Young Ireland: Buy Irish Campaign was a group active in second level schools and some colleges in the 1980s. It was originally founded in 1983 by Denis Craven, a teacher at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, County Dublin.
In 1992 Young Ireland was relaunched in Dublin. They published a newspaper called B.I.G ( Buy Irish Goods) which was distributed throughout secondary schools. The movement held a number of exhibitions, published articles in local media and produced a video, sponsored by Opel Ireland called The Choice. It featured interviews with the manager of Ireland's Soccer team, Jack Charlton, together with Senator Fergal Quinn of Superquinn supermarkets, Arnold o'Byrne who was Managing Director of Opel Ireland and Mr. Jim Teeling a business studies teacher at St. Josephs CBS, Fairview Dublin. It also featured interviews with students from various schools including Bannagher Secondary School, Offaly.
The aim of Young Ireland was to create jobs by urging people to buy Irish where the price and the quality was right. Organised through the educational system, it was financially backed by FAS and many Irish companies,including Superquinn, Avoca Handweavers, Fiacla Toothpaste, FAS, Opel Ireland, Lir Chocolates, Cavan Crystal, Beeline Healthcare to name but a few. It had two logos, the oldest being a circle of Y's representing people around a centre point. The latest version evoked a more Celtic, shamrock style.
The organisation closed in 1995 following a successful 3 year sponsored campaign.
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“Louise, something in me tightens when an American intellectual’s eyes shine, and they start to talk to me about the Russian people. Something in me says, Watch it, a new version of Irish Catholicism is being offered for your faith.”
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