READERS of the popular On This Day column, which in recent years has reflected Irish News reports of historical events from a century ago, will have noticed a different approach for 2019.
Well known Belfast historian and broadcaster, Dr Éamon Phoenix, who compiles the daily series, has decided to focus not just on the most significant events of 1919 but also those of 1969, both of which he describes as "critical periods in Irish history".
Dr Phoenix said: "It's an attempt to balance the two. I realised that if you wait for a few more years to cover the events of 1969, many people who lived through that period won't be around any more.
"I give talks on two strands of history - the Decade of Centenaries from 1919 to 1923 and the Civil Rights period - and both are of major significance. We are putting material out there which will inform readers and schools.
"This is a society post-conflict and the more information you can give people the better. In 1969, there is so much to report - the outbreak of the Troubles, the rise of the Rev Ian Paisley and the Burntollet Bridge incident in Derry when civil rights marchers were attacked.
"And in the Decade of Centenaries you not only have events such as the formation of the Dáil and the War of Independence but atrocities like the McMahon murders on the Antrim Road in Belfast when a father and his four sons were killed."
Dr Phoenix, a member of a group which advises the Taoiseach on dealing with commemorations, uses past issues of The Irish News to compile the series which he has been writing for more than 30 years.
