Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the members of staff for having the patience to stay here. I wish to raise the issue of the need for the Minister for Education and Science to comment on the importance of media studies in ensuring that students who are exposed to historical events spun by media channels with their own agendas on a 24 hour basis are helped evaluate what they hear in a critical manner. This sounds quite convoluted but I could not find a way to put it in less convoluted terms. I will briefly explain my point and I hope it will reach the staff of the Department of Education and Science, though I appreciate the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh. I do not mean to patronise the Minister of State when I say that he, of all people, will understand where I am coming from.

I have completed a report on the teaching of history in conflict and post-conflict areas; I spent a year and a half on the project, which got the full endorsement of the Council of Europe last Friday. The clearest point I came across was the fact that in former times, particularly in the Soviet era, there was a single truth in history. Teachers were told what to teach in the first five minutes of class and in the next 20 minutes; in the last five minutes they were told to reinforce what was covered at the beginning. History was seen as a truth to be dispensed.

The advent of news broadcasters such as BBC World Service, CNN, Fox News, TV5 Monde and many others, including our national broadcasters and national broadcasters around the world, means we now live permanently in historic times. To use a non-political event, we have lived through the death of Michael Jackson but most news items relate to politics, such as events in Iran, Iraq and conflicts around the world. These events are broadcast simultaneously into our houses as they happen, often merely to fill in time. The matter of Michael Jackson's death has now taken over the airwaves; people want to know how he died, who will take custody of the children, where his money will go and so on. This will keep the 24 hour news channels busy for a considerable period.

My point is that a gap has grown between the Soviet notion of a single truth and the various truths offered by different media outlets today. In conflict and post-conflict areas people need to engage with something other than a single truth. Every person has his or her own version of the truth; there are many perspectives on every situation. We should encourage people to explore the history taught to them and not necessarily accept a single version as the truth. It is very important children are given the chance to do media studies so they understand that a certain person's view of a particular event is coloured by where that person comes from and what is his or her agenda. In this way we will develop a more critical and analytical student who will become much more employable and may even become an employer. In all cases of conflict, including that on the island of Ireland, there is a need for more bright, intelligent, critical and analytical thinkers who can see through what they are told and recognise that there other agendas.

Places that have come out of conflict usually have to address economic as well as political problems. Tonight is not the time to go into the detail of the report. Instead, I ask the Department of Education and Science if it is aware that children are exposed to more and more media, such as the Internet, which bombard them with information and have agendas. One form of media will have a different agenda from another and young people should be given the skills to discern. As Marc Bloch said: "History is like a knife - it can kill or cut meat". The media can help to decide whether the knife is used as a weapon or as a useful tool.