A letter written by Irish broadcasting legend Gay Byrne in 1996, in which he made predictions about the future, has been discovered.
In the letter the TV star made several predictions about the what world would be like in the year 2020 – unfortunately, now we have arrived at that point in time, most of them turned out to be very optimistic when compared to the current reality.
Byrne was writing to students from Loreto Primary School in Rathfarnham, Dublin, who had asked him to make predictions about how Ireland would look in a quarter of a century.
Byrne wrote his letter on 24 January, 1996 and it was locked away in a time capsule as part of the ‘European Nature Conservation Year 1995 time capsule project’.
The capsule has now been unlocked and Byrne’s letter has been rediscovered.
Byrne wrote: “In response to yours of the 16th January, my response to 2020 Vision Project is:
“With the climate changes we’re experiencing now by 2020 we’ll be growing Mediterranean fruit and vegetables and Ireland will be a little paradise island in the Northern Atlantic.
“Cars will be banned in Dublin City and LUAS will be the only city transport.
“Cancer, heart disease, diabetes and AIDS will be diseases with cures, and we’ll all be living longer.
“With this week’s budget, and Ruairi Quinn’s ‘booming economy’ – Ireland’s population will have less work, more money circulating and more leisure time.
“We’ll be taking adventure holidays to other planets.
“We will have found a safe way to “dump” nuclear waste.
“Sellafield will have had a major accident and I’ll be dead or 86 years old and still presenting THE LATE LATE SHOW!
“Sincerely, Gay Byrne.”
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
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