{"id":8555,"date":"2016-04-28T15:54:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T14:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8555"},"modified":"2016-04-28T15:54:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T14:54:54","slug":"across-boundaries-and-oceans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8555","title":{"rendered":"Across boundaries and oceans"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In 1916 two seminal events that would shape the future of both Northern Ireland and the Republic took place. It was the year not only of the Easter Rising but also of the Battle of the Somme \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one of the bloodiest fights in the history of modern warfare.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of the nearly half a million British soldiers who died in the Battle, thousands upon thousands were Irish, both Catholic and Protestant and hailing from all parts of the island. Records indicate roughly 35,000 people from across Ireland would be slaughtered over the course of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first industrialised war.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s well known that the people of Ireland joined the war effort for various reasons \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many of them political and sectarian \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s less acknowledged is that, like all wars, it would be the working classes who, guided by economic necessity, would pay the greatest price.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite has chosen to remember 1916 as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Worker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. On Monday (April 25), Unite hosted an event in Belfast commemorating the sacrifices of working people of both traditions in Northern Ireland and the Republic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey outlined the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective on that year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBoth the Battle of the Somme and the Rising helped underpin the domination of national traditions for nearly a century afterwards,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese two traditions viewed each other with suspicion and defined themselves with Britain rather than with their relationship with each other. But during those difficult years there was often one identity that transcended all others \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the identity of the worker.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Non-sectarian glue\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe trade union movement had acted as a non-sectarian glue in communities throughout this island, and it continues to do so today,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always believed that when working people join hands across boundaries and oceans, and refuse to be divided by those who benefit most from such division, anything is possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speakers at the Worker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Year event included Peter Connell, a geographer and historian who revealed another death toll not often discussed during the years of the Great War and beyond \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the shocking infant mortality rate among working class Irish children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The disparity, Connell explained, was gaping \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one in five children in families of unskilled workers would not grow into adulthood, while this figure stood at one in 10 for families of professional classes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the course of WW1, some 35,000 Irishmen would lose their lives, but a figure almost as stark would haunt those of working-class parents during those years \u00e2\u20ac\u201c nearly 20,000 children living in Belfast or Dublin would not live to see their 15th<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAn infant born in a working-class family in Belfast or Dublin in January of 1915 had roughly the same chance of seeing out the war as their father or their uncle on the front,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Connell explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So why did so many young Irish men willingly sacrifice their lives? Many, of course, were motivated by politicians such as Edward Carson and John Redmond, who believed that the British government would reward them at a later stage for their assistance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But historian and author Phillip Orr explained at Monday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s event that the simple fact of survival \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of feeding themselves and their families \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was what propelled many young, mainly impoverished men to war.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By joining the armed forces, Orr noted, young men were fed three meals a day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they often came home to their families after training looking visibly healthier than when they left. A perhaps na\u0102\u017bve sense of adventure for these young men, many of whom knew only the streets of their local area, also motivated them, as did carefully targeted recruitment practices.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coercion on the part of employers, especially among unskilled general workers, played a major role as well. Although conscription was not in place in Ireland as it was in England, Wales and Scotland, many workers complained to trade unions that bosses would purposely sack labourers, leaving them with no other option but to enlist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Skilled tradesmen, on the other hand, were often granted exempt status and so did not have to worry about being called up for military service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Long-time Unite member Jimmy Nixon, who took part in a recent Unite project about workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 memories of the war, distilled in a story what Orr\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s research has found \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that young working-class men were motivated by many things to enlist, but perhaps most importantly by the dignity that comes with securing a basic livelihood amidst devastating poverty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He told the story of young John Condon, an Irish boy long thought to be the youngest person to die in the War at the age of 14.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Boots <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe walked all the way from Waterford to Dublin \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he walked in his bare feet \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to join the Royal Irish Rifles,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Nixon recounted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen one of his family asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098John, why are you joining the army? What are you doing that for?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 And he said \u00e2\u20ac\u0098When I come home, at least I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have a pair of boots.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 And he never came home.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other speakers at Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s event included labour historian Theresa Moriarty, who told of growing trade union activity in Ireland during the war, as well as community activist Patricia McCarthy and historian Fergus O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Farrell, whose moderated discussion on contested memories brought in audience input.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCarthy and O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Farrell examined how the Rising and the Somme are remembered to this day within different traditions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The evening ended with a short play paying tribute to the legacy of Winifred Carney, an Irish trade unionist, activist and feminist, in imagined conversation with Royal Irish Constable William Barrett, who famously refused to escort a driver sent to break the Belfast Dock Strike in 1907.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Solidarity <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey hailed the event as a platform for solidarity in a still divided society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI offer huge congratulations to the region for the manner in which they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve dealt with this centenary given the sensitivities within the community in Northern Ireland,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was always going to be a difficult thing to bring about \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a celebration in memory of 1916. And the way they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done it is as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Worker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, linking together the communities and linking together the enormous common ground that exists between Catholic and Protestant workers, both north and south.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been fantastic and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very proud of [Unite Ireland secretary] Jimmy Kelly and his regional team and proud of Unite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe look forward to making certain that that purpose of solidarity and unity is preserved and carries us on to building a better Ireland, a better Britain and a better world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey invited the audience to reconsider their shared histories to imagine \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba new workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the next 100 years, both national traditions have an opportunity to start defining themselves in relation to each other rather than in relation to Britain,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite and the trade union movement which represents workers of both traditions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as well as workers of different, new communities, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come to this island bringing their own traditions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is well placed to facilitate that process of definition and redefinition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet us imagine a future where war will never again be tolerated and where discrimination on the basis of culture or faith or race will never again rear its ugly head,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet us imagine a future where the women and men of this Island who create the wealth are entitled to dictate how that wealth will be shared.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn imagining this future, let us not forget that the history of working people on this island is a history of solidarity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pic of Royal Irish Constable William Barrett, played by Gerard Jordan. Pic by PressEye <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1916 two seminal events that would shape the future of both Northern Ireland and the Republic took place. It was the year not only of the Easter Rising but also of the Battle of the Somme \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one of the bloodiest fights in the history of modern warfare.   Of the nearly half a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[37,219,517],"wps_subtitle":"Unite remembers Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s WW1 working class","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8556,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8555\/revisions\/8556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}