The Dublin lockout, which took place from the 26^th August 1913 to 18^th January the following year, stands as one of the most marked episodes of entrenched class conflict in Irish history. Over 20,000 workers and 80,000 dependents were directly affected as over 400 employers locked out members of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU) for refusing to sign a pledge to resign from the union and against sympathetic strike action. Eoin Gilligan looks at this heroic episode in history the Irish labour movement.

2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the Dublin Lockout, the heroic struggle of the Irish working class that began on 26th August 1913. To mark this anniversary, we are publishing an article by James Connolly, the great Irish revolutionary, written on 30th August 1913 for the Irish Worker.

The war drums in Washington are beating, announcing an imminent US attack on Syria. In the UK, Cameron is willingly echoing the call. Parliament is expected to back the military option in an emergency meeting convened for Thursday 29th August. Direct imperialist intervention marks a fundamental change in the situation in Syria since the spiralling sectarian civil war, which has wiped away the revolutionary potential of the anti-regime protests, sparked in January 2011 by the events of the Arab spring.