A referendum campaign characterised by inflated rhetoric, cross-party bickering and more than a hint of scaremongering. And, in the end, a massive Yes vote which was greeted by the powers that be – not just in Ireland but far beyond – with a huge sigh of relief.
Sound familiar? Yes, folks, we have been down this road before. In the summer of 1972 the plain people of Ireland were asked to vote on Ireland becoming a member of the then European Economic Community.
Though the main political parties of the day, with a Fianna Fáil government at the helm, were all in favour of the move, there were those who disagreed – among them the students who are pictured, in our photo, protesting outside Leinster House.
The messages on the banners are pretty full-on. “It’s our future: vote No”; the letters EEC accompanied by a raised fist and “NO COMMON MARKET CAPITALISM HERE”.
The protesters themselves, however, look completely relaxed. The young man and woman at the head of the procession might be heading for a coffee on Grafton Street, chatting as they go, she bearing her books and a handbag as if fresh from a seminar.
Just behind them, the girl in the knitted cap has a dreamy look, as if she is, in her mind, somewhere far more exotic than Merrion Square.
Behind them again, the chap wearing the long overcoat and bearing the big placard has an anguished expression, for sure – but it’s WB Yeats-style angst, somehow, rather than the shouting and hurling-abuse angst of more recent times.
For anyone heading to college over the next few months, it’s a masterclass in how to protest in style.
Protests notwithstanding, Ireland became a full member of the EEC in 1973 – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Archive photographs and other Irish Times images can be purchased from irishtimes.com/photosales
