Landsdowne factory, most of whom would be affected by the permit order, went on strike in protest against the measures.
The next day the United Trades and Labour Council held: special mccting. It resolved te all a general strike in the city a from 3am on 14 April until the ending of martial law.
Sean Cronin, chairperson of the trades council, threatened to out the railway workers, stating that only the 48 hours notice they were required on doe executive London prevented him from calling an immediate strike.
The Trades and Labour Council transformed itself into a strike committee. It took over a printing pres and prepared placards explaining the strike posting them all over Limerick.
This was the first of many publications during the fortnight; permits, clamataions, Food price and a strike bulletin rolled off press. Besides the propaganda, the committee detailed skeleton staffs to maintain electricity, and water supplies.
The strike was an immediate success. Despite the suddenness of the decision, it was executed by 15,000 organised workers.
On 14 April all that operating were the their skeleton staffs; some carriers with permits from the strike committee to enable journalists to interview the ittecs the banks, and the railways. on the railways struck the next day:
This triumph gained support beyond its class nature. petty-bourgeoisie - the small shopkeepers The Limerick Chamber of Comsent a statement to the British Prime Minister, Andrew Boner Law, condemning permit system. Sinn Fein backed the strike and Mayor O'Mara refused to leave the proclaimed next area for his home.
The strike committee had lists soon to escalate the struggle.
Food shortages began to appear on the first day. The committee ordered the rationing of gas, hotel meals. In the evening it granted permits — to be entorced by pickets — for shops to sell bread, milk, and ween 2-5pm as from the next 4 dual day, for the bakeries to naintain production public To avoid a shortage, strike committee established subordinate body of four councillors with Irish Volunteers supply of food to The engineers The Waters of unmenick The 1/participated.
AGAINST BAITISH MILITARISM muffled oårs, and by day hearses the brought food supplies into the city. Profiteers down Other sub-committees established to supervise pickets, propaganda, first body executed police duties.
The propaganda commitice was most notably responsible for the dally Workers' maintained throughout the period stoppage. potatoes betpower developed to its fullest.
On the the British Army. It had brought in an extra hundred police at the city time of the inquest on Robert control of the Byrne: had military forces, including an atmoured car and a tank. It had big boats with into the proclaimed area.
labour in Limerick The . VCKL British Army workhouse hospital, were closed were city permits.
and funds.
powers.
Bulletin; perination Limerick the one hand there was that the military authorities This statement by a number of clergy, considerable the route Against the colonial power was the full force of organised backed implicity by the Irish Volunteers.
the accepted the strike committee's authority. Even the was • affected: a Scots regiment had to be sent home hastily when it was found that its soldiers were allowing workers to pass in and out of the without demanding their Already there had been one trial of strength between the two power.
On 12 April General Griffin, the British officer in command, taken by tried to win over the Chamber of Commerce. The chamber referred the terms offered to they Limerick, strike committee. The committee replied that it had no wish tee take. the step it had taken, but military guard.
had backed headed by the bishop, Dr Hallinan, who inaction denounced the permit system as and thus. Either the strikers or the British had to win. The danger strike for the British was that the struggle would escalate in a way that could bring Irish labour to state The most definitive move in that direction would have to be the railway workers throughout the country had refused to handle freight in except where it was permitted by the strike commitwas expected that they would extend this action to a full-scale railway strike What held them back was the of executive of the Irish Labour Party Trade Union Congress (a on 16 April declared that the concerned the workers basic right of travel, and it ap pealed to all workers and people of the world to support it.
But it did not make recommendation or call for a broadening of the strike, prefert ing to wait until another meetin of the executive scheduled to be held in Limerick itself six day laterhen on 21 April a majo blow was deliyered in London.
Stockman, speaking m *167 The Workers of Limerich Promise 80 Pari 5/- FIVE MILING 51it.
the Foran, president of the who refused to extend had f the British TUC and of whose were involved in the declared it to be mike and accordingly Tons to refuse strike pay those of their members who were involved in Stockman's statement supported by the executive of National 01103 Railwaymen, which ordered its Irish members to avoid action.
While the strike committee was under such attacks it also had headaches from its rank and file. Their militancy was on the increase.
On 19 April an Arry sentry to disperse COWe youth. Two days later there was at serous altall. A hurting match was held just outside the proclaimed area and many used he opportunity to trail their On returning to the city in the evening some 500 individuals refused to show their permits. The Army stopped them entering the area, with the support of 500 police and two armoured cars. Most of the crowd stayed the night at a nearby dance-hall.
The next day they boarded a train and avoided a military cordon at the city terminus by getting out on the side of the station opposite to the were waiting. The next day shots were fired by troops at a fair when people again refused to show their permits.
The strike committee meanwhile money blems. Trades councils and some unions sent money to Limerick but these helped only to a limited extent. The Labour Party and national estimated later that £8,000 week was needed to maintain the soviet. Only £1,500 had arrived when the strike action after a fortnight.
The finance sul commit 10/ALAINST BAITISH MILTTARISM -„Гі"іші.я., bank no desi be issued one cine credit of the strike committee troops Some notes were put out before strike ended, and were accepted by many shopkeepers.
On 20 April William O'Brien and Thomas Foran, of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and the Labour Party and pro- executive, Limerick. meeting of all sections of the community Sean behalf of the strike committee, executive offered to hand over power to Labour's executive ended Part of the reason was that The knew what had to be done to win the strike and he felt that the TEN SHILLiNGS. 10|national note to be issued on the the next two days.
mittee Cronin's hopes gencia arrived in That night at •Cronin, on and totally utopian:
were fighting simple.
dent.
bishop having have as it until the area later. working able to expand the struggle. The Cronin had already talked about calling out the railway Vision workers; now he declared that executive should make Limerick the headquarters 'The of Ireland's national and social Soviet' Lysaght The other members of the executive arrived in Limerick over On 23 April they talked with the strike comfar. into the evening were dashed The delegation stated that it had strike without the authority of a special conference of the Labour Party and TUC What the delegation proposed instead was at once limited That the men and women o imerick whom they believe were resolved and determined to sacrifice much tor the cause they should evacuate, their, city and leave it as an empty shell in the hands of, the military?
What this meant was quite The executive was prepared to go to any lengths to avoid a confrontation with the occupying forces The limita tions of the politics of pure pro test have seldom been more eviQuite correctly the strike committee rejected the proposal.
The next day the mayor anc visited General Griffin. What happened at this meeting is unknown Subsequent events point to them obtained might been considered a com promise: the soviet should end and, if for a week after that, there was no trouble in the pro claimed area the military permit order would be withdrawn.
Faced with this offer, backed by the leaders of bourgeois Limerick and deserted by the national executive, the strike committee began On the same day as the mayor and the bishop met the sentral remine declared strike notices were withdrawn for those working within the boundary of the pro claimed area.
There was considerable bitterness and copies of the pro clamation limiting the strike : were torn down. Many talked of a 'second soviet', or just a new strike committee. On :26 April demonstrators • stopped permil holders from crossing a bridge they were themselves dispersed by the police As yet only half the strikers had returned but on 27 April the strike was denounced from the pulpit by a Catholic priest. Even without this the strike committee could not resist the pressure. The bishop and mayor had at least some scheme of action; the committee had none.
On 26 April the general strike was declared to be at an end. The next day, except for the bacon factories, the city was back to normal. Seven days later proclamation was withdrawn. Permits to enter the covered them were declared unnecessary a week The Limerick Soviet's defeat, for such was what it was in the long run, had seeds in the nature of the leadership of the struggle - the all-class composi tion of that leadership and the bourgeois nature of it. But this was compounded by the hostility of the trade union and Labour Party bureaucracies both in Britain and in Ireland.
It was the leadership of the • class movement that betrayed it. This ensured that the Limerick Soviet would not have the place in Irish history that its counterpart in St Petersburg has had in the history of Russia.
workers of Limerick need not apologise for what happened. For two short weeks the Irish workers' republic was raised. A splendid vision it was.
Story of the Limerick by DR O'Connor is available from The Other Bookshop Upper St, London N1. Price 40p plus 20p p&p
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Matters, could not remain single organisation). Its meeting DR O'CONNOR LYSAGHT. writes of a little-known incident in Irish history when the vision of the Irish workers' republic came into view.
This article is an extract from estory of the Limerick soviet, nocracy
shea by the Irish revolu- ary organisation People's