Central Strike Committee Updates

Updates on the strike from the Central Strike Committee. These detail the carrying out of the strike and the interaction of pickets with strikebreakers, other unions, the police and Free State military. Much of the updates detail attempts by the pickets to prevent mail being carried by other organisations, specific incidents mentioned here include ferries, a steamboat operated by Guinness, taxis and private cars. One letter to well-known Dublin politician Alfie Byrne reports that his car was used for such a purpose but that "my executive feel assured that you had no personal knowledge of this matter". There are also reports and intelligence passed on about the instructions from government to the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), that they "disperse pickets by force if required". There are many reports of strikebreakers. Individuals are identified in many cases and it is noted that a number are armed and / or are Free State soldiers working 'in mufti'. Further reports detail attempts to recruit strikebreakers from Mountjoy prison, or from the ranks of previously dismissed postmen. Further reports detail attacks on pickets by strikebreakers and by Free State troops, who sometimes using armoured cars. In one report a postman on strike reports that his sister has been arrested and charged in connection with an assault on a strike breaker.