JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY

SourcesIrish Labour History Society ArchiveThe ILHS Archive is housed in the Archives Department, University College, Dublin,Be/field, Dublin4, (Tel: 693244, ext. 7547). Please note that the Archive has moved from its previous address at St.Stephen's Green. The Department is now re-opened and enquiries regarding access or iriformationabout extensive lists should be directed to the Department or Convenor, ILHS Archive Sub-Committee,clo ICTU, 19 Raglan Road, Dublin 4.September, 1988 saw the conclusion of the ILHS Survey of Dublin Labour Records. Most of thelists have been processed and the material is being edited intoA Guide to Dublin Labour Records. TheSociety is investigating the publishing difficulties for such a guide and is being assisted in this task bythe Irish Manuscripts Commission. It is still possible that the guide will appear before the end of theyear as a Society contribution to the Dublin Millenium butthis is taking an optimistic view. The Societyremains deeply in the debt of the Fedemted Workers' Union of Ireland for the provision of officeaccommodation and other generous assistance. The Society must also acknowledge the large financial _contribution made by the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union early in the year that enabled theProject to remove its debts and engage on the second phase of its operations regarding the compositionof the guide. Pat Murray and Martin Kelly ofFAs, Centre City Training Centre have again supplied--guidance and encoumgement. The staff of Dublin's archival institutions such as the National Archive,the National Library of Ireland and UCD Department of Archives have co-opemted fully with the work.The Surveyor, Sarah Ward-Perkins, and her Assistant Co-ordinators Enda McKay, Aoife O'Neill andKieran Hanmhan have jointly supervised between twelve and eighteen junior tminees. Enda McKay,chiefly responsible for compiling material for publication, has enlisted the voluntary assistance of manyin the job of writing outline histories of the unions and organisations that will feature in the catalogue.The Society is grateful to these individuals.The Society has continued, albeit at a slower pace, to rescue material. Bob Purdie, now enjoyingpastures new as a Tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford, received material related to the Northern IrelaridLabour Party and the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and DomesticEngineers from J.H. Barkley, and Paul Cullen succeeded in securing papers from the late Sean Dunne,a WUI official and Labour TD. The Society's Archives Sub-Committee is reviewing policy in the areaof acquisition, in part due to the large volume of material now uncovered by the Project and, equally,because of rethinking imposed by the developments on the Museum front. In the meantime, wecontinue to enjoy the valuable assistance of Kerry Holland and Seamus Helferty in UCD's ArchivesDepartment. Elsewhere in Saothar, tribute has been paid to the late Robin Dudley Edwards who wasthe architect of the ILHS Archive in UCD and it would be inappropriate for this report not to add- itsvoice to the sense of loss felt by his death.'Work on the Museum of Labour History has now commenced. John O'Dowd's extensive labourshave borne fruit and a fuller, more detailed outline will be carried in the Annual Report. Until mattersare finally completed the litany of thanks must await but the £50,000 grant from the National Lotterymust be acknowledged. The Society has co-opemted with the North West Archives Project in Derryand received a splendid paper from Emil Horn, Curator of the Budapest Labour History Museum, onthe topic of the Hungarian poster artist Mihaly Biro. Finally, Francis Devine's badge collectioncontinues to attract audiences. It has featured in'exhibitions held by the Galway, Sligo, Wexford andDrogheda Unemployed Centres and at an exhibition in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham organised byBrother Shay Hurley and a local history group in Inchicore. In conclusion, the Society must recognisethe work undertaken by the Archives Sub-Committee of Charles Callan, Paul Cullen, Joe Deasy,99