Jim Larkin returns to Ireland after 8 years, but no labour or ITGWU officials greet him
Dublin, 1 May 1923 - After a hiatus of eight years, the former Irish labour leader, Jim Larkin, returned to Ireland last night. Welcomed by large crowds and performing bands at Westland Row, Mr. Larkin made a public address from a window at Liberty Hall, significantly any representative from the Irish Labour Party or any official from the ITGWU was absent.
Mr. Larkin remarked that when he was leaving Ireland, Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke and James Connolly - all executed leaders of the 1916 Rising - went down the quays with him and he would not betray the dead. Mr. Larkin stated that he had left Ireland under orders and he had carried out those orders. However, the work was not yet accomplished and urged his audience to concern themselves with principles - the principle of a united Ireland, a nation free and indivisible.
They - his audience - should also get rid of the spirit of faction and intrigue and work in a manner worthy of the Transport Workers’ Union. Mr. Larkin also remarked that though only back in the country he had noticed that the rich were now richer than when he went away and the poor were poorer.
Jim Larkin's Return (Image: the Cork Examiner, 1 May 19123)
When questioned in advance of Mr. Larkin’s return as to whether any action would be taken against him by the Free State government, the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr. Kevin O’Higgins answered that the government had not yet decided on what to do, but in view of comments ascribed to Mr. Larkin in America the matter would be considered.
Mr. Larkin was sentenced to five to ten years in prison for ‘criminal anarchy’ in May 1920, but was released in January this year.
Padraig Yeates on the outcome of the 1913 Lockout for the labour movement in Ireland and for its leader Jim Larkin
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
