Enjoyed a private walking tour around Cathedral Quarters, Belfast last week - in the sunshine! Big Jim Larkin's sculpture was of great interest to the visitor.  This bronze statue by the  Belfast artist Anto Brennan stands in Donegall Street Place, close to Waring Street where Larkin led the Belfast dockers' strike of 1907.

The Belfast Dock strike or Belfast lockout took place in Belfast from 26 April to 28 August 1907.  The dockers both Portestand and Catholic, had gone on strike after their demand for union recognition was refused. They were soon joined by carters, shipyard workers, sailors, firemen, boilermakers, coal heavers, transport workers and women from the city's largest tobacco factory Gallaghers.

Although largely unsuccessful the dock strike led to the establishment of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.