Colm Sean O'Kane (1935 – 14 June 2005) was a

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Born in

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

, O'Kane studied at

St Columb's College St Columb's College is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. Since 2008, it has been a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from County Donegal who founded a monast ...

alongside

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...

. He then became a mental health nurse, working at Purdysburn Hospital in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, then worked at

Darenth Park Hospital Darenth Park Hospital was a healthcare facility in Darenth near Dartford in Kent, originally founded as Darenth School. History The hospital was founded by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in Darenth near Dartford in Kent as Darenth School for ...

in Kent, with people with learning disabilities. Finally, he worked at Aston Hall Hospital in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. O'Kane became active in the

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

(COHSE), and from 1964 worked for the union full-time as a regional secretary. He was promoted to become a national officer in 1974, then in 1987 he ran to become general secretary of the union, losing to Hector MacKenzie. Instead, he won election as the union's deputy general secretary, and also won a place on the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. O'Kane was re-elected unopposed as deputy general secretary of COHSE in 1992, and then led the negotiations with the

National and Local Government Officers' Association The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government White-collar workers, "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, ...

and

National Union of Public Employees The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which existed between 1908 and 1993. It represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities. History The union w ...

which formed

Unison Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

. He served as joint deputy general secretary of Unison until his retirement in 1994. In 2000, he began suffering with

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

, and he died of the condition five years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKane, Colm 1935 births 2005 deaths Trade unionists from County Londonderry People educated at St Columb's College Health professionals from County Londonderry