Labour offered an alternative voice of peace as nation tore itself apart

Under the leadership of Thomas Johnson, the party offered the only official opposition to the Provisional Government, while under death threats from anti-Treaty forces

Richard Mulcahy, right, who took command of the pro-Treaty forces in the Civil War after the killing of Michael Collins. He would later lead Fine Gael.

"ON the civil war our views cannot be too often or too emphatically expressed. In a word they are: a plague on both your houses. … Neither side serves any working class interest, and our job is to steer clear of both.”

Cathal O’Shannon, writing in the ITGWU paper Voice of Labour, knew this was easier said than done. In a climate where neither side believed neutrality was an option, Labour tried to plough its own furrow for which it won few friends.