Joe Cunningham is an Irish trade union leader.
Born in Galway, Cunningham worked for Lydon House, a local catering and events company. He joined the Workers' Union of Ireland, and became a shop steward, then won election to the union's western area branch committee, before becoming the union's full-time official for the West. [1]
In 1990, the union became part of the new Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), with Cunningham covering the Midland counties, then becoming regional secretary for the Western region, later moving to the Northern region. In 2010, he was appointed as head of the union's Strategic Organising Department. [1]
In 2020, Cunningham was elected as general secretary of the union, with his early period in office dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As leader of the union, he proposed that the government should borrow to invest in housing, health and education. [2]
Barry Desmond is an Irish former Labour Party politician who was Minister for Health from 1982 to 1987 and Minister for Social Welfare from 1982 to 1986. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1989, a Minister of State from 1981 to 1982, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Dublin from 1989 to 1994, and Ireland's member of the European Court of Auditors from 1994 to 2000.
Liberty Hall, in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by Desmond Rea O'Kelly, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest building in the country, at 59.4 metres, (195 feet) high until it was superseded by the County Hall in Cork city, which was itself superseded by The Elysian in Cork. Liberty Hall is now the fourth tallest building in Dublin, after Capital Dock, Montevetro and the Millennium Tower in Grand Canal Dock.
SIPTU is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Republic of Ireland, although the union does have a Northern Ireland District Committee. Its head office, Liberty Hall, is in Dublin, and the union has five industrial divisions, three in the private sector and two in the public sector. SIPTU is affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions
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