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2013 State Commemoration
Thursday 29 August 2013, 11am
To All Mandate Members Dublin South West Division
As you may already be aware, there will be a State Commemoration of the 1913 Lockout this Saturday, 31August.
The public are being asked to assemble between 11:45-12:00 at the Larkin Statue on O’Connell Street. I would suggest getting there earlier, if possible, due to the prediction of 15,000 attendees.
The event will involve the laying of a wreath by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins and John Douglas will also be in attendance for the wreath laying ceremony. Following this, there will be re-enactments of ‘Bloody Sunday’ where the police baton charged the striking workers resulting in the death of two people. Many of the community groups will be attending dressed as Dockers (men) and Jacobs Workers (women) and the Poor of Dublin (men, women and children). If you’d like more information on this please let me know.
It will also include a number of musical performances; readings from Strumpet City by well-known actors and pieces of drama including an excerpt from ANU Productions’ which some of you will remember from the Dublin Tenement Experience and a scene from the Risen People Play.
As John Douglas has said, “It is important that we all recognise the struggle of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents during the 1913 Lockout. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary workers were locked out of their employment and starved into submission as they fought for the right to be in a trade union. They fought so that we could have a better future and that’s why Saturday is such an important commemoration.”
I hope to see you at the event, which will be an enjoyable occasion for the whole family. I’d like to apologise for the late notice, which was unfortunately out of our control.