Norman Kennedy Explained

Norman Kennedy was a trade unionist and politician in Ireland.

Kennedy worked in a Belfast linen factory for 20 years.[1] He was a prominent member of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union. He served as President of the Irish Trades Union Congress in 1957.[2] He worked closely with James Larkin, Jr and John Conroy to complete its reunification with the Congress of Irish Unions,[3] and became President of the united organisation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, in 1961.[4] He also served on the Northern Ireland Economic Council.[5]

Kennedy served as a Northern Ireland Labour Party member of the Senate of Northern Ireland from 1965 until its proguation in 1972. From 1970 to 1971, he served as a Deputy Speaker.[6] [7] He then withdrew from politics and trade unionism, and led the consortium which established Downtown Radio, Northern Ireland's first commercial radio station.[8]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/1111/741073-the-work-of-the-weavers/
  2. Donal Nevin et al, Trade Union Century, p.437
  3. W. J. McCormack, The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture, p.331
  4. "Constitution and Standing Orders " (2008), Irish Congress of Trade Unions, p.36
  5. Web site: Dáil Éireann - Volume 257 - 25 November 1971 . 20 August 2010 . 20 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120920235213/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0257/D.0257.197111250024.html . dead .
  6. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/hnisen.htm Members of the Northern Ireland Senate, 1921-72
  7. "Contest for 12 seats in N.I. Senate", Irish Times, 21 May 1965
  8. "Radio station for Ulster", The Guardian, 28 October 1975, p.15