Jimmy Somers (2 November 1939 – 12 January 2024) was an Irish

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 ...

, former President of SIPTU and Labour Party activist.

Biography

Born in Cabra, Dublin, Somers became active in the

Irish Transport and General Workers' Union The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland. History The union was founded by James Larkin and James Fearon in January 1909 as a general union. Initially ...

(ITGWU), soon being elected as a branch secretary,Mary Raftery,
Labour's Legacy
, 1 December 1983 and leading the party delegation to Dublin Trades Council. Somers also became active in the Labour Party, in which he was a leading supporter of Michael O'Leary. He stood for the party in Dublin North-West at the

1973 Irish general election The 1973 Irish general election to the 20th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 28 February 1973, following the dissolution of the 19th Dáil on 5 February by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election t ...

, then in Dublin Central at the

1981 Irish general election The 1981 Irish general election to the 22nd Dáil was held on Thursday, 11 June, following the Dissolution of Parliament, dissolution of the 21st Dáil on 21 May by President of Ireland, President Patrick Hillery on the request of Taoiseach Cha ...

and the

November 1982 Irish general election The November 1982 Irish general election to the 24th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 24 November, three weeks after the Dissolution of parliament, dissolution of the 23rd Dáil on 4 November by President of Ireland, President Patrick Hillery, on th ...

, but was not elected on any occasion. He finally stood at the 1983 Dublin Central by-election, at which he took Labour's worst ever result in the constituency. In 1990, the ITGWU became part of the new

SIPTU SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ) 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 ...

(Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union), and in 1994 Somers became the union's Vice President, in which position he played a key role in negotiating partnership agreements with the government. In 1997, he was narrowly elected as President of SIPTU, retiring two years later to serve on the Labour Court and Labour Relations Commission. Somers also served 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 ...

from 1999 to 2001. He died on 12 January 2024, in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somers, Jimmy 1939 births 2024 deaths Trade unionists from Dublin (city) Labour Party (Ireland) candidates in Dáil elections