Country Living with Francis Farragher

It’s funny at times how one little suggestion or mention of something unusual can trigger off a whole cycle of curiosity and wonder. The other morning as I listened to Lyric FM, I heard Marty Whelan referring to Black History Month and wondered what the hell it was all about.

His mention was, as might be expected, in a musical context as the station celebrated the achievements of black musicians, singers and composers, who tended to be under-represented in times gone by.

It also brought back thoughts of days back in 1984 when a group of Dunnes’ Stores workers went out on strike in a bid to prevent the sale of South African produce on the supermarket shelves of that retailer, in what seemed a small protest again apartheid in that country.

This was at a time when Ireland was a pretty conservative repository of Church and State but the action – which eventually proved to be successful – brought it home to us all, that was going on in South Africa, well, was quite simply, wrong and unjust.

One of the strongest opponents of the strike action at that time was the then Minister for Industry and Commerce – a Mr. John Bruton – who wasn’t at all impressed by the actions of his Cabinet colleague, Ruairí Quinn, in support of the protest.

Mr. Bruton’s famous quote from the Cabinet records of that time, in a letter of outline to the Government was: “I am afraid all my instincts tell me that the Government should not become involved in any activity which is designed to restrict imports from South Africa.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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