Matt Larkin

Mr. Matt Larkin Senior was the General Secretary of the National Association of Tenants Organisations (NATO). He led a series of rent strikes in the 1970s in response to poor housing conditions at the time, causing him to be denounced by the Catholic Church.

Career

Larkin was a committee member on the Marrowbone Lane Tenants Association, and the General Secretary of NATO. On 25 October 1968, Larkin told the Evening Herald that the explosion of a wall in Ballymun, and political infiltrations of the Drogheda Tenants' Organisation were part of an effort to "smash" NATO. He led the 1970–1973 Republic of Ireland rent strikes, a series of nationwide rent strikes held in response to poor housing conditions in Ireland. NATO had a membership of 100,000 houses at the time. The Catholic Church denounced Larkin for it, calling him a communist. As part of reviewing a film based on the event, Film Ireland called Larkin "the very essence of respectability", comparing him to Jim Larkin, who led a worker's revolution. During the rent strikes, Garda Síochána tried to evict a family in the Cromcastle Court flats, causing locals to protest. Larkin joined in on the protests, gathering with them on a balcony.

He organized campaigns against rent in areas like Cork and Tullamore, creating propaganda for campaigns like these in Northern Ireland. He also spoke at the public meetings held by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions for the Rainbow Coalition. He wrote for Sinn Féin's newspaper United Irishman. According to An Phoblacht, he died 15 October 2007.