On my eleventh day in Dublin I attended a guest lecture given by Professor Niall Gilmartin of Ulster University. His lecture was about the Troubles and how media played a role in this tumultuous time of Ireland’s history.
The Troubles is a complex and often difficult subject to discuss so Professor Gilmartin’s lecture was dense but each to follow and very informative. He gave us a broad but simplified explanation of the Trouble’s and a brief history of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
The most interesting part of the lecture for me was when he began to connect the Troubles with televised media. This is a very subjective opinion obviously(I am a broadcasting major). He emphasized the fact that this conflict was the first majorly covered and televised moment in Ireland. Which caused footage and media of this time period to become ubiquitous in the Irish media landscape. With the violence being recorded and distributed across not just Ireland but the whole world Northern Ireland became a prominent focal point.
Something I also found very interesting was how he brought up how anti-IRA advertisements were made and televised. He even showed one to us. It was interesting seeing how media itself was being utilized in the conflict.
He also compared the conflict to similar events in American history in order to help us get a clearer picture of the time period. He compared it to the marches and protest that occurred in places like Selma and Montgomery in the United States during the 1960’s.
This lecture was very interesting and game a better picture of not just Irish history but also it’s people and how media always has a role to play in modern history.
