Reeling in the Years

1973 (3x4)

Ημερομηνία προβολής: Οκτ 01, 2002

Ireland's politicians go on the campaign trail in the 1973 general election. The Fine Gael-Labour coalition wins a two-seat Dail majority. It is the first change of government for sixteen years. A report published on the status of women in Ireland recommends radical changes to promote equality. While the Civil Service finally ends its 'marriage bar', women in manufacturing earn just 43% of the hourly pay of men. Seven years after the first families moved in, Ballymun still lacks adequate social and community facilities. There are 6,000 children under the age of 6 in a total population of 17,000 people. Rehearsals begin for the Irish production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Luke Kelly plays King Herod, Colm Wilkinson plays Judas Iscariot and Tony Kenny takes the title role. Peace negotiators agree terms for the ending of the Vietnam War. Over 50,000 Americans have died in the last 11 years. South Vietnamese losses are estimated at 400,000, while the North Vietnamese/Vietcong death toll is 900,000. 18 years after he was ousted from power by the military, Juan Peron is re-elected President of Argentina. His second wife, Isabel, becomes vice-president. Northern Ireland's voters go the polls in 1973. They elect an Assembly to replace the old Stormont parliament. Plans emerge for a power-sharing Executive in the North, and for a North-South Council of Ireland. The Sunningdale Agreement is signed although there are worries about Unionist opposition. CHILE: Marxist President Salvador Allende dies in a military coup. Evidence later emerges of strong US backing for the coup. General Pinochet replaces the democratically- elected Allende. Thousands of people are rounded up by military death squads. Many of them are never seen again. The IRA uses a hijacked helicopter to free three of its members from Mountjoy Jail in Dublin. 1973 also sees the discovery of an arms shipment on board a Cypriot coaster, when Irish naval vessels stop and search the 'Claudia'