Peter Cassells (born 1949) is an Irish former

trade union 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 ...

leader. Born in

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...

, the older brother of

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er Joe Cassells, Peter worked for the herbalist Sean Boylan before moving to Dublin and finding employment at the Department of Social Welfare. While there, he completed a part-time degree in economic and social policy, and met his first wife, Marina.Joe Jackson,
A lifelong labour of love
, ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'', 23 May 2004 Cassells moved to work for 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 ...

(ICTU) in the mid-1970s. Marina died at the age of 29 from

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, and Cassells then devoted much of his time to the trade union movement, becoming its Economic and Social Affairs Officer, then General Secretary from 1989. As General Secretary, he oversaw the development of the Social Partnership arrangements, and when he stood down in 2001, he became chair of the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, and also spent three years as chair of

Forfás Forfás () was the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in Ireland. The agency was established in January 1994 under thIndustrial Development Act, 1993and was run by a board appointed by the Mi ...

.Shane Ross,
Peter Cassells
, ''

'', 28 October 2007 At the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but elect ...

, Cassells stood as the Labour Party candidate in the East constituency, but was narrowly defeated. While remaining active in Labour, he supported the

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

candidacy of his nephew, Shane Cassells. Retiring in 2019, Cassell chaired the Edward M. Kennedy Centre for Conflict Intervention at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, serving on the council of the European Movement Ireland, working as an independent consultant and mediator, and sat on a number of boards.DHR Communications,
Peter Cassells

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassells, Peter 1949 births Living people Irish trade union leaders Labour Party (Ireland) politicians People from Navan Trade unionists from County Meath Politicians from County Meath