Letter from William O'Brien to Augustine Birrell, 26 February 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from William O'Brien to Augustine Birrell, 26 February 1916

1 Dublin United Trades Council and labour league Trades Hall Capel S T. Dublin Feb. 26th. 1916. The Right Hon. A. Birrell, M.P., Chief Secretary For Ireland. . Sir, I am directed to forward you the inclosed resolution
dealing with the control of shipping. Faithfully yours, W m O'Brien,
Acting Secretary. 2 RESOLUTION X That this Council, representing the workers of Dublin,
enters its strongest protest against the inaction of the
Government in allowing the shipowners to amass huge fortunes
by exploiting the necessities of the people, and declares
that the high freightage is almost entirely responsible for
the unprecedented increase in the cost of Food; that we demand
that the Government shall immediately take over the entire
Mercantile Marine, as the only method calculated to be effec-
tive in stopping this shameful robbery of the people, which
will continue so long as shipping remains a private monopoly.
That copies of the foregoing be forwarded to the Prime Minister,
the President of the Board of Trade, the Chief Secretary for
Ireland, Mr. J. E. Redmond, M.P., and Mr. G.J.Wardle, M.P.

This letter was written by William O'Brien (1881 - 1968), the president of the Dublin trades council, to Augustine Birrell (1850-1933), chief secretary for Ireland. Birrell served as chief secretary from 1907 until his retirement in May 1916 in the aftermath of the Easter Rising, for which he accepted responsibility. William O'Brien, was an active labour leader and trade union official. Although O'Brien did not take part in the Easter rebellion of 1916 he was closely involved in its planning. and was interned in Frongoch for a month after its outbreak. Later in his career he became a Labour Party TD for Tipperary.This letter contains a resolution dealing with the control of shipping and protesting government inaction in allowing shipowners 'amass huge fortunes'.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__1373.html)