PODCAST - The Dunnes Stores Strike

Mary Manning (striker), Vonnie Monroe (striker) and Andrew Muir (Ardent)

Summer 1984. Dublin. A women approaches the checkout at Dunnes, holding two grapefruit. The 21-year old at the till apologises. The fruit is from Apartheid South Africa. She won't ring them up. The Dunnes Store Strike is about to begin. Mary Manning and Vonnie Monroe recall how a simple protest saw them strike for almost three years, and play a pivotal role in the international struggle against Apartheid.

1:46 - Living and working in Dublin in the 1980s

4:58 - The Background: Union policy on South Africa, and bullying at Dunnes

5:46 - How it began - refusing to checkout South African grapefruit

10:14 - Picketing Dunnes with placards

11:45 - Vonnie Monroe struggles to pay her mortgage with strike pay

13:41 - South African exile Nimrod Sejake joins the picket

19:42 - Abuse and violence against the strikers

23:25 - Meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu

25:51 - Flying to Apartheid South Africa - and being met by armed soldiers

33:18 - Was the strike worth the sacrifice?