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7 Days (Ireland)

7 Days (previously Seven Days) was a current affairs programme that was broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s.

As Seven Days, the first edition was transmitted on September 26, 1966 and it quickly became the station's flagship current affairs programme. Its presenters were John O'Donoghue, Brian Farrell and Brian Cleeve. In 1967 the programme was merged with another current affairs programme, Division and rebranded as 7 Days. As a result of this amalgamation, the team of presenters was expanded to include David Thornley, Ted Nealon, and Paddy Gallagher.

In 1968, it was announced that the current affairs programme, which often tackled subjects of public controversy in a forthright manner, was to be moved to the News Division within RTÉ. This led to a threatened strike and ultimately to the resignation of several of the programme's presenters.

7 Days was the first home-produced programme to be shown in colour by RTÉ, although colour transmissions of imports predated it.

Tribunal Inquiry regarding a programme on moneylenders

In December 1969, the Oireachtas voted to establish a tribunal of inquiry regarding a 7 Days piece on moneylenders. The programme, which was filmed in part with hidden cameras and microphones, claimed that illegal moneylending was causing misery and that the State was not responding to it. The tribunal's terms of reference were:

• That the allegation of the use of strong-arm methods by unlicensed moneylenders was unfounded
• That the numbers and scale of illegal moneylenders operating in the country were far less than those suggested by the programme
• That the statements made in the programme purporting to be confessions by moneylenders as to strong-arm debt recovery tactics were entirely valueless

The Tribunal concluded that the programme content had been exaggerated, although earlier claims that participants had been bribed with alcohol to respond to questions in a certain way were found to be untrue. Following the Tribunal's Report, comments critical of the manner of its establishment and the implications of the Tribunal's conclusions were made in the Dáil on February 25 1971 and March 9 1971 by, among others, Barry Desmond and Garret Fitzgerald.

The programme's field reporter was Bill O'Herlihy and, in an interview with Eamon Dunphy on RTÉ Radio 1 in February 2008, he discussed the programme and the aftermath extensively, saying that it prompted his move from Current Affairs to Sport within RTÉ, a pivotal development in his broadcasting career.

References

• Dowling, Jack & Doolan, Lelia. Sit Down and Be Counted: The Cultural Evolution of a Television Station. Wellington Publishers (1969)
• Horgan, John. Broadcasting and Public Life: RTÉ News and Current Affairs 1926-1997. Four Courts Press (2004). ISBN 1851828397

External links

• Clip of 7 Days from 1967 (Windows Media Player). Report on a public meeting about the Irish language, featuring Brian Cleeve and John O'Donoghue.
• Excerpt of 7 Days from 1969 taken from the 1960s section of RTÉ's Libraries and Archives Web Site (RealMedia). Opening credits and John O'Donoghue on personal debt.
• Excerpt from 1971 taken from the 1970s section of the same web site (RealMedia). Opening credits and John O'Donoghue on the first Section 31 directive issued to RTÉ.
• Dáil motion to create a tribunal of inquiry, 16 December 1969
• Seanad motion to create a tribunal of inquiry, 17 December 1969
• Dáil Éireann - 25 February, 1971
• Dáil Éireann - 09 March, 1971
• OPEN – One Parent Exchange and Network publication "Do the poor pay more?" PDF document, at page 34
• Conversations with Eamon Dunphy - Bill O'Herlihy, 9 February 2008 MP3 file, beginning at 5 minutes 55 seconds.