Opinion

Celebrating Gown's independent voice

Brian Garrett
Brian Garrett Brian Garrett

There is a noteworthy exhibition currently at the Naughton Gallery in the main Lanyon Building entrance area at Queen’s University.

The Gallery is the prime public exhibition area at Queen’s and normally exhibits fine art. The current exhibition is very different and somewhat unexpected - on show are challenging posters devised by student journalists for their newspaper Gown over a period of 60 years.

Celebrating this 60th anniversary, Gown lays claim to be the oldest independent student newspaper in these islands. There is cause for celebration and to congratulate Kylie Noble (current editor of Gown) and her colleague, Orry Robinson, who organised the event. As an editor of Gown in its very earliest years I have reason to be pleased.

In the early days the print run was in the low hundreds and the paper was sold for the awkward sum of 4p per copy. Gown now involves 3,000 copies per issue and is free.

Gown was founded in 1955 by Dick Herman, a medical student from the United States. At that time the student population at Queen’s was under 3,000. Dick Herman was encouraged in his endeavours by Professor Jack Pritchard who held the anatomy chair at Queen's and who was pre-eminent in his regard for developing the student experience. Gown filled an unidentified niche and survived a rather bumpy start. Each academic year since 1955 has seen the appointment of a new student editor entitled to select his/her editorial team.

The striking, feature of Gown is that it is truly independent and does not seek financial support from outside sources but relies solely on advertising revenue. The Gown office is located in the Students’ Union Building and there is a protocol with the Students’ Union Council respecting the independence of the paper. An Advisory Trust consisting of former Gown editors (currently chaired by Maeve Quigley of the Irish Daily Mirror) has the role of ratifying the annual appointment of the editor and is available for other advisory support. Gown remains, however, an essentially co-operative venture on the part of the students who have full editorial control and financial responsibility.

So what, good reader, you might ask is so remarkable? Gown’s lengthy continuity may be impressive but it is hardly a cause for dancing in the street (or quadrangle). The most impressive feature must surely be how, over the years, the students running the paper have responded to dramatic change and some truly turbulent events – events which, on occasion, seemed to threaten life at Queen’s.

The composition of the student population has increased many fold and, in contrast with earlier periods, a clear majority of students are from a Catholic/nationalist background. The Civil Rights Campaign era witnessed the birth of Peoples’ Democracy at Queen’s which followed a confrontational policy directly challenging established order.

There was the shocking (and truly shameful) murder outside the Law School of Edgar Graham, the highly talented law lecturer and Unionist spokesperson. More recently, anarchic events in the Holy Land area of Belfast, supposedly connected with celebrating St Patrick’s Day, have sickened the general public (and not just the residents in the immediate neighbourhood). Student fees too have of course been a cause of concern – and now the announcement of envisaged substantial cutbacks in student and staff numbers due to financial austerity measures. Yet, despite such events, university life has continued and Queen's prospers with academic - including student - freedom maintained.

Gown has had a place in all this. It has not followed a fixed political line – rather each year the new editor brings a fresh perspective to the role. The underlying policy of Gown has been to investigate events and then form and express a view – but doing so with the interests and welfare of the student body as a whole at heart.

With its 60 years history, Gown has seen a considerable number of editors and contributors become distinguished professional journalists and broadcasters. A number attended the exhibition launch earlier this month, including David Montgomery (former Mirror Group CEO and now CEO of an organisation which has ownership of more than 100 newspapers), Conor O’Clery (former foreign correspondent with the Irish Times, Brendan Keenan (Irish Independent), John Trew (former editor News Letter), Nick Ross, Mark Carruthers and Maggie Taggart (BBC) – and many others. Peter Montellier (a former editor of the Irish News) was editor of Gown in his day.

All of which is reason for some modest celebration (pending any centenary celebration).

Town too has reason to be pleased with Gown.

:: Brian Garrett is a campaigning lawyer and former editor of Gown.

:: Fionnuala O Connor is away.