● Involved in 1916 Rising, War of Independence and Civil War.
● Minister for Industry and Commerce in 1930s. ● Minister for Supplies during World War II. ● Introduced the First Programme for Economic Expansion – very successful.
● Elected Taoiseach when Éamon de Valera got elected as President of Ireland.
● Introduced the Second Programme for Economic Expansion but this was not as successful.
● Met Terence O’Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, on two occasions. ● He resigned as Taoiseach in 1966.
Assessing Your Learning
1. Who was the Minister for Education who brought in free secondary education and free school transport?
2. What was the main effect of the new policy? 3. Mention one other change that occurred in education in the 1960s.
See Chapter 25 in the Skills Book for further questions.
3. What Important Social Changes Occurred?
The 1960s were the ‘Swinging Sixties’ in contrast to the depressed fifties.
People were better off in Ireland in the 1960s. There were many changes in the way people lived. ● The first shopping centres were built. These encouraged weekly rather than daily shopping, and they undermined the local grocery shop.
● More tourists came to the country, and more Irish people holidayed abroad – these changes opened up the country to the wider world.
The Catholic Church brought in many reforms after Vatican II, the major church council (see p. 396). ● The Latin Mass was changed to the vernacular (English or Irish), the priest faced the people, there was greater lay participation in church services, folk masses were introduced and there were better relations with other religions (ecumenism).
The changes to the Mass in the Catholic Church – old rites and new rites
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Debate the importance of social changes in Ireland in the 1960s