ABSTRACT
Davitt had always maintained links with the labour movement, in Britain as well as Ireland, and when he emerged from the Parnell Commission he found his friends, Richard McGhee and Edward McHugh involved in organizing dock workers in Glasgow and Liverpool. A seven-week strike broke out among dock workers in Liverpool, in which Davitt mediated, achieving some concessions for the men. He then turned his attention to the condition of agricultural labourers in Ireland. Davitt fulfilled a long-held ambition when he launched a weekly newspaper, the Labour World, in September 1890. However, only two months later, the Parnell Divorce crisis overtook the Irish movement and the paper was one of the casualties. Throughout his career until the early 1890s, Davitt had resisted invitations to stand for Parliament. He was defeated by John Redmond, leader of the Parnellite faction, in his first attempt in a by-election for Waterford City in 1891.
