As we face a winter of discontent, now is the time for Cowen to lead

I ONCE worked for Denis Larkin. The son of the great Jim Larkin, and brother of Young Jim, also regarded as a great trade union leader, Denis was the least highly rated of the three.

But he had an extraordinary instinct for solving problems, and an uncanny ability to bring people together at precisely the right time to make progress in a dispute. Although over his lifetime, he was involved in many strikes, he hated them.

A lifetime of industrial relations had taught Denis Larkin that every strike was a failure of negotiations. Every strike had to have a loser and winner, and real industrial relations is built on allowing everyone to win.