STAILC 1913 – To Be Broadcast on TG4 October 30th at 21.30
STAILC 1913
An Esras Films Production for TG4
Directed by BRIAN GRAY
To be broadcast on TG4: 30.10.2013 at 21.30
On the occasion of the Centenary Year, Des Geraghty explores the dramatic events that unfolded during the 1913 Lockout in a major TG4 documentary. With original artwork in the form of a graphic novel, music and dramatic reconstruction, this creative and multifaceted documentary unpicks the threads of this monumental strike, examining the social, economic and political concerns of the time.
The 1913 Lockout led to violent class conflict on the streets of Dublin with social and political reverberations that can be felt to this day. The documentary film has an impassioned and credible guide; Des Geraghty is a former President of SIPTU, lifelong Trade Unionist and noted author on Dublin Folk history. Des re-examines the events and experiences of this unique Irish conflict, providing a tangible and direct link to the past through a dynamic use of archive and contemporary locations. Newsreel archive from the period has been unearthed for this production showing Liberty Hall as the nerve centre of the Lockout. Des Geraghty re-discovers the sites of conflict and engages with first hand testimony and speeches of the key players delivered by actors in period costume in-situ.
In a powerful and compelling performance, Stephen Murray plays Jim Larkin (‘Big Gem’) and captures the infectious enthusiasm of the public speaking style that enthralled Dubliners.
The steely determinism and confidence of William Martin Murphy is portrayed with typical screen authority by Bosco Hogan. Patrick O’Donnell has a very convincing presence in his role as James Connolly.
Dublin was a city starkly divided by religion, politics, class and culture in 1913. The accepted political consensus was that everything must be subordinated to the Holy Grail of Home Rule. In particular, the businessmen and middle class elite abhorred trade unionist Jim Larkin for his lack of social deference, syndicalist politics, scouse accent and for fracturing the image of an Ireland united in its quest for greater self-government. For men like industrialist William Martin-Murphy, Larkin personified all that was vulgar and repugnant about Anglo-Saxon materialism and the aspirations of the masses.
On 26th August 1913, Larkin led an attempt by Dublin Tram workers to strike for better pay and conditions. He told them to stop the trams at 9.40am when most of them would be in the vicinity of Nelson’s Pillar, the nexus of the system. The Tram company, owned by William Martin-Murphy had the trams back up and running within the hour with strike breakers.
The following week saw numerous rallies in support of the strikers – trams were stoned, strike leaders were arrested (including the recently arrived James Connolly from Belfast) for making seditious speeches. Larkin called for a Trade Union meeting in O’Connell Street but it was banned. In the confusion and chaos that ensued, police of the DMP (Dublin Metropolitan Police) launched a savage baton charge that saw 600 seriously injured including many bystanders. The scene was set for a Lockout of trade union workers and hardship for Dublin’s working class.
The 1913 Lockout was the first major urban based conflict in modern Ireland. For a time, it overshadowed the Home Rule crisis and brought the city of Dublin, and indirectly the entire country, to a standstill. It constituted a major challenge to the conservative middle class Catholic consensus, which dominated nationalist politics up to that point and energised and mobilised an entire ‘Citizen Army’ of 20,000 workers into direct action on a rights based agenda.
By January 1914 the Union had lost the battle, lacking the resources for a long campaign. But it won the war; the 1913 Lockout meant that there was no going back for workers to the exploitative conditions of pre-Larkin Dublin. In this documentary’s innovative visual treatment, key events of the Lockout are brought to life through specially commissioned graphic novel sequences. This original artwork enhances and complements the dynamic use of original archive. Director Brian Gray has fashioned a creative and timely re-telling of one of the decisive moments of twentieth century Ireland.