The aftermath of the games highlighted the fragile nature of relations between the Irish Olympic Council and the FAIFS. There had been a mix-up over deadlines for the submission of the squad, while the FAIFS also made it known that it had no involvement in the choice of either the colours or the national anthem. … Read more
Divisions in the Irish trade union movement opened up following the return of Jim Larkin from the USA in 1923. As a revolutionary socialist, Larkin had objections to the Free State settlement and the way the labour leadership both supported and accommodated itself within it. In addition to these political objections, however, Larkin also displayed … Read more
The Importance of Being Irish RTÉ1, March–April 2008 Yellow Asylum Films/Royal Irish Academy Frederick Douglass agus na Negroes Bána TG4, 2 April 2008 Camel Productions by John Gibney It goes without saying that Ireland has undergone radical changes in the past two decades. In recent years numerous attempts to explain the origins and nature of … Read more
In a previous editorial (HI 18.3, May/June 2010) I expressed the hope that once we quantified the scale of our current fiscal difficulties the only way to go was up. Well, now we know—c. €50 billion to bail out the banks and cuts of c. €15 billion in government spending over the next four years—and … Read more
The early to mid-1920s was a period of despondency for the Irish labour movement. The victory of the Free State regime in the Civil War was accompanied by an all-out assault on the wages and conditions of Irish workers. Major strikes involving postal workers, Dublin dockers and Waterford farm labourers were just three of a … Read more