Echoes of the past from the archives When one reads in a newspaper that ‘a source close to the Minister says’, this can be taken to mean that the Minister himself has been speaking to the correspondent ‘off the record’. Such background briefs are better known as ‘ministerial leaks’ and at time they are the…

Secrets of the powers that be In December 1977 the Irish Consulate in Chicago reported its anxiety about the effect of an article that had just appeared in the Chicago Tribune by maverick priest and academic Fr Andrew Greely. This was entitled ‘Ulster a Medieval Nightmare’. He called it “the last bastion of oppression and…

Echoes of the past from the archives In the mid-1980s a constant source of anxiety were the reports of supposed foreign submarines off the coast of Ireland. Many fishing boats had encounters with some mysterious vessels that might be called USOs (unidentified submarine objects). They were stopped or pulled backwards till they cut their nets…

The first manned mission to land on the moon in July 1969 was controlled by a tiny computer. It had approximately 64Kbyte of memory, and was more basic than the electronics in modern toasters that have computer controlled stop/start/defrost buttons. Today electronic media of many kinds and full scale computerisation in all areas of life…

Echoes of the past from the archives That the events across Europe between 1912 and 1924 damaged the minds of a generation of European is widely accepted by historians. The “”shell shock” and “neurasthenia” suffered by those who fought on all sides is well documented. The troubles politics and social life of the 1920 and…

Secrets of the powers that be In 1981 there was some discussion between TCD, the Bank of Ireland and Mr Haughey about the possibility of the National Museum taking over the old Parliament Building on College Green as an extension to the National Museum (a matter now resolved by the opening of Collins Barracks). The…

Secrets of the powers of that be Visitors to the national Museum are often astonished by the relics of early Christian Ireland that are on show there, from the Derrynaflan hoard and the Broighter boat, to the Ardagh Chalice and the Cross of Cong. But what many do not realise are the hazards of survival…

Secret of the powers that be This year saw the release of a backlog of files of various kinds going back to the 1920s. Many dealt with dismissals from the public service, the army, the guards, and the civil service generally. Most of these reveal little stories of incompetence and misbehaviour as often as not…