The Hawthorns Bloom in May by Anne Doughty

and lost their orders. There would be
nothing
then for the people who had worked there. There would be no money
at all
to buy food. And very little prospect of finding any other work. If the mills had closed, back in the nineties, there wouldn’t even have been a handful of public works to help out, as there had been during the time of the famine. There would be
nothing
.’
    She paused and looked around her. Many of the women were nodding.
    ‘I don’t disagree with your analysis of the situation in the textile industry,’ she went on, turning to the three men who sat behind her. ‘I only disagree about how we go about changing it without putting hundreds of families at risk.’
    ‘And what would you suggest?’ Michael asked courteously enough, as he stood up and came to stand opposite her.
    ‘I suggest that we continue to press for government legislation to shorten hours and increase earnings. Progress
has
been slow. It doesn’t please me, or you, but it’s better than risking the well-being of whole communities.’
    There was applause from the crowded hall, but Sarah felt no easement in the tension thatsurrounded her. The two other Trade Unionists where whispering together behind where she and Michael Donaghy stood facing each other.
    ‘Comrades,’ shouted the man from Belfast, jumping to his feet. ‘You have heard what Missus Sinton has to say. And she puts it very nicely too,’ he said, nodding his head in her direction. ‘Do nothing. Go back to work. Continue to make money for me and my family. That’s what she’s saying.’
    He paused and drew himself to his full height, ignoring some hostile murmurs from the body of the hall.
    ‘Then let me tell you good people just how much money is stacked up in the Sinton Mills account in Banbridge and let you judge for yourselves whether this family could meet your legitimate demands for a minimum rate of thrippence an hour.’
    To Sarah’s amazement and horror, he named an extraordinarily high figure which made his audience gasp. She saw Tom shake his head and drop his face in his hands.
    ‘Maybe Missus Sinton would like to tell us what
her
plans are for
your
money,’ he said with an unpleasant sneer as he sat down again.
    As there were only three chairs on the platform, Sarah had remained standing. She was beginning to feel quite faint, what with the heat and tension, and the need to look calm when her chest felt tight and her stomach grumbled uncomfortably. She noddedto him as he sat back in his seat with a show of preparing himself to listen. Michael glanced at her with a look she could not read, turned his back on her and went and sat beside him.
    ‘I am not sure the sum you mention is quite accurate,’ she began coolly, ‘but for the sake of argument we will assume it is. I should be delighted to find that it is the case,’ she said, turning back to her audience.
    ‘There are three reasons why this sum is so high. Firstly, we have had two very good years of trading. Secondly, unlike other companies, the directors do not share out the profits among themselves, build grand houses, take themselves off to live in London or Bath, or give substantial gifts to the right people so as to end up with titles,’ she said firmly. ‘The directors are paid a salary which you can look at in the annual report.
    ‘Until recently,
all
profits have been redeployed within the company,’ she went on. ‘They’ve been used for new machinery and equipment, so that our technology doesn’t fall behind. They’ve also been used for housing, for the co-operative shops, the dispensaries and the holiday homes at the seaside. And this recreation hall,’ she added easily, as she looked around the sea of faces.
    ‘Two years ago a decision was made to accumulate profits where possible and to launch a public company.’
    There were jeers from the back and sides of the hall and remarks from the three men seated behind her.
    ‘Ohhh … that’s great news for the