For nearly three years in the mid-1980s shopworkers at Dunnes Stores in Dublin went on strike rather than sell South African goods. Now Ardent Theatre Company are looking for a London venue for Strike!, a play about the protest that received rave reviews in Dublin. To support the project go to Ardent’s project page www.ardenttheatre.co.uk/strike
The strike began in July 1984 when Mary Manning refused to sell Outspan oranges to a customer and was suspended by management. Eleven colleagues followed her out on strike. They thought it would last a couple of weeks. The strike went on for nearly three years and became a cause célèbre. When Nelson Mandela met the strikers in 1990 he said news of the protest reached him in prison. Two of the strikers travelled all over Britain inspiring others to take up the boycott. Mary Manning was the keynote speaker at the AAM’s 1985 National Boycott Conference and strikers representatives met GLC Leader Ken Livingstone at County Hall in London.