James Larkin

“No, men and women of the Irish race, we shall not fight for England. We shall fight for the destruction of the British Empire and the construction of an Irish republic.”

“I have raised the morals and sobriety of the people.”

“The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland.”

“I never stood in a public house bar and alcoholic drink never touched my lips.”

“You may succeed in your policy and ensure your own damnation, by your victory.”

“Those who want to divide the workers have resorted to the foulest methods.”

“We shall not fight for the preservation of the enemy, which has laid waste with death and desolation the fields and hills of Ireland for 700 years.”

“A mutual arrangement, I repeat, is the only satisfactory medium whereby the present system can be carried on with any degree of satisfaction, and in such an arrangement the employers have more to gain than the workers.”

“Stop at home. Arm for Ireland. Fight for Ireland and no other land.”

“Therefore it is essential that some means should be sought whereby the work of the nation may be carried on without constant yet at present necessary dislocation.”

“Man must be associated with his fellows.”

“I have tried to kill sectarianism, whether in Catholics or Protestants.”

“There must be freedom for all to live, to think, to worship, no book, no avenue must be closed.”

“We are now on the threshold of a newer movement, with a newer hope and a new inspiration.”

“I am careful about my conduct because I know this cause requires clean men.”

“Humanity abhors, above all things, a vacuum in itself, and your class will be cut off from humanity as the surgeon cuts the cancer and alien growth from the body.”

“The men whose manhood you have broken will loathe you, and will always be brooding and scheming to strike a fresh blow.”

“Comrades - We are living in momentous times.”

“We make mistakes, we have our faults, and God knows some of us have more than our share, but when danger threatens and duty calls, we go smiling to our own funeral.”

“The best thanks we could offer those who went before and raised the Irish working class from their knees was to press forward with determination and enthusiasm towards the ultimate goal of their efforts, a Co-operative Commonwealth for Ireland.”