The Vietnam Generation

Gerry Adams reminisces on the 60s and the Vietnam Generation.

Question: What was your hope for Northern Ireland?
Gerry Adams: So I think I was very naive. You have to think back to the '60s. The '60s were anti-Vietnam War protest which I attended; anti-apartheid movement, which I was a member of; the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan; the Irish cultural revival of Irish music; all of the sort of great resurgence of Irish culture. It was student riots in Europe. It was "if you go into San Francisco, wear flowers in your hair." It was all of that. It was Rudy Guthrie and so on.
So we thought we could sort it. There were these pitiably unjust things happening, so maybe nobody knew. And if we could just tell them what was happening they would sort it out. It was only when we released it in fact that they did know, and that in fact they had created the conditions.
 
Recorded on: Oct 8, 2007

Question: What was your hope for Northern Ireland?
Gerry Adams: So I think I was very naive. You have to think back to the '60s. The '60s were anti-Vietnam War protest which I attended; anti-apartheid movement, which I was a member of; the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan; the Irish cultural revival of Irish music; all of the sort of great resurgence of Irish culture. It was student riots in Europe. It was "if you go into San Francisco, wear flowers in your hair." It was all of that. It was Rudy Guthrie and so on.
So we thought we could sort it. There were these pitiably unjust things happening, so maybe nobody knew. And if we could just tell them what was happening they would sort it out. It was only when we released it in fact that they did know, and that in fact they had created the conditions.
 
Recorded on: Oct 8, 2007