On This Day in 1981: Kilnamanagh gets a new payphone

Cast your mind back to 1981, telephones were a hot commodity, and the installation of phone boxes in estates was all anyone could talk about (when the queue to use the bloody thing wasn’t too long).

In one Tallaght estate, they even used toughened glass to combat vandalism according to RTE.

Those living in Kilnamanagh were some of only a few to be able to avail of such a luxury as ongoing works to deliver phone lines across the area continued.

Indeed, the news report mentions bribes being offered to skip ahead on the list, and one South Dublin business man even offering a car to get a phone line installed.