Economic alarm bells have distinct echoes from events of late 1970s

IN preparing a timeline for the publication of 1978 State papers, I looked at the front page of the daily newspaper for every day of the year.

Although I was old enough to remember the period, I was still surprised at the number of strikes in the state and semi-state sectors — the post office, CIE, Aer Lingus, RTÉ and ESB.

While in Dublin for that year’s all-Ireland football final — with the “five goals in the rain” — I got on a bus at the start of the route in Abbey Street and went upstairs. After a while somebody went downstairs to make sure the driver had not gone on strike. “You never know these days!” he exclaimed.