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1969 Irish Labour Poster

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Teachta Dála
In office April 1965 – June 1969
In office May 1954 – October 1961
Constituency	Dublin North-East
Lord Mayor of Dublin
In office 1955–1956
Preceded by	Alfie Byrne
Succeeded by	Robert Briscoe
Personal details
Born	(1908-06-08)8 June 1908 Rostrevor, County Down, Ireland
Died	2 July 1987(1987-07-02) (aged 79) Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse	Anne Moore
Children	3
Parent	James Larkin (father)
Relatives	James Larkin Jnr (brother)
Education	St. Enda's School

Denis Larkin (8 June 1908 – 2 July 1987) was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade union official.

Early life

He was born 8 June 1908 in Rostrevor, County Down, the second of four sons (James Jnr. (1904), Denis(1908), Finton(1909) and Barney (1914)) of the Irish trade unionist James Larkin and Elizabeth Larkin (née Brown), the daughter of a lay baptist preacher from County Down. Denis was mainly raised by his mother Elizabeth as his father was quite absent in his childhood. After the family moved to Dublin in 1909, Denis, along with his brother James Jnr attended St. Enda's School, in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, which he found austere, but given his father's reputation, it was the only school that would accept them. In later years Denis’ younger brothers Finton and Barney moved to England, while he and his older brother Jim Jr remained in Dublin. This resulted in the pair growing very close, often being referred to as twins. His parents James and Elizabeth separated in 1923 after his fathers imprisonment as they had grown apart and could no longer live together.

Trade union activity

After leaving school, he worked in a variety of jobs, including the London Across Trading Concern. In 1928 he became an official with the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI) (founded by his father in 1924), and had to contend with a multitude of strikes in the coal, gas, building and victualling industries. As the WUI expanded during the 1940s, he became involved in many hearings and presentations at the Labour Court, and in 1949 became district branch secretary of the Union and an executive member of the Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC), working closely with his brother James, then general secretary of the WUI, although James held strong communist beliefs which Denis had no time for. Despite their conflicting beliefs in some instances, when they worked together their work was of a quality that neither could achieve alone.

When James died in 1969, Denis became general secretary of the WUI, and presided over a period of expansion of the Union. He served as vice-president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions from 1973 to 1974, and as president from 1974 to 1975. He believed his biggest achievement was leading the Irish Trade unions in the 1974 National agreement as he secured a 23.5% pay increase. Denis was much more outgoing than his older brother James and because of this he was much better at negotiating situations. He held the belief that workers having to go on strike was not a positive thing and that it meant that union negotiators had failed in their role. When he was re-elected in 1965 for North-East Dublin he put his focus on social issues and was particularly interested in housing and health care.

Politics

He was active in the political side of the labour movement, he was a member of the Labour party's administrative executive from 1931. He was an unsuccessful candidate 1951 general election, but was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-East constituency at the 1954 general election and was re-elected at the 1957 general election. He lost his seat at the 1961 general election but was re-elected at the 1965 general election. He did not contest the 1969 general election.

A member of Dublin Corporation for thirty years, he was chairman of the Housing Committee of the corporation where he sought a solution to Dublin's housing crisis (he held this position for 15 years). He gained support from Fianna Fáil leader on the corporation, Robert Briscoe and was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin. He was hugely proud of this achievement as his father had never reached this position. One of his greatest moments in this position was being granted a private audience with Pope Pius in Rome in 1956. He served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1955 to 1956. On May 10^th 1970 at the Workers Union of Ireland's annual conference held in Dublin, it was announced that an ongoing feud of almost 50 years which had split 200,000 workers was working towards a resolution. The president of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), Fintan Kennedy and Denis Larkin the WUI general secretary announced that a meeting would be held to discuss closer working relations between the unions.  

Family life

He married Ann Moore, daughter of Jem Moore and Annie Fitzpatrick. She was an activist and worked alongside Denis as his agent for many years. They had 3 children together, Stella (1933), James (1936) and Vivian (1939). Their youngest son Vivian died shortly after birth as his oesophagus was not fully developed, leading him to die of starvation.

Later life

He retired as the General Secretary of the WUI in April 1977, enabling him to pursue his love of photography. Just before he died he was determined to help a tenant that was being threatened with eviction. This showed that even in his latter years he still fought for what he believed in. He died 2 July 1987 in Dublin, some years after the death of his wife Anne Moore. Denis was the last of Jim Larkins sons to die as he was predeceased by all of his brothers, Jim Jnr. (1969), Finton (1981) and Barney (1978). He was laid to rest on the 4^th July 1989. His funeral was held in St Saviours Church, Dominick street, Dublin and he was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. The service was well attended by government ministers and members of the Trade Union and Labour Court.  

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas