Abstract

This dissertation examines the nature and development of labour relations in Ireland from the turbulent birth of the Irish Free State in 1922 to the enactment of the Industrial Relations Act and the establishment of the Labour Court in 1946. It focuses on the evolving relations between the labour movement (for the purpose of this study this comprises both the Labour Party and trade unionism) and the government of the day. Four broad thematic questions inform this study. First, to what extent did the government and the trade unions engage effectively with one another? The dissertation explains how a Civil War mentality dominated the Cumann na nGaedheal government’s approach to labour relations during the first decade of independence when trade union protest could be deemed a threat to the security of the state. This is illustrated using as case studies the postal dispute of 1922 and the farm labourers’ strike of 1922-3. Second, what were the aspirations of the labour movement as Ireland gained its independence and to what extent did divisions within the labour movement inhibit the fulfilment of these ambitions? Relatively little historical attention has been placed on the ill-suited organisational structures of the labour movement, its inability to implement effective reform and its noted tendency to splinter over matters of ideology, policy and personality. A third objective is an assessment of unemployment in the 1920s and 1930s. There was a marked disparity in how this social ill was perceived by government on one hand and the labour movement on the other. Lastly, the contrasting approaches of Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fáil to both social and labour issues are assessed. Changing political circumstances explain some of the difference but of more significance after 1932 was Fianna Fáil’s desire to industrialise. This in turn forced it to facilitate a more workable labour relations environment. This dissertation makes a significant contribution to the sparse historiography of Irish labour relations in the first two decades of independence.