Mike Quill: The Irishman Martin Luther King described as ‘a man the ages will remember’

In 1966, an Irishman was blamed for bringing New York to a standstill. Described by Martin Luther King as ‘a man the ages will remember’, Ryle Dwyer chronicles the life of Mike Quill 

This time 50 years ago, people throughout the US were talking about an Irishman who was being blamed for a transport strike that was crippling New York City. The New York Supreme Court ordered the suspension of the strike, but Mike Quill, president of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), tore up the court ruling order in front of television cameras.

“The judge can drop dead in his black robes,” Quill said. The strike was continuing and he would go to jail, but as he being taken to jail, he suffered a heart attack and ended up in hospital instead.