Pascal McNevin

 '...my first job was as a …stitcher, at a sugar boat. And the sugar was coming from Cubato Ireland…and it was the maiden voyage of the Irish Hazel'

Purchase of ship ‘Irish Hazel’

The Button 

 'It was handed down then to the next-of-kin. Depending – a lot of people don’t realise this – depending on the mother’s say -so...very, very few people realised that the mother had a say in the button ' 

Getting Paid

'…in the old days, now you know, I personally don’t remember it but I’ve heard of it from me father, and others...that they would be paid after their day’s work – in a public house.'

The Reads      

'the reads, casual reads, could take place from the stevedore’s home...If they lived adjacent to the docks...One, of two or three, in fact. One that I do recall, was at the corner of Cardiff Lane and Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. He would look out the first storey window...And look out and employ the men...And employ the men in that fashion. The same happened in Ringsend. A stevedore in Ringsend who, I believe, used look out the window in his night attire! In his pj’s, employ the men and, “The boat you’re employed for is up at the Glass Bottle House...Whether he got up and had breakfast then or not  I don’t know, but -'

Cargo

'I recall one time, and I often laugh about this one …There was tiger aboard a ship...Caged.It was caged, and it was on the deck…and all that the dockers had to do was put a wire either end, on the cage, and up onto the crane hook and take it ashore. But, being…an animal, there was a special rate for what we termed as ‘livestock’...So, the lads were cute enough – “Hold on a minute”...“We’re not discharging that.” “You have to discharge it.” “Ah, no, we’re claiming livestock, we’re claiming livestock rates.” And, I was sent for and duly went around to the office and spoke to the man in charge, Captain Willoughby, and Captain Willoughby laughed at me, he laughed me out of the office.And he said to me, he says, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Pascal”, he says. “I’ll go round with you, now, onto that ship…We’ll get the cage opened...and we’ll let them  lead it, lead it ashore! “Then we’ll pay them livestock!”... “Then we’ll pay them livestock!”And, of course, when that got back to them…the language was choice!It was choice!'

Mechanisation

'I recall very vividly, I recall being in the Labour Court one morning and…a member of the stevedores, George Holloway Junior, who was the general manager of George Bell’s…he informed us in the Labour Court, at that stage, it was in the 1960’s, early ‘60’s, he could…work the complete Deep Sea end of the Port…with 250 men, fully mechanised...We laughed at him. We laughed at him….But when I look at it today, there is not 250 men, there are less...And the Port is booming.'