Red Flags Flying In Naas At County Council Meeting (1922)

Today, 1st May, is International Workers’ Day (or May Day) and is a celebration of workers and the labouring classes across the world. The first Monday in May was designated as a public holiday in 1994, partially in recognition of this globally recognised holiday and also marking the centenary of the foundation of the Irish Trade Union Congress (official labour movement) in 1894.

The red flag is a symbol of the labour movement and often featured in workers’ demonstrations in Ireland, particularly in the early decades of the twentieth century following the October 1917 Russian Revolution. Below is an account taken from the Voice of Labour of a march of several hundred men (members of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union) through the town of Naas headed by a red flag in March 1922. The Kildare Observer reported that the Council meeting ‘was interrupted by over 200 road workers coming into the council chamber bearing red flags and filling up the space between the barriers’. The rest of the meeting was unsurprisingly conducted in a highly charged atmosphere. The proposed pay cut was narrowly defeated (8 votes to 7), with the presence of over 200 road workers surely having an influence on the vote. The result was cheered loudly, with the red flag again paraded through the town of Naas after the meeting.