Podcast Corner: Delving into the arms trial and characters like Squire Haughey
Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney at the Four Courts during the Arms trial. Picture: Independent News And Media/Getty Images
The history curriculum, when I was in school anyway, enveloped pupils in late 1800s/early 20th century dates, between the initial swell of home rule to Hitler making his first moves. Post-1945, though, Irish history is a blur; it was too complicated to take in, for what was already an overflowing examination. It's felt like playing catch-up ever since.
The arms crisis of 1970 would be one such event that confounds. But you wait long enough for an explainer and three come along at once. Michael Heney's book, The Arms Crisis of 1970: The Plot that Never Was, is a number one bestseller, and now RTÉ, under its Documentary on One auspices which was responsible for the sensational The Nobody Zone, has released an eight-part podcast GunPlot, which has an accompanying TV documentary.
