Telefis Éireann went on the air on New Year’s Eve, 1961, fifty years ago. With its launch a new era in Irish broadcasting began. President Eamon de Valera was the first person to address the nation as he said, ‘Never before was there in the hands of men an instrument so powerful to influence the thoughts and actions of the multitude.’ In celebration of its fifty years in broadcasting RTE’s TV50 have produced videos of memorable moments through the decades. We take a look.
RTE’s TV50 is a celebration of 50 years of Irish life on television. During the year long celebration we can expect to see archive footage such as those in the clips below.
RTE launched their TV50 celebrations on the 31st of December 2011. They promise a look back at Irish broadcasting over the pat fifty years.
Get ready for a year-long celebration with special events, TV50 classics and memorable ‘look backs’ at the past 50 years across RTÉ Television, RTÉ Digital, RTÉ Radio and the RTÉ Guide. Launches 31st December 2011.
President Eamon de Valera launched Telefís Éireann live from Dublin’s Gresham Hotel on New Year’s Eve, 1961. In the fifty years since, much changes has been experienced in the country, most chronicled and explored by the public service broadcaster RTÉ. TV50 offers the viewing public the opportunity to remember the experiences of the last 50 years – and imagine those to come in the next half century.
Take a look at this selection of images that capture the best of RTÉ television in the 1970s – from Hall’s Pictorial Weekly to the visit of Pope John Paul II.
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