The Press and the vote - NPHFI 2018 Conference NUIG

The 2018 annual conference of the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum (NPHFI) took place in the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th of November. This was a fitting venue as this is where the first conference took place in 2008.

Entrance to quadrangle at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG).

The conference theme was 'The press and the vote'. Researchers and academics from universities in Ireland, South Africa and right across the UK came to discus the theme. We heard about a wide range of periodicals, geographic locations and time periods from local, national and niche newspapers, from Ireland, Europe, North America and South Africa and from the 18th right up to the 20th century.

Presenting a paper on Le Monde's coverage of Irish politics in the 1990s.

I presented a paper on Le Monde's coverage of politics in Ireland in the 1990s. The period was one of great change both politically and socially. We only have to think of the election of the first female president, the Irish constitutional referenda on abortion, divorce and the Good Friday Agreement, the legalisation of contraceptives and the decriminalisation of homosexuality to see that the 1990s was a time of change.

Le Monde covered these events and more with their correspondent in London and local journalists such as Joe Mulholland and John Horgan, who wrote about events as and when they happened. The question is why was Le Monde so interested in reporting on these events. The answer is in the title of my paper, more to follow... Well done to the committee and the local organisers for putting together a great conference.