There is a new blog on the National Library of Ireland site on the battle for union recognition in Sligo during 1913. Unlike that in Dublin it ended in victory although one ITGWU docker, Patrick Dubar, was killed and dozens of dockers were imprisoned during it http://www.nli.ie/blog/index.php/2013/03/08/sligo-dispute
“Publicists of all kinds, philanthropists, literary men, lovers of their kind, poets, brilliant writers, artists, have all been conquered by the valiant heroism of the Dublin workers …” James Connolly spoke these words about the 1913 Lockout – the 100th anniversary of which occurs this year. Indeed, it is through the most famous novel of […]
Kevin Myers makes a very selective cull of Jim Larkin’s long and stormy career to character assassinate him and present a picture that is as unjustified as the ‘union cult of Larkin’ he seeks more legitimately to question. As an equally selective quote from my speech at the commemoration to mark Larkin’s death on January […]
‘WE ARE here today to commemorate James Larkin, the founder of our union and the modern labour movement,” declared Jack O’Connor, president of SIPTU, recently. “If we are to be honestly true to the legacy of Jim Larkin, it behoves us to abandon our sectarian comfort zones.” Good. So let’s revisit some of Larkin’s […]
More than 100,000 people took part in demonstrations across the country today, in protest at the country’s continued bank debt burden. The protests were organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and took place in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo. Over 60,000 took part in the Dublin protest, while at least 15,000 […]
Speech by Jack O’Conor, General President of SIPTU, at 66th anniversary of the death of Jim Larkin, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, January 30th, 2013 Comrades and Friends We are here today to commemorate the life of Jim Larkin, the founder of our union and of the modern Irish labour movement. He virtually transformed the traditional, […]
It exposed contradictions that had to be worked through in independence, says Carol Hunt in today’s (January 27th, 2013) Sunday Independent ‘DORA Montefiore — she was young, she was opinionated, she was English and Jewish, she was a socialist; you couldn’t concoct a better hate figure for the Catholics [in Ireland]. And she was coming […]
To mark the centenary of the 1913 Lockout, the Progressive Film Club plan is running a series of films on the themes of labour struggles and workers’ rights throughout the coming year. It kicks-off on Saturday, January 26th with two films about factory occupations – one in Argentina and the other in Cork. 2.30pm: The […]