FROM THE ARCHIVES:Politicians were plying students with drink at Freshers' Week in Trinity College Dublin in 1978, according to this report by Christina Murphy. – JOE JOYCE
‘HAVE COFFEE with Garret FitzGerald at 11 o’clock’, read the first poster just inside the gates. A few feet away another invited “Have wine with Martin O’Donoghue at 1 p.m.” One up for the Government? Not at all, a few feet further on again Fine Gael countered with “Drinks with Paddy Belton, Tom O’Donnell and Peter Barry at 4 p.m.”
Quote clearly if you are a ‘Fresher’ at Trinity College this week you could drink your way through the week at the expense of political parties hungry for the legendary youth vote. The Labour Party alone remained aloof, with a lame poster offering “Come and meet Frank Cluskey” [party leader], which proved difficult because he never turned up at all, sending Michael O’Leary instead, who looked decidedly ill-tempered when confronted with an audience of six students.
But then, upstairs in the Graduates’ Memorial Building, for all of the free wine and peanuts Martin O’Donoghue was not doing an awful lot better, with an audience of perhaps 30.
The occasion was Trinity’s annual “Freshers’ Week” which, for colour, noise, confusion and great amusement resembles nothing so much as a cross between a country fair and the Notting Hill Carnival.
Radio Trinity played noisily away and a young member of the students’ union rushed around with a loud-hailer informing Freshers of such delights as a pottery demonstration, a free film and the opportunity of shaking the hand of Garret FitzGerald.
Fine Gael had clearly pulled out all the stops. Not alone did they have Garret, but young, blond and smiling Enda Kenny, Michael Keating, Jim O’Keeffe, Peter Prendergast, Alexis FitzGerald – young, blond, and smiling too – and Fergus O’Brien.
A poster in the corner said: “Garret leaves me breathless” and another one nearby showed a young lady wearing little more that a pair of green boxing gloves and declaring “I’m with Garret”.
The campus was saturated with leaflets giving “Garret’s 1978 Freshers’ Week Message.” An earnest young man who will obviously go far in politics, pinned me against a wall for a full 20 minutes telling me what a great party Fine Gael was.
Martin O’Donoghue came flanked by Michael Woods and Senator Mary Harney, newly graduated from Trinity. They mingled easily among the students, sipping wine, but one couldn’t honestly say that great interest was evoked by any of the politicians among the Freshers.
“Two years ago,” said an old hand, “Garret was nearly mobbed. This year, he gets an audience of about 50. Students are losing interest in politics.”
Whatever about the students, Michael O’Leary certainly didn’t display any noticeable optimism on the future of Irish politics as he gazed sullenly at his audience of six in the room downstairs.
http://url.ie/d9e5