its readers; generally it ignored farming in favour of industry and vocational training. It never discussed farming as a serious career choice.”
| Professor Tom Garvin’s keynote address, introduced by Professor Louden Ryan | |
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| Duration | 53:26 |
Professor Tom Garvin was a central figure in establishing the Political Studies Association of Ireland in 1982. He was appointed Professor of Politics at UCD in 1991. His academic output includes over 60 articles in journals and he has published six books including: The evolution of Irish nationalist politics (1981), Nationalist revolutionaries in Ireland 1858-1928 (1987), 1922: the birth of Irish democracy (1996), and Preventing the future: why was Ireland so poor for so long (2004).
The special conference at UCD to celebrate his 41 year contribution to the study of politics in Ireland focussed on a theme close to his current research interests: the half-century story of Irish political development since the 1950s. It was attended by many prominent figures in Irish politics and the civil service including: Dr Gareth FitzGerald and Professor Louden Ryan.
The conference: Politics, Economy and Society: Irish Developmentalism, 1958-2008, which took place in UCD on 12 March 2009 was organised by the UCD School of Politics and International Relations, the Institute for British-Irish Studies and the UCD College of Human Sciences.
