Commemoration of 1913 Sligo Dock Strike on 29th August

The SIPTU Sligo District Committee is hosting a series of events to commemorate the Sligo Dock Strike of 1913 on Thursday, 29th August The events begin with the unveiling of a plaque in memory of ITGWU member Patrick Dunbar in the SIPTU Sligo Office in Cleverath at 5.00 p.m. Patrick was killed during a confrontation with strikebreakers in March 1913 and was buried in Sligo Cemetery without a gravestone.The SIPTU Sligo District Committee has now erected a gravestone for Patrick and this will be unveiled at 6.00 p.m. The unveiling event will be chaired by SIPTU Sligo District Committee President, Anthony Lyons, and will be addressed by SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor.Following the unveiling of the gravestone a series of lectures will be held in Sligo Town Hall. Those speaking will include local historian, Brian Scanlon, Galway University historian, John Cunningham and author of the Dublin: Lockout 1913, Padraig Yeates.Sligo Mayor, Marcella McGarry, will also address the event. Marcella’s father, Teddy McGarry, was himself an active trade unionist and docker.SIPTU Sligo District Committee secretary, John McCarrick, said: “The Sligo Dock Strike ended in a victory for the workers and led to the first closed shop agreement in the country. This meant only trade union members could be employed on Sligo Docks, something that pertained until the last dockers were made redundant a few years ago.”He added: “The events are open to the public and are expected to be attended by local trade union activists as well as a number of former dockers.”