Doubleband Doc ‘If Lynch Had Invaded’ On RTÉ | The Irish Film & Television Network

As rioting raged in Derry and elsewhere in Northern Ireland, at 9.00 pm on the 13th August 1969 the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, made a dramatic speech on RTÉ radio and television and declared that “the Irish government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse.” The implicit meaning of these words has always proved a source of great debate for would-be interpreters. And this documentary investigates the course of alternative history that may have come to pass had Lynch acted on these, now famous, words.

‘If Lynch Had Invaded’ was written and directed by Michael Hewitt, produced by Jonathan Golden and is presented by Keelin Shanley (Prime Time) and Tom Clonan (Security Correspondent, The Irish Times)

Through dramatised ‘reconstruction’ and CGI effects ‘If Lynch Had Invaded’ goes on to explore what might have happened, both politically and on the battlefield, had Irish soldiers crossed the border into the north – in other words, if Ireland had gone to war with Britain.

The documentary features interviews with eye-witnesses to the dramatic events of that period including Des O’Malley (former Parliamentary Secretary to Jack Lynch), TK Whitaker (former advisor to Lynch on N. Ireland), Des Fisher (former Deputy Head of News at RTE), Bernadette McAliskey, Eamonn McCann, Tony Benn, John Taylor, Sir Ken Bloomfield, and historians Michael Kennedy, Diarmaid Ferriter, Stephen Collins, and Thomas Hennessey.

In the words of Michael Hewitt, writer & director of the documentary: “This documentary offers a unique insight into the remarkable tensions within Jack Lynch’s cabinet at this incredibly tense time. It also reveals how senior members of the government were prepared to go so far as to advocate an armed response to the situation in Northern Ireland.“

‘If Lynch Had Invaded’ will be shown on RTÉOne on Tuesday, September 1st at 9.35pm

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