President Higgins to lead State commemoration of 1913 Lockout
The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, will lead the State commemoration of the 1913 Lockout which will take place on Saturday, 31st August – 100 years to the day of Bloody Sunday 1913. The President will lay a wreath at the statue of the ITGWU leader James Larkin on Dublin’s O’Connell Street followed by a minute’s silence at 1.20 p.m. The commemoration events, which begin at 12.30 p.m. with a welcoming address by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Oisín Quinn, include musical performances by Ciara Sidine, Jimmy Kelly and the St. Agnes Youth Orchestra and others; a reading from Strumpet City by actors Bryan Murray and Angela Harding, the central actors in RTÉ’s original dramatisation of the book and dramatic excerpts from ANU Productions’ Living the Lockout and the Risen People.
Following the State commemoration there will be a dramatic re-enactment of the events of Bloody Sunday by local community groups, including the infamous baton charge by police against striking workers. This attack by police on a crowd that had gathered to hear James Larkin speak resulted in the deaths of two workers, James Nolan and John Byrne, and hundreds of injuries.
ICTU 1913 Committee coordinator, Padraig Yeates, said: “This is the first State commemoration of the 1913 Lockout and the struggle to improve the lot of working people over the past century. It will also recognise the key role of working people in the creation of an independent Irish State.
“Everyone interested in workers’ rights and the current struggle to have collective bargaining legally protected, as it is in nearly every other EU member state, should do their best to attend.”
Those wishing to participate in the community group re-enactment of the police baton charge on workers should contact Terry Fagan of the North Inner City Folklore Group at folklore@eircom.net
Liberty Online is produced by the Communications Department of SIPTU. Liberty Online is distributed on a regular basis to members who are on the SIPTU e-mail data base. In order to maximize circulation of this news bulletin and other messages and statements we urgently ask recipients to gather the e-mail addresses of other SIPTU members who are not already on the data base. Please forward e-mail addresses to communications@siptu.ie
SIPTU Head Office | Liberty Hall | Dublin 1 | Ireland
