Harp and the Fridge: Ireland s 1980s NFL flirtation
Ahead of Super Bowl LV, Myles Dungan tells Conor Neville how he came to front RTÉ s 1980s NFL coverage - where eight-day-old games were shown and Dickie Rock appeared as a pundit.
• 7 Feb 2021
RTÉ Sport Reporter
On 31 January 1986, an RTÉ News crew set off for Kilkenny College to sample the opinions of students in their Teenagers Point of View slot.
Among the items under discussion were the Challenger space shuttle disaster, Alan Dukes budget (no use apparently), the Stormont elections, the discovery of an arms dump in Sligo and. The Refrigerator!
The current Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the threat that viruses pose to humanity. History is replete with examples. During the four years of the First World War, the total number of combatant and civilian deaths is estimated to have reached 20 million. But this shocking death toll is just a fraction of the more than 50 million people who died as a result of the H1N1 virus (known as the Spanish Flu pandemic) during 1918 and 1919.
If we broaden our view to encompass the entire 20th century, the total number of deaths associated with warfare amounted to 108 million. Yet, during that same 100-year time period, approximately 300 million people succumbed to the smallpox virus alone.
Books to look out for in 2021
Irish fiction
New work that has been a long time coming generates a particular shiver of anticipation.
Small Things Like These (Faber, October) will be Claire Keegan’s first new work since her novella Foster, still a bestseller 10 years on. Her publisher says: “An exquisite wintery parable, Claire Keegan’s long-awaited return tells the story of a simple act of courage and tenderness, in the face of conformity, fear and judgment.” Small Things Like These (Faber, October) will be Claire Keegan’s first new work since her novella Foster, still a bestseller 10 years on. Photograph: Alan Betson
Who are we? What interests us, in this age of plague? To understand the world today, let s look at the non-fiction books coming in 2021. A pattern of transformation runs through next year s non-fiction releases: the pandemic has changed the human race. We have new priorities and a different perspective. Where do we go from here?
Feminist titles focus on the power of female independent living; and writers on race look at harnessing the energy of the Black Lives Matter movement to turn protest into progress. Working-class voices rise.
Parenting gets a reality check, with new releases providing the unvarnished truth, and mental health books have a no-nonsense edge in challenging times. Other themes in 2021 are the internet, medicine, women s histories, nature, Northern Ireland, and the fight for Irish independence.