The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, has planted a tree and unveiled a commemorative plaque in memory of trade union and labour leader Tom Johnson, author of the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil, at an event to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Irish Labour History Society (ILHS).

Tom Johnson, who was born in Liverpool on 17 May 1872, died sixty years ago on 17 January 1963. As Leader of the Irish Labour Party, Johnson served as the first Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1927. The tree planting took place ahead of May Day, with the Irish oak tree planted close to ‘The Plough and the Stars’ – a piece of public art unveiled in 2018 to mark the 1913 Lockout, the Irish Citizen Army and its first secretary and historian, playwright Seán O’Casey.

The ILHS event was attended by members and supporters of the Irish labour movement past and present, including the president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Kevin Callinan; the general secretary of Ireland’s largest trade union SIPTU, Joe Cunningham; the leader of the Labour Party, Ivana Bacik; and former Labour Party leader Ruairí Quinn. It was addressed by President Higgins and Shay Cody, President of the Irish Labour History Society and former general secretary of the public services union Fórsa.

President Higgins told the gathering that the ILHS’s fiftieth anniversary brought a particular importance to May Day 2023. He continued: ‘We owe such a great debt to the Society and for so many reasons – for its promotion of a knowledge of Irish labour and of Irish people in labour history abroad and labour history in general; for its promotion of the importance of labour history in the education curriculum; and for its preservation of records and reminiscences, oral and written, relating to the current and past experiences of Irish workers and their organisations. This is all so vitally important if we are to learn from the past and build ever-stronger campaigns for workers’ rights.’

Turning to the part played by Tom Johnson, he said: ‘This year we recall the transformative role in the trade union movement of this country played by Thomas Johnson, whose death occurred sixty years ago. Not only the Irish labour movement, but all who believe in parliamentary actions, are forever indebted to Tom Johnson and his advocacy of a peaceful alternative to the bloody conflicts that gripped the decades of our nation in its infancy. The alternative path Johnson advocated was one in which the shared concerns and interests of everyone in Ireland had to be addressed and pursued, a reminder to us all that the pursuit of peace must always be prioritised over war and conflict, with all of its attendant bloody consequences and inter-generational transmissions.

‘On this May Day, let us all affirm our commitment to playing our part in the creation of a society that removes the obstacles standing between so many of our people and their full participation. Let us stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable, lowest paid and least protected workers in society as we battle a cost-of-living crisis. Let us defend their rights as the founders of the trade union movement, like Tom Johnson, did more than a century ago.’

Full text of Michael D. Higgins’ speech in memory of Tom Johnson.

Find out more about the Irish Labour History Society.

Seeking No Honours: Tom Johnson 1872–1963 and Marie Johnson 1874–1974, by Shay Cody and Charles Callan, with reflections by Padraig Yeates and Brendan Howlin, Dublin: Irish Labour History Society, Saothar Studies no. 5, 2021, was reviewed by Mike Mecham in Labour History Review, vol. 88, issue 1.