Sam Kyle (1884 – 1962) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Born into 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 at 57 Riga Street 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 ...

on 7 November 1884, he was the son of Samuel Kyle, a draper, and Jane Wilson. Kyle joined 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 ...

. Michael Farrell, ''Northern Ireland: The Orange State'' He became active in the

Workers' Union The Workers' Union was a general union based in the United Kingdom, but with some branches in other countries. During the 1910s, it was the largest general union in the UK, but it entered a rapid decline in the 1920s, and eventually became part ...

, eventually becoming a full-time organiser for the union. At the 1918 general election, he stood in Belfast Shankill for the Belfast Labour Representation Committee.Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Biographies
/ref> While unsuccessful, he was a prominent figure in the 1919 Belfast strike, and gained election 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 ...

in 1920. The Labour Representation Committee became the main section of the

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 ...

(NILP), and Kyle was elected for the party at the

1925 Northern Ireland general election The 1925 Northern Ireland general election was held on 3 April 1925. It was the second election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, although they maintained their large majority. This ...

, to represent Belfast North, standing in opposition to partition. For the next four years, he acted as the leader of the NILP, pursuing a policy of working with sympathetic Nationalist Party MPs, and the

independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in electi ...

Tommy Henderson Thomas Gibson Henderson (13 October 1887 – 14 August 1970) was an Independent unionist politician. He served in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1925 to 1953 in vigorous opposition to the Unionist governments on all issues othe ...

and

James Woods Gyle James Woods Gyle (died 2 December 1934) was an Independent Unionist politician in Northern Ireland, member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Born in Belfast, the son of mariner John Gyle and Fanny Woods. Gyle was married in December 1894 t ...

, to oppose the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

. After Nationalist Joe Devlin was suspended from the Parliament for attacking the Unionist Party as "villains, bullies, conspirators and ruffians", he led the NILP in joining with the Nationalists and two independent Unionist MPs in walking out, earning them suspensions from the body. Following the restructuring of constituencies, Kyle stood in Belfast Oldpark in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, but was unsuccessful, losing by just 189 votes. In 1932, Kyle became the Irish secretary of the Amalgamated

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

and moved to

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 ...

. In 1940, he was the 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 ...

. In 1943, he was elected on the Labour Panel, and sat as an

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, ...

member of the

Irish Senate Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, and re-elected in 1944 serving for five years in total.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyle, Sam 1884 births 1962 deaths Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (Ireland) senators Irish trade unionists Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1925–1929 Members of the 4th Seanad Members of the 5th Seanad Northern Ireland Labour Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Protestant Irish nationalists Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies