Music and Songs at the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival

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Thursday 23rd July 2025

Kalyna Ukrainian Community Choir  

The Kalyna Ukrainian Choir with the then Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy.

We are very proud of the fact that this choir has appeared in every festival since 2023 and has become a firm favourite across Cork in recent years. It comprises women and men who are now living in Cork following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing attacks on their country. In spite of the ongoing war and the personal toll on members the Choir represents Ukraine with pride and distinction. Winners of the Lord Mayors top community prize at Cork City Hall in 2024, this choir perform traditional songs from the Ukraine and their wonderful renderings of the Irish National Anthem “Amhrán Na bhFiann” and “You Raised Me Up” are inspiring.

Kalyna Ukrainian Community Choir should not be missed and their harmonious performances against a background of the war on their people and homeland provide an example of hope for the human spirit to overcome adversity. We look forward to welcoming them back to perform for the fourth time at the opening of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival, on Thursday 23rd July at 1:00 pm at the Maldron Hotel. All are welcome.

Svitlava Deikun & Victoria Tymoshehuk with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Dan Boyle.

The Cork Singers’ Club.

Thursday 23rd July 2026 at 9.30 p.m.

Established in 1993, the Cork Singers’ Club has uniquely featured in every Mother Jones festival since the opening night on 31st July 2012. Eagerly awaited each year, the Cork Singers’ Club will present an evening of songs. It has ensured that the tradition of singing remains alive in Cork, no instruments are allowed. For locals and visitors this is an opportunity to hear songs being sung in a pure manner in front of an attentive audience and an opportunity to sing a song themselves. Club members also gather each Sunday night at An Spailpín Fánach to hone their remarkable art.

Cork Singers Club on Tour. Photo courtesy of William Hammond.

Under the Fear An Tí Jim Walsh, the Cork Singers’ Club represents the unique singing heritage of the people of Cork. Their efforts at this festival to sing songs influenced by Mother Jones is deeply appreciated and songs of trade unions, of working class people and social justice, the well springs of folk and traditional songs are celebrated.  Come along and sing your song!

Friday 24th July at 1:00 p.m.

Club Ceoil Ballyphehane Ballad Group

Club Ceoil Ballyphehane, a volunteer-run, non-profit traditional Irish music organization in Cork. Founded in 2008 by Maurice Dineen, the club welcomes participants of all ages and abilities, offering affordable classes on various instruments and group singing.  The Club Ceoil Ballad Group consists of local singers and instrumentalists playing guitar, banjo, bodhrán, fiddle, and tin whistle.

Club Ceoil Ballyphehane

Notable highlights from the group include performing “The Hegartys of The Laurels” at Cork City Hall alongside composer John Murphy, as well as frequent performances for local charities like Feed Cork and community gatherings. Club Ceoil runs classes on a Monday night in Coláiste Éamann Rís and on a Tuesday evening in Presentation Secondary School, Ballyphehane. Their performance should not be missed and their first visit to the festival since 2019 is bound to be a memorable one.

Friday 24th July at 9.30 p.m.

John Nyhan and friends and introducing David King and friends

What can one say about the legendary John Nyhan…? John is a highly versatile musician and singer who has been associated with the Spirit of Mother Jones festival since its beginning.

His contributions to the folk revival, country music and bluegrass music in Ireland has been immense over the years and he is a familiar sight at festivals in the north Cork area. He attends the Willie Clancy Summer School each year. His knowledge of music and those who play and sing is almost encyclopedic.  His renderings of ‘Universal Soldier’ and Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ are without parallel in the genre of anti-war songs and John sings them with a rare passion.  He is very much at home with folk and protest songs from the 60s and 70s and as this year’s theme is ‘Songs of Struggle, Songs of Hope’ John will be at his best.    

John Nyhan. Photo: Claire Stack.

John will introduce a relatively new band from the south side of the city led by American exile David King and his Irish Friends present an uplifting collection of songs of labour and wider struggles, inspired by the likes of Pete Seeger, Luke Kelly, Joan Baez and Woody Guthrie. This largely acoustic set includes some recent works and a fresh take on familiar standards. And maybe a few jigs, and a cowboy song or two. Perfect for celebrating the life and legacy of Mother Jones., the band will perform a wide selection of the songs of protest and struggle. A great evening’s music is assured.     

David King and Friends. Photo: Ed Lahiff.

Saturday 25th July at 6.30p.m. Approx.  (At the Mother Jones Plaque on John Redmond Street)

Martin Leahy will again perform his song about homelessness “Everyone Should Have a Home” at the Plaque. He has performed this each Thursday outside Dail Eireann for the past two years and recently declared that he felt he had made his point. His dedication in travelling each week to perform outside the Dail highlighted the great failure of many recent Irish governments. Last year we were honoured that Martin released his new song called ‘Mother Jones’ at the festival. It is available online.

Martin Leahy at the plaque with the late Joan Goggin.

His song “Where We Lay our Bodies Down” remains a fitting tribute to the late Ann Lovett while “Snowflakes“relates to the online attacks on people. Martin sings and plays in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and like woody abhors injustice. He writes his songs with that theme central to words and music. Martin has been very active in exposing the genocide in Gaza and regularly sings also on Saturdays at the Palestinian marches in Cork City.

This year we miss Jimmy Crowley from the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival line up. Jimmy was delighted to play at the Spirit of Mother Jones festival in the early days and has played at all of the Festivals to date. He made the festival Friday lunchtime concert all his own as he returned year after year to play his favourite songs of Cork before appreciative audiences. Many eagerly looked forward to Jimmy’s appearances, year after year.

This year he is recovering back home in Cobh from a very serious illness. On behalf of everyone at the festival, we wish him well and hope to see himself and Eve Telford back at the festival again.

Jimmy Crowley with his book, Songs from the Beautiful City.

Remembering the Asbestos War in County Cork 1975-1980.

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Saturday 25th July at 11:00 am, Maldron Hotel, Shandon.

Speakers

Gertie O’Driscoll and John Twomey of Ringaskiddy Residents Association,

Tom MacSweeney, journalist and editor of Seascapes Maritime Monthly podcast

Derry Chambers, environmental activist.

Gertie O’Driscoll.
Tom MacSweeney
Derry Chambers
John Twomey

This story began with an unobtrusive newspaper planning notice in September 1975 inserted by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) for a four million pound factory at Ovens Co Cork located about 15 kilometers to the west of the city. Few, if any read the notice as it was placed in the Irish Independent newspaper which had a minuscule readership in Cork among the four daily Irish newspapers. Amazingly the word asbestos, which was to be used in the manufacturing process was not mentioned.

On the 22nd December 1975, Cork County Council gave planning permission for the factory. Members of the local community, preoccupied with Christmas and still completely unaware of what products were to be manufactured on the site did not lodge a planning appeal. Construction commenced.

Back in the USA, the early 70s saw the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) becoming aware of the growing carnage among workers from inhaling asbestos which increased the risk of lung, oesophageal and stomach cancers and a host of other risks. By 1975, the OSHA demanded a further lowering of exposure levels as evidence multiplied and workers died. By 1977 the US Environmental Protection Agency listed asbestos for priority attention. In Europe, Denmark and Sweden already aware of the dangers to workers working with asbestos had begun to ban it.

 Yet some US manufacturers had already decided to move asbestos production to countries where enforcement of environmental regulations was either non-existent or not enforced. This was later confirmed by the publication of the ‘Castleman Report’ in 1979 following research by US scientist, Barry Castleman into the export of factories using hazardous or toxic materials.

People began to realise something was amiss when Cork County Council gave planning permission for an asbestos dump at Knockanemore in September 1976. On this occasion Ovens residents appealed the decision as controversy erupted across the area once it became known that Raybestos Manhattan was moving into the factory with the intention of manufacturing ten million brake pads per annum containing quantities of white (Chrysotile) asbestos. Following mounting controversy, the planned dump at Knockanemore was abandoned.

Several individuals commenced legal actions in court to stop the factory, however the cases by local Ovens resident Paddy McFadden and marine biologist Rory Finegan both eventually failed leaving both men with sizable legal bills.  A newly formed Womens’ Action Group based in Ovens picketed the US embassy in Dublin, the banners carried by the women read ‘American Co brings Killer Dust to Cork’.

Reassurances about the factory from the IDA, the Cork County Councils, the Irish Industrial Research and Standards (IIRS), trade unions and many politicians fell on deaf ears. The frantic search for a dump for the factory waste asbestos carried on in County Cork as Sreelawn, Nad, Nohoval and Currabinny marsh were mentioned as locations, with predictable outrage in the communities which were now openly challenged the safety reassurances and data being provided. Trust in the State agencies disappeared as reliable and scientific information on the health impacts of asbestos from America and British scientists and activists began to arrive. 

Ringaskiddy village is shown in the lower harbour.

Finally Cork County Council sought planning for the dump for asbestos waste at a site it controlled at Barnahely, Ringaskiddy in early 1977. Ringaskiddy, then a seaside village located to the south east of the city on the shores of Cork Harbour was becoming the location for the chemical/pharmaceutical industry.  The recently formed Ringaskiddy Residents Association (RRA), which in its founding minutes had stated that it was not opposed to “essential progress and overall prosperity”, objected to the plans for the dump.

The elected members of Cork County Council voted to grant permission by 27 votes to 17. An appeal to An Bord Pleanala by the RRA was rejected in September 1977. As the Raybestos factory commenced production in Ovens, residents in Ringaskiddy commenced a 24 hour picket at the entrance to the site and there were some highly charged meetings held in the local community hall.   

Attempts to dump the asbestos waste grew and a violent confrontation took place on 15th May 1978 when a Willie O’Brien truck and a car driven by Ted Deane, the manager of Raybestos Manhattan along with the aid of Gardaí forced its way through dozens of local people along with school children from the nearby school.

Photo of Barnahely, about five years ago. The confrontation took place at the site marked above. Barnahely is on the right and Castle Warren also shows. This area has much changed with the arrival of the new motorway.
Barnahely as it was in the 1980s.
Truck with the asbestos waste heading for the dump. Source: RTE Archives.

The local newspaper, the Cork Examiner reported as follows;

“The confrontation was extremely violent, reminiscent of a street battle in Derry or Belfast and introduced an ugly new element to the asbestos row. Children were knocked to the ground screaming and crying as the guards broke through the picket lines”

Photo: Richard Mills.

The report states that women were also knocked to the ground children were injured and men engaged in hand to hand scuffles with the Gardaí.  A rock was thrown and smashed the window of the Mr Deane’s car. Later that night the waste pellets which had been dumped was dug up and driven some 35 kilometers back to the factory. Emotions were at boiling point after the days events.

Now there were hostile communities at both Ringaskiddy and Ovens and total opposition in any potential dump sites, the controversy mounted in communities all across Cork. A number of activists from the Cork Anti-Nuclear movement networked with people in some of the communities involved in legal and planning actions and had learned the lessons and costs of taking on the state.

Sign at Ringaskiddy.

At the Carnsore Anti-Nuclear festival in 1979, the story of the asbestos war in Cork was debated at workshops and meetings as part of discussions relating to the growth of toxic industry. Subsequently  a group of younger environmental and labour activists emerged and linked up in a new group known as the Noxious Industry Action Group. . These determined activists, very loosely organised concentrated on meeting the young workers at the Raybestos factory and supplying them with accurate scientific information on health and safety and the explained the many health dangers which exposure to asbestos fibres posed to their health. Trust was gradually established and the changing factory shifts were met with activists regularly handing out informational leaflets rubbishing the claims of management that risks of working with asbestos were minimal.

Graphics from the time. Author: Unknown.

 Through early 1980, these workers and activists were meeting and talking regularly with older men known as laggers who had worked with asbestos or had been employed to remove dangerous lagging from old pipes. Most of those men were experiencing serious health and lung issues and were adamant that asbestos would kill them.  Their graphic and visual warnings made a huge impression on observers.

By the spring and summer of 1980, these health and safety issues were being openly raised with the union officials after a number of asbestos spillages within the factory and the protective clothing was unsuitable and inadequate. A series of walk outs and strikes occurred during the summer of 1980, along with workers placing a number of unofficial pickets of the plant.

Graphics from the time: Author: Unknown.

More problems arose at Ringaskiddy as waste was found scattered around the temporary dump and the Ringaskiddy Residents Association threatened High Court action, while even Cork County Council took legal action. By October 1980, Raybestos Manhattan announced they were pulling out. Even in defeat, they blamed the market depression in the US and new regulations in Germany rather than acknowledging the huge impact of the total refusal of Irish communities, workers and environmentalist to believe anything they said.    

Even then the lessons were not learned by the official State bodies which deliberately tried to hide the serious dangers of asbestos from the local communities and workers. Trade union activists took the issue of worker safety seriously and the establishment of the Health and Safety Authority in 1989 was the result of demands by unions.  The subsequent distrust of the IDA and the Cork County Council resulted in years of environmental disputes in County Cork and Cork Harbour.

Article in Southern Star, Cllr. Braham Brennan, Chairman of Ringaskiddy and District Residents’ Association expresses opposition to the incinerator.

The Merrell Dow Corporation which planned a factory for Killeagh in East Cork eventually pulled out due to widespread opposition.  Sandoz faced major planning difficulties over dioxin emissions  and a new organisation, the Cork Environmental Alliance emerged. The three week long Sandoz Oral Hearing in July 1990 revealed major shortcomings and flaws in environmental regulation in Ireland. The IDA had also persisted with claims in the media that Cork had lost factories due to local environmental activity. The story of John Hanrahan in Tipperary and the enduring and prolonged environmental protests in Cork forced the politicians to establish the Irish Environmental Protection Agency EPA in 1993. 

The residue of distrust continues to this day with the widespread opposition across Cork towards the efforts by Belgian company Indaver which has sought planning permissions to build a toxic incinerator near the village of Ringaskiddy since 2001.

Postscript.

The World Health organisation (WHO) today states “Globally more than 200,000 deaths are estimated to be caused by occupational exposure to asbestos: more than 70% of all work-related cancers. All forms of asbestos including chrysotile are carcinogenic to humans.”

Remembering the Asbestos War in County Cork 1975-1980.

Saturday 25th July 2026 at 11am at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.

This discussion will be recorded in full for the Mother Jones Archives.  

Sources:

Asbestos Killer Dust by Alan J.P. Dalton, British Society for Social Responsibility in Science. 1979. 

Guests of the Nation by Robert Allen and Tara Jones 1990.

Raybestos Manhattan and the Development Plans for Cork Harbour. Case Study by Susan Baker.

Local Newspaper and media reports. Discussions with community activists.

“This Land is Our Land: Confronting Extremism  and Reclaiming Democracy.”

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Tom Boland.

Tom Boland lectures in Sociology at University College Cork. He has two principal research interests:

Tom Boland. Lecturer in Sociology in University College Cork.

Firstly, the sociology of unemployment and welfare policy. For over a decade, he has conducted interviews with unemployed people on their experience of redundancy, being out of work and job seeking. Simultaneously, he conducts national and comparative research on welfare policy, particularly around activation, that is, the mixture of supports and pressure exerted by the state – and private companies – on unemployed citizens. Reflecting this research, he has produced three books, each with Dr. Ray Griffin (SETU); The Sociology of Unemployment (2015), The Reformation of Welfare (2021) and Workocracy (Forthcoming). He has given evidence to multiple parliamentary committees and featured frequently in newspapers and radio.

Secondly, the sociology of culture and critique. Since becoming involved with Occupy and anti-Austerity protests during the Great Financial Crash, he has been researching how critique is used in public disputes. At present, he is researching how critique is ‘co-opted’ by the right-wing; that is, how rhetorical moves, like ‘revealing the truth’ or ‘unmasking ideology’ are borrowed from the left and used for anti-left purposes. This research is the basis of a forthcoming book Taking Criticism, which builds on a more theoretical precursor The Spectacle of Critique (2019).

Tom will speak on the topic of  ‘This Land is Our Land; Confronting Extremism  and Reclaiming Democracy.’ as a member of a panel discussion with Gema Kloppe- Santamaria and John Donoghue. 

Moderator. John Barimo

Friday evening 24th july at 7.30 pm at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.

All are welcome.

“Mother Jones and her Children” 

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a film by Frameworks Films and the Cork Mother Jones Committee. 

Release Date: July 2014. 

Runtime: 52 min.

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“Mother Jones and her Children” 

a film by Frameworks Films and the Cork Mother Jones Committee. 

Release Date: July 2014. 

Runtime: 52 min.

Mother Jones and her children by Frameworks Films. 2014.

Mother Jones and Her Children tells the story of Mary Harris (1837 – 1930) from Cork who went on to become “the most dangerous woman in America”. 

Starting with her early years in Cork, this documentary goes on to detail her life in America following the famine where she trained as a teacher and a seamstress, her marriage to a union man George Jones and the birth of her four children in Memphis. 

It tells of the tragedies which befell her. The loss of her four children and her husband to Yellow Fever in 1867 would have broken most people, yet as a 30 year old widow on her own, she kept on working and living. Even after her clothes business was burned in the Chicago Fire of 1871 she survived and began to immerse herself in the growing labour movement in America. 

She joined the “Knights of Labour”, and became active in that organisation which preceded the growth of the actual trade union movement. Many Irish joined trade unions and became active in the trade union structures, their vast contribution to the story of labour and its positive impact on the conditions of working people and on the quality of their lives remains largely untold and unrecognised in Ireland.   

Plaque by Mick Wilkins erected in Shandon in 2012 by the Cork Mother Jones Committee.

Mary Jones was unique in that she was one of the first female trade union organisers and her involvement in the struggles of the miners has become the stuff of Legend. She defended  the rights of children and workers and this is detailed in the documentary. Her organisation of the March of the Mill Children in 1903 contributed to the eventual banning of child labour from the mines, mills and factories of America.

Mother Jones became a national figure, a woman who was fearless, but was feared in the gorgeous mahogany furnished boardrooms of America. After decades of activism, she died on 30th November 1930 at the age of 93 and is buried in Mt Olive Union Cemetery in Illinois. 

Through interviews with leading experts on Mother Jones, we learn of her fearless and tireless campaign to organise workers at a time of severe labour strife and her international legacy today. 

This documentary will be shown at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon on Thursday 23rd July 2026 at 11:00 am.

It will be followed by a presentation by  Dr. Ed Lahiff on the life of Mother Jones as based on the book published by Professor Elliott J. Gorn in 2001 entitled Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman In America. There will be time for a discussion afterwards.

Dr. Ed Lahiff.

Life in Cuba: An Address by Ambassador Bernardo Guanche Hernández

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The Cork Mother Jones Committee are honoured to announce a keynote presentation by His Excellency Bernardo Guanche Hernández, the Cuban Ambassador to Ireland. This special event will offer attendees a detailed insight into the social fabric, cultural wealth, and contemporary realities of daily life across the island of Cuba during this difficult period.

Ambassador Bernardo Guanche Hernandez

Moving beyond standard media representations, the Ambassador will discuss how local communities navigate daily challenges, maintain social cohesion, and sustain highly regarded public healthcare and education systems. The talk will address these achievements alongside the ongoing economic hardships intensified by the long-standing international trade blockade. This exploration of collective resilience, national sovereignty, and social equity mirrors the core values of international labour solidarity championed by Mary Harris “Mother Jones” herself.

Ambassador Guanche Hernández is a highly experienced diplomat who has officially represented Cuba in Dublin since early 2022. Throughout his tenure, he has traveled extensively to engage with civic organisations across Ireland, establishing strong connections with community groups and has engaged with the Global Solidarity Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. His work focuses on strengthening cultural links between the two islands and fostering a deeper public understanding of how geopolitical pressures affect ordinary citizens.

This keynote presentation will take place at The Maldron Hotel, Shandon, Cork, on Friday, 24th July 2026, commencing at 11:30 am. Admission to the session is entirely free of charge, first come, first seated. A warm welcome is extended to all members of the public, and there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion following the address.

The Battle of Irish Town: Mother Jones, the Ku Klux Klan and Catholic Working Class Resistance 1919-1923.

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Professor John Donoghue of Loyola University, Chicago will speak on the above topic on Saturday 25th July at 3:30 pm.

John Donoghue.

John Donoghue is an Associate Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago. His earlier work focused on English colonialism in early modern Ireland and the Atlantic World and resulted in the publication of three books, “Fire under the Ashes”: An Atlantic History of the English Revolution (University of Chicago Press, 2013); Building the Atlantic Empires: Unfree Labor and Imperial States in the Political Economy of Capitalism, 1500-1914 (Brill, 2016) [co-edited with Evelyn Jennings]; and The History of Rum (Audible Books, 2021). He has won numerous grants, awards and fellowships for his teaching and research and has lectured throughout Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

He is working on a new book entitled, American Insurrections: An Unruly History of White Christian Nationalism, 1600-2021. His talk for the Mother Jones Fest entitled, “The Battle of Irish Town: Mother Jones, the Ku Klux Klan, and Catholic Working-Class Resistance, 1919-1923,” is drawn from his new book project. An antifascist activist, he lives in Pittsburgh and Chicago with his wife Laura and is the father of two daughters, Meredith and Norah, who are now studying for their B.A. degrees at Loyola University Chicago.

All are welcome to attend the presentation and discussion.

Celebrating the Unbreakable Spirit of the Vita Cortex Workers

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The narrative of the historic sit-in at the Vita Cortex plant on the Kinsale Road stands as one of the most remarkable chapters in modern Irish labour history. What began on 16 December 2011 as a sudden, devastating announcement of immediate redundancies and denied severance packages transformed into a legendary 161-day campaign of peaceful resistance, dignity, and collective courage. Faced with an unjust corporate closure, a group of dedicated employees, some boasting nearly half a century of loyal service to the firm, refused to accept financial abandonment. Their collective choice to occupy the premises marked the beginning of an extraordinary journey of industrial unity that captured attention across Ireland and far beyond.

The sheer determination of the staff quickly turned a local dispute into an international symbol of workers’ rights. Strength and resilience within the plant were matched by a massive wave of public goodwill. Supporters from all over the world flooded the workers with messages of encouragement, financial aid, and material resources to sustain the occupation which started a week before Christmas.

President Michael D. Higgins receives the Vita Cortex workers at Aras An Uachtaran. Photo: President.ie.

This immense groundswell of public sentiment drew high-profile endorsements from notable figures across cultural, sporting, and political landscapes. The industrial site became a vibrant hub of community action. The workers received high-profile messages of solidarity from Hollywood star Cillian Murphy, who praised their refusal to accept an obvious injustice, and legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who personally called to voice his backing. World-renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky also backed the workers, while iconic singer-songwriter Christy Moore met with the employees and publicised their struggle. Boxing champion Katie Taylor reached out and met the workers, all of this endorsement uplifted their campaign at the time.  Letters of support, musical visits, and global advocacy proved that when ordinary workers stand together for baseline dignity, the entire world listens.

Vita Cortex workers celebrate settlement. Photo: RTE.

Through unwavering unity and disciplined organisation, the participants successfully secured their hard-earned redundancy payments, proving that collective mobilisation remains a highly effective tool against corporate neglect. Their historic stand fundamentally reshaped public awareness regarding employment rights and ethical commercial practices in Ireland.

Several years after their historic triumph, veterans of the dispute alongside key campaign supporters will take the stage at the upcoming festival. This celebration provides a vital opportunity to look back on a defining local success, honour the courage of those involved, and reaffirm the eternal relevance of solidarity in the modern era.

Jim Power, one of the leaders of the Vita Cortex sit in who will speak at the Panel Discussion.

This special commemorative panel discussion will take place at The Maldron Hotel, Shandon, Cork, on Saturday, 25th July 2026, commencing at 5:00 pm. Admission is free of charge, all members of the public are very welcome to attend on a first come, first seated basis. 

The Big Meeting

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A documentary about the Durham Miners’ Gala from Shut out the Light Films. Length 91 minutes.

Produced by Christie Allanson and Daniel Draper. Writer and Director Daniel Draper.

Th Big Meeting Documentary.

Every July on the second Saturday of the month, the northern English City of Durham is taken over by former miners and their families, old mining communities, trade union members, brass bands and visitors from many countries for an event known locally as the Big Meeting.  The colourful march through the narrow streets of the city by thousands of working class men and women carrying their lodge banners known as the Durham Gala is truly a spectacular and emotional sight.

The Durham Gala: Photo: J. Thomson

Tens of thousands attend the events each year celebrating their heritage, their allegiance to the labour movement and international solidarity in what is a huge manifestation of the power of organised labour.

This unique gathering of miners’ solidarity was first held on August 12th 1871 in Wharton Park in Durham.

“The following year it was estimated that between 50,000 and 70,000 marched through Durham and on to the racecourse at Old Elvet, much to the discomfort of the genteel residents of Durham City”

According to Dave Hopper, who for thirty one years was the General Secretary of the Durham Miners’ Association, a champion of the Gala and a regular visitor to Cork until his death in 2016.

Dave Hopper with the Durham Mother Jones Banner in Cork in 2015. Photo: J. Thomson.

Miners and their families and the mining communities have been marching the same route since. At one stage in 1915 membership of the Durham Miners’ Association reached 120,000, organised in 200 lodges, with its headquarters at the impressive Red Hill’s Miners Hall. Set in its own grounds it resembled a coal baron’s estate. At that time it represented the power and prosperity of the mining unions and even contained the unique Miners Parliament at which representatives of the lodges decided union policy.

Red Hills, The Headquarter of the Durham Miners Association.
The Miners Parliament at Red Hills.

The late Dave Temple of Red Hills in a well-researched article about the Easter Rising 1916 in the 2016 Gala programme mentions that a fiery James Larkin spoke at the Gala in 1914 where he denounced the “ lackadaisical and fossilised trade union leaders to the great delight of the crowds and much to the disapproval of the Durham miners’ leaders”.

Wall mural in Red Hills.

The Big Meeting documentary follows four participants at the Durham Gala to experience the colour and pageantry and the inspirational impact of the Durham Gala.

www.shutoutthelight.co.uk

GAZA

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A film by Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell.
90 mins long. Released 2019.

This powerful film shows a world which was seldom seen and which following the genocide does not exist now, it is a place of rubble. Gaza is a coastal strip along the Mediterranean which measures twenty five miles long by 6/7 miles wide. In 2019 it was home to nearly two million people.

Gaza

Following the attack by Hamas in October 2023, in which 1200 Israelis and foreign workers were killed, the subsequent relentless and brutal Israeli government attacks on Gazan civilians has claimed the lives of at least 75,000 of its children, women and men who have been killed amidst the silence from many politicians in Europe, who look the other way in spite of the objections of their own people and in spite of the Israeli attacks being described as genocide by the United Nations.


Directors, Keane and McConnell and their team have bequeathed the world a portrait of a unique place, everyday scenes with a vibrant community and people which has been largely obliterated. In spite of ongoing Israeli bombs landing in the busy streets, background images of Hamas and mass attacks on the border fences, the everyday “normal” lives of normal people continue to play out with their hopes and dreams. Their resilience, their humour, courage and compassion in attempting to survive the violence and do normal things has been captured for posterity in GAZA.

As one Gazan says “We simply want to live”.

The film allows Karma Khaial, a young 19 year old student, to tell us about her dreams of playing the cello and studying for a Masters in International Law in an uncertain world. Or Ahmed Abu Alqoraan who has a dream to own a big fishing boat and crew it with his many brothers and sisters to provide an income from his “catch” for his very large family. The reality he faced was the petty three mile fishing restriction imposed by the Israelis.

Gazan children.

GAZA allows the people to speak openly for themselves as they live day to day. By observing and listening to the mundane living of life, the viewer develops an empathy and appreciation for the decent people surviving in a land steeped in tragedy, bound by history and plagued by conflict over which they have no control. Yet one remembers the smiles, the banter, the brief everyday joys, the hopes and dream of the people and wonder how Karma and Ahmed and their neighbours, families and friends are today. This GAZA documentary remains as visual evidence of the genocide which is taking place.


GAZA will be shown on Friday evening 24th July at 5:00 pm.

Thanks to Wildcard Distribution.

“This Land is Our Land: Confronting Extremism and Reclaiming Democracy”

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Gema Kloppe-Santamaria is a Nicaraguan-born sociologist and historian whose work deals with questions of violence, gender, religion and the state in modern and contemporary Latin America.

She is currently a permanent Lecturer of Sociology at the University College Cork (UCC) and an Associate Research Professor of Latin American History at the George Washington University (GW).

Gema Kloppe-Santamaria

Prior to joining UCC and George Washington University, she was an Assistant Professor at Loyola University Chicago and at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). In 2017-2018, Gema was a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Gema holds a PhD in Sociology and Historical Studies from the New School for Social Research.

Her book In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary Mexico (University of California Press, 2020) examines the uncharted history of lynching during the formative decades of the post-revolutionary period (1930-1960).  Based on an array of previously untapped historical sources, the book contributes to globalize the history of lynching beyond the United States, while offering key insights into the cultural, historical, and political reasons behind the continuing presence of lynching in Latin America today. 

Gema was the lead editor of the books Violence and Crime in Latin America: Representations and Politics(University of Oklahoma Press, 2017) and Human Security and Chronic Violence in Mexico: New Perspectives and Proposals from Below (Editorial Porrúa, 2019). 

Over the last decade, I have authored several specialized reports for the Wilson Center, the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Center, the United Nations Development Program, and the International Peace Institute. I am also a collaborator and member of Noria Research’s Mexico & Central America Program.

Gema will contribute to a panel discussion entitled 

“This Land is Our Land: Confronting Extremism and Reclaiming Democracy”

on Friday evening 24th July at 7.30 at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.