Joe O'Flynn is an Irish trade union leader and former politician.
Born in the Fairhill area of
Cork,
[Labour man elected Cork Lord Mayor]
", ''Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'', 15 July 1998 O'Flynn joined a trade union when he was sixteen, and began working for it full-time six years later.
[ SIPTU,]
General Secretary: Joe O’Flynn
"
O'Flynn was active in the
Labour Party, and was elected to
Cork City Council in 1991. He stood in the
1994 Cork South-Central by-election, 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 () is the honorific title of the Chairperson () of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the Council. The incumbent ...
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
SIPTU. 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 cent ...
. He also served on
Bord Gais Eireann.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oflynn, Joe
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Trade unionists from Cork (city)
Labour Party (Ireland) politicians
Lord mayors of Cork
Irish trade union leaders