Derrick O'Clancy White was a writer and political activist originally from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

who was a parliamentary candidate initially for the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

and then latterly for the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

in the

Lothians Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sc ...

Early life

White was the youngest of three sons of Captain

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

(1879–1946), one of the co-founders in the great Dublin lock-out of 1913 of the

Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a small paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) established in Dublin for the defence of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin M ...

and a veteran of numerous left-wing organisations, and grandson of Field Marshal Sir George White VC, who was known for holding

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

during its siege during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. His maternal great-grandfather was J.J. Clancy and his paternal great-grandfather was

Joseph Baly Joseph Baly (1824–1909) was Archdeacon of Calcutta from 1872 until 1883; Baly was educated at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating BA in 1846 and M.A. in 1857. He was ordained deacon in 1847 and priest in 1848. He served curacies in Lei ...

.Keohane (2014) page,233 White's father died when he was three. After attending

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary secondary school, voluntary day school, day and boarding school, boarding Catholicism, Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, Dublin, Bl ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, White joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as a boy recruit at the former

HMS Ganges Two ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Ganges'' after the river Ganges in India. * was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1782 and broken up in 1816. * was an 84-gun second rate launched in ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. After service in the navy as a communications specialist and marksman, he returned for a short time to

around 1970, variously driving an ambulance for a specialist cardiac service and working in a health club. White then moved to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where he launched health clubs in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, which operated successfully for a decade. When these businesses dissolved he moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for several years, working for the multinational company,

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

, in training and recruitment before returning to Scotland, where he set up his own training consultancy.

Political activity

During the 1990s White became active in the

, standing as its candidate for the Westminster parliamentary seat of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh in 1997, where he took a 19% share of the vote. Becoming disillusioned with the SNP, he joined the

, this time standing for the Scottish Parliament seat of Edinburgh East and

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

in 1999 and the Westminster seat of

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

in 2001. White remained a member of the Scottish Socialist Party. White wrote a series of books on training, sales, personality profiling, and psychometric testing, and numerous articles on politics for the ''

Scottish Left Review The ''Scottish Left Review'' is a bi-monthly magazine publication of the Scottish left. It was established in 2000 by several prominent left-wing figures, including Bob Thomson, Henry McCubbin, Jimmy Reid, Roseanna Cunningham, and John McAllion. ...

''. White was also frequent contributor to ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

s letters page, specialising in attacks on what he saw as political hypocrisy. His last published book, ''Scotland, Frequently Asked Questions: What Every Visitor Needs to Know'' (2004), is a humorous exploration of the sore points of Scottish history and psychology.

Later life

Prior to his death he had completed a further book, giving a tongue-in-cheek view of what's wrong with

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and justifying his move to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. White died of cancer in Spain on 5 September 2007.

References

External links

ObituaryBibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Derrick 1942 births 2007 deaths Scottish National Party politicians Scottish Socialist Party politicians People educated at Blackrock College 20th-century Royal Navy personnel