Jack Macgougan (21 August 1913 – 12 December 1998) was a

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

activist in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

to a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

family, Macgougan became an active trade unionist at an early age. In 1935 he was elected Secretary of the Socialist Party of Northern Ireland, a

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

-affiliate split from the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(NILP). In 1934, along with

Victor Halley Victor Halley (1904-1966) was a trade unionist and socialist in Northern Ireland, who identified the cause of labour with the achievement of an all-Ireland republic. A Presbyterian, Halley was born at 19 Carew Street, Belfast on 15 January 1904, ...

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 ...

and other northern trade unionists and socialists, he attended the convention in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

that established the broad "anti-imperialist"

Republican Congress The Republican Congress ( ga, An Chomhdháil Phoblachtach) was an Irish republican and Marxist-Leninist political organisation founded in 1934, when pro-communist republicans left the Anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by ...

, and initiative of a left split from the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

. From 1936 he was active, alongside

Betty Sinclair Elizabeth Sinclair (3 December 1910 – 25 December 1981) was an Irish communist organiser. Early life Born as Elizabeth Margaret Sinclair at 44 Hooker Street in Ardoyne, Belfast on 3 December 1910, Betty came from a Church of Ireland family a ...

, Halley and others, in organising relief aid for the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

with

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

.Courtney (2013), 331-332. In the

1938 Northern Ireland general election The 1938 Northern Ireland general election was held on 9 February 1938. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. The newly-formed Ulster Progressive Unionist ...

, he stood for the NILP in Belfast Oldpark, taking second place, with 40.8% of the vote. In 1945, he was appointed Irish Regional Organiser of the

National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NUTGW). Macgougan was Chair of the NILP in 1945–1946, but became unhappy with its increasingly unionist stance. Along with Halley and Harry Diamond he supported the establishment of the

Irish Labour Party The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, ...

in Northern Ireland. In 1949, he was elected for the party to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

.''Saothar'', vol.16-20, pp.80-81 He later stood unsuccessfully for the party in South Down at the 1950 general electionSouth Down 1950-1970
/ref> (the Anti-Partition League decided not to oppose him, but priests denounced him as a communist) and Belfast Falls at the

1953 Northern Ireland general election The 1953 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 October 1953. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. Results ''All parties shown ...

. He lost his council seat in 1958. That year, he served as President 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 ...

while, in 1965, he was President of the

Irish Congress of Trades Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centr ...

. In 1969, he became General Secretary of the UK-wide NUTGW, and also served on the General Council of the British

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

. In 1948, along with Halley and the writer and Anti-Partition League speaker

Denis Ireland Denis Liddell Ireland (29 July 1894 – 23 September 1974) was an Irish essayist and political activist. A northern Protestant, after service in the First World War he embraced the cause of Irish independence. He also advanced the social credit id ...

, MacGougan Ireland was member of the Belfast

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of Wa ...

Commemoration Commiitee. After being denied access to the city centre, they rallied 30,000 in Corrigan Park in nationalist west Belfast, where MacGougan reminded the crowd that the United Irish leader "

Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...

was an advocate of the new social forces that arose in all parts of the world" and that when they paid tribute to the United Irishmen they were to remember that "they had the closest fraternal links with the democratic forces in other countries". MacGougan retired to

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

in England where he died on 14 December 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macgougan, Jack 1913 births 1998 deaths General Secretaries of the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers Trade unionists from Belfast Labour Party (Ireland) parliamentary candidates Members of Belfast City Council Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Northern Ireland Labour Party politicians Presidents of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Protestant Irish nationalists