In this essay we will look at the Lockout of 1913 and how it influenced the future landscape of an independent Ireland. We will examine the prelude to the Lockout and the outcomes of the Lockout. We will trace the issues that led to the Lockout and analyze how the Lockout steered Ireland in a direction it could not change. Across the UK, divisions between the labor movement and employers had deepened considerably in the early years of the 20th century. Strikes had occurred frequently in many places, but industrial relations appeared to be stabilizing by the beginning of the second decade of the century. For the most part, Dublin had escaped labor unrest. In 1900, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce confidently declared: "We are pleased to note the growing disposition of all classes to unite in promoting the interests of our country." This harmony did not last and in 1913 the Dublin Labor movement was involved in a serious conflict with employers, known as the Lockout. One of the main problems in this period was that of housing. Most people today believe that everyone has the right to live in a clean and safe environment. This clean and safe environment certainly did not exist for everyone living in Dublin. At the time of the Lockout, many unskilled workers lived in extreme poverty. Housing conditions were appalling and many people were exposed to disease and infection. Overcrowding in large houses called tenements contributed to this spread of the disease. The slums of Dublin were worse than anywhere else at that time. Over twenty thousand families lived in a one-room dwelling. The upper class homes of the past were converted to allow greedy landlords to have as many tenants as possible... middle of paper... Ireland in 1913' Dorney, John, 'Class War in Dublin – The Lockout of 1913 'O'Riordan, Tomás A, 'Dublin, 1913—Strike and Lockout' http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ http://www.nli.ie/lockout/Dorney, John, 'Remembering the Lockout' . 27 August 2013 http://1913committee.ie/blog/ The Dublin 1913 LockoutYeates, Padraig, 'The Dublin 1913 Lockout' Published in 20th-century / Contemporary History, Features, Issue 2 (Summer 2001), Volume 9.McCabe, Conor , "Your only God is Profit": Irish class relations and the lockout of 1913" in David Convery (ed.) Locked Out: A Century of Irish Working-Class Life (Dublin: Irish Academic Press 2013). http ://www.ictu.ie/download/pdf/health_safetyclips.pdf Connolly, James, The Workers' Republic: A Selection from the Writings of James Connolly (NuVision Publications, LLC, 1951).http://www.ucc . ie/celt/published/E900007-005/index.html