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Wednesday 7 June 2023 Dublin: 13°C

# 1986 state papers

All time
# Word processing problems
The government brought in word processors in the 1980s - and civil servants weren't too happy
One civil servant had to routinely work through lunch and late in the day to catch up on work.
15.8k
22
Jan 3rd 2017, 7:00 PM
# 1986 state papers
The Government opposed giving any special money to help people left devastated by Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley swept across numerous counties in 1986 but Wicklow suffered the most.
15.0k
21
Jan 2nd 2017, 6:00 PM
# Skyfall
The government was worried a Russian nuclear satellite was about to fall on our heads 30 years ago
The Russian satellite Cosmos 1402 was set to fall from the skies in January 1983.
14.6k
10
Jan 1st 2017, 11:00 PM
# flight 182
Ireland risked a PR disaster by billing for post mortems following the Air India 747 bombing
The bombing of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Cork in June 1985 dropped Ireland into the middle of a humanitarian disaster recovery operation.
23.5k
3
Jan 1st 2017, 6:30 AM
# lovely fags ban
Ireland tried to ban smoking in public in 1986 - and Big Tobacco was not impressed
1986 saw government health warnings introduced on tobacco products in Ireland for the first time.
13.9k
15
Dec 31st 2016, 8:15 PM
# hello boys and girls
'It outsold U2' - an album of Bosco songs was one of RTÉ's biggest hits in 1984
Did you have Bosco Sings in your house?
11.5k
28
Dec 31st 2016, 4:00 PM
# 1986
Irish politicians really wanted Bob Geldof to win the Nobel Peace Prize
It didn’t happen for Bob though.
9.2k
31
Dec 30th 2016, 11:21 AM
# pen pals
A Donegal child wrote a letter to Garret FitzGerald in 1984 having a sly dig at Charlie Haughey
“I don’t like the way Charlie is doing it”.
15.8k
9
Dec 30th 2016, 9:30 AM
# 1986 state papers
Government investigated whether Josef Mengele spent time in Ireland after World War II
The Nazi war criminal was suspected to have spent six weeks in Ireland under an assumed name
17.8k
11
Dec 30th 2016, 7:15 AM
# divine argument
'A punishment from God's own hand' - the Irish got Biblical in their objections to 1985's contraception law
The 1985 Family Planning Act saw contraceptives made legal for over-18s without a prescription from selected outlets for the first time.
15.4k
101
Dec 30th 2016, 6:45 AM
# norris v ireland
Government considered using 'AIDS argument' in David Norris gay rights case
In battling David Norris’ claims that Irish homosexuality laws were in breach of his human rights, the government was considering all kinds of defences.
21.6k
50
Dec 30th 2016, 6:45 AM