Joe O'Flynn is an Irish trade union leader and former politician. Born in the Fairhill area of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

,Labour man elected Cork Lord Mayor
", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 15 July 1998 O'Flynn joined a trade union when he was sixteen, and began working for it full-time six years later.

SIPTU SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ga, An Ceardchumann Seirbhísí, Tionsclaíoch, Gairmiúil agus Teicniúil) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Rep ...

,
General Secretary: Joe O’Flynn
" O'Flynn was active in the Labour Party, and was elected to

Cork City Council Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, t ...

in 1991. He stood in the

1994 Cork South-Central by-election A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Cork South-Central constituency in Ireland on 10 November 1994. It followed the resignation of Pat Cox Teachta Dála (TD) in June 1994 on his re-election to the European Parliament. The election was ...

, but took only 6.2% of the first preference votes, and was not elected.Ray Kavanagh, ''Spring, Summer & Fall: The Rise and Fall of the Labour Party 1986–99'', p.157 He served as

Lord Mayor of Cork The Lord Mayor of Cork ( ga, Ard-Mhéara Chathair Chorcaí) is the honorific title of the Chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach) of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The office holder is elected annu ...

in 1998/1999. Meanwhile, O'Flynn's union career continued to develop. He served as National Industrial Officer and then a Regional Officer of what became

. In 2002, he was elected as the union's general secretary. The following year, he was elected as treasurer of the

Irish Congress of Trade 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 ...

. He also served on

Bord Gais Eireann Ervia, previously known as Bord Gáis or Bord Gáis Éireann (; meaning "Gas Board of Ireland"), is a multi-utility company distributing pipeline natural gas, water services and dark fibre services in Ireland. The state-owned company has built an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oflynn, Joe Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Irish trade unionists Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Lord Mayors of Cork People from Cork (city)