North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Égalité

TnaG had a documentary last night on the Civil Rights movement in the Gaeltacht, which, in the Sixties, demanded more autonomy and specific rights that recognised the particular needs of the Gaeltacht. It traced the impact of those protests, and how they led to the setting up of Gaeltacht-specific organisations, including TnaG. Interestingly, the Civil Rights movement petered out as the membership was enlarged by those that had been involved in the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland, particularly Sinn Féin members. Original members of the movement, who had been avowedly apolitical, began to drift away. The documentary included a hilarious clip (from the early Seventies) of a Sinn Féiner lecturing a group of bewildered locals in a tent of the evils of capitalism and the benefits of socialism. Don't see much of that anymore…