Denis Cullen (19 August 1886 – 26 November 1971) was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade union official. A baker by trade, during the 1910s he emerged as a leading figure in the Dublin branch of the Irish Bakers' National Amalgamated Union. At the 1918 national convention – at which the union's name was changed to the Irish Bakers, Confectioners, and Allied Workers Amalgamated Union – Cullen was elected national general secretary, commencing a twenty-five-year tenure (1918–1943), during which he was chief negotiator for both the national union and Dublin branch. He was also prominent in the leadership of the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little imp ...

(ITUC), serving almost continually on the national executive (1920–1939, 1940–1943), as treasurer (1929–1930), and for two terms as president (1925–1926, 1930–1931). In 1925 the Labour Party identified high taxation as a government weakness and decided to contest the

Dublin North Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ce ...

and Dublin South by-elections. Cullen, as general secretary of the Irish Bakers, Confectioners and Allied Workers Amalgamated Union, was candidate in Dublin North with Thomas Lawlor, Irish Municipal Employees Union, in Dublin South.Taxation In Irish Free State, ''The Times'', 19 January 1925. Neither of them were elected. He was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

as a Labour Party

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

constituency at the June 1927 general election. He lost his seat at the September 1927 general election having only served 3 months as a TD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Denis 1886 births 1971 deaths Irish trade union leaders Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of the 5th Dáil Politicians from County Dublin