Dunnes Stores

27.4.1985.Dublin, Ireland. Dunnes Stores Strike mass picket with supporters. ©Photo by Derek Speirs (Image use subject to licence - credit photo Derek Speirs)

In 1944, Ben Dunne Senior founded Dunnes Stores in Cork. It quickly became one of the most popular and largest retail stores in Ireland, with branches nationwide. During the 1980s, the company expanded to Spain and England.

Relations between the retail employer and its employees were already strained regarding working conditions and pay. When the Strikers took a stand, the Dunnes Management were reluctant to talk to the Union or the Strikers, seeing the strike as a political dispute, and they were not prepared for this to affect their business.

At the time of the strike, Ben Dunne Junior had taken over after his father's passing in 1983 and refused to move on the issue, seeing it as an affront to his power. Dunne was adamant that if the customer wanted South African fruit, they would have South African fruit. Even when the ban on South African produce was imposed in January 1987, Dunnes continued to import the produce through Italy, thereby prolonging the strike until April of the same year.

In 2008, in an interview on RTE, Ben Dunne apologised to the strikers for his actions during the strike.

Photo: Rose Comiskey

Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement

The Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement was established in 1964 by Kader Asmal, a member of the ANC and a law lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin. The organisation aimed to create a permanent and inclusive movement that represented all sections of Irish society and was non-partisan and non-sectarian.

The Movement carried out various activities, such as education campaigns, targeted campaigns, representations to the Irish Government, and boycotts. It attracted many prominent members of the political, artistic, academic world and trade unions across Ireland.

Although Asmal initially supported the Dunnes Store Anti-apartheid strike, he later expressed that it had continued for too long. However, other members of the IAAM, most notably Tony French, remained long-term supporters of the strike.

Trade Unions

During the 1981 Annual Congress, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) advocated for its members and connected unions to boycott and not handle South African goods. However, in the Spring of 1984, IDATU adopted a formal anti-apartheid resolution, and action was taken. While Roches, Quinsworth, Clerys’ and other supermarkets allowed staff not to handle goods, Dunnes did not, so when workers in Henry Street refused, they were suspended.

The Strikers initially received support from their Union. Occasionally, they were joined on the picket by other unions and Trade Unionists from Ireland and England, including the Seamens Union of Ireland and Arthur Scargill and the National Union of Mineworkers. Despite this, there was limited intervention by the ICTU.

The Irish Government's initial stance was not to interfere in an industrial dispute. John Bruton, the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce, and Tourism, was firm in his belief that the government should not engage in any activity that would restrict imports from South Africa.

However, in early 1985, as the strike persisted with a stalemate between Dunes and the IDATU, Ruairí Quinn, the Minister for Labour, urged both sides to cooperate with the Labour Court. Although an agreement was proposed where supermarkets would voluntarily stop selling South African goods, Dunnes did not comply, and the strike continued.

It would take almost three years of continuous striking for the government to impose a complete ban on importing South African goods. Ireland was the first Western country to ban goods from South Africa, and the strike was the most prolonged industrial action in Irish Union history.

The Catholic Church were not immediate supporters of the strike. Indeed, in correspondence between Bishop Casey and John Mitchell, General Secretary of the IDATU, Casey is critical of the independent action of the Strikers. Members of the clergy frequently passed the picket line, and there was even support from the pulpit encouraging congregations to support Dunnes, an Irish business. However, when Bishop Desmond Tutu met and supported the Strikers in December 1984, the tide changed with growing public support from organisations in Ireland and internationally.

Political Voices

The Strikers had the support of many individuals and several groups on the picket line, including Labour Youth, with Kevin McLoughlin being one of their prominent supporters. Don Mullan from AFrI (Action From Ireland), Sinn Fein, and the Workers' Party were also among the supporters. Don Mullan played a crucial role in organising the meeting with Desmond Tutu in December 1984, as well as the trip to South Africa in July 1985.

The Strikers also received international support from various individuals and groups such as Tony Benn, Jesse Jackson, David Kitson, Zola Zembe, Trade Union Council (England), and Senator Seán McBride in Ireland. Notably, Nelson Mandela wrote from prison, expressing that their support gave him great hope and optimism.

The strike was documented by photographers including Derek Spiers, Rose Comiskey, and Eamonn Farrell, with their images capturing the picket, its supporters, and many of those who stood in the line.

The Strikers, through Don Mullan, sang on the backing track of Artists United Against Apartheid's 'Sun City' by Steven Van Zandt, recorded at Windmill Studios in 1985. Christy Moore wrote the song' Dunnes Stores' in tribute to the Striker's action, along with Ewan MacColl's ‘Ten Young Women and One Young Man,’ which celebrated their international solidarity.

Written by Tracy Ryan