# 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 centre, the umbrella organisation to which trade unions in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland affiliate.

## Influence

There are currently 55 trade unions with membership of Congress, representing about 600,000 members in the Republic of Ireland. Trade union members represent 35.1% of the Republic's workforce. This is a significant decline since the 55.3% recorded in 1980 and the 38.5% reported in 2003. In the Republic, roughly 50% of union members are in the public sector. The ICTU represents trade unions in negotiations with employers and the government with regard to pay and working conditions

## Structure

The supreme policy-making body of Congress is the Biennial Delegate Conference, to which affiliated unions send delegates. On a day-to-day basis Congress is run by an executive committee and a staffed secretariat headed up by the general secretary, Owen Reidy who succeeded Patricia King in the position in 2022.
Justin McCamphill of NASUWT became President of Congress at the biennial conference in Kilkenny in July 2023 succeeding Kevin Callinan of Fórsa. The president serves for a two-year period and is normally succeeded by one of two vice-presidents.
Congress is the sole Irish affiliate of the ETUC, the representative body for trade unions at European level and of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC

## Social pacts

Congress enjoyed unprecedented political and economic influence over the period from 1987 to 2009 under the umbrella of Ireland's social partnership arrangements. This involved a series of seven corporatist agreements with the government and the main manufacturing/services employer body IBEC and the construction employers' lobby, CIF (Construction Industry Federation). It was a classic European-style alliance of government, labour and capital built on six decades of voluntary employment relations regulated by state institutions such as the Labour Court.
For many years the union leaders agreed to dampen pay rises in return for regular reductions in income tax rates. They also negotiated a new system of pay determination for public service employees under the rubric of "benchmarking" using external assessment of pay scales for assorted grades.
The era of Christian democratic style corporatism also saw a dramatic fall in trade union density from 62% in 1980 to 31% in 2007 and consolidation through mergers of many affiliated trade unions. Efforts to launch recruitment and organising initiatives failed to secure adequate support from affiliated unions while attempts to secure indirect forms of union recognition through legislation collapsed after successful legal challenges and appeals by the anti-union Ryanair company.
Ireland's period of centralised 'social pacts' ended in late 2009 when the government imposed pay cuts of between 5% and 8% on public service employees. The joint-stewardship of the state's FÁS training and employment authority by Congress and IBEC and accompanied waste of public and EU funds and excessive spending on directors 'junkets' further weakened the public standing of Congress and its 'social partnership' structures.
In an assessment of the post-partnership situation, Congress general secretary David Begg prepared a strategic review paper in which he identified the increasing weakness of the Congress and individual trade unions being due to "recession and change in the balance of power with capital" as well as job cuts, poor organisation, especially in high-technology companies, and a growing rift between public and private sector employees.
On a more positive note Begg asserted that the ending of social partnership arrangements "liberates us to advocate and campaign for our own policies".

## Other activities

A "mass rally", organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Amnesty International, and the Rainbow Project in support of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland took place on 13 June 2015 in Belfast, with a 20,000 person turnout.

## Affiliated unions

* Association of First Division Civil Servants
* Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants
* Association of Irish Traditional Musicians
* Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland
* Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union
* British Actors Equity Association
* Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union
* Building and Allied Trades' Union
* Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
* Communication Workers Union (Ireland)
* Communication Workers Union (UK)
* Connect Trade Union
* Energy Services Union
* Fire Brigades Union
* Fórsa
* GMB Union
* Guinness Staff Union
* Irish Bank Officials' Association
* Irish Federation of University Teachers
* Irish Medical Organisation
* Irish National Teachers Organisation
* Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation
* MANDATE
* Medical Laboratory Scientists Association
* National Union of Journalists
* National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers
* Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance
* National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
* Operative Plasterers and Allied Trades Society of Ireland
* Prison Officers' Association (Ireland)
* Prospect
* Public and Commercial Services Union
* Public and Commercial Services Union
* SIPTU (Services Industrial Professional Technical Union)
* Society of Radiographers
* Teachers' Union of Ireland
* Technical Engineering and Electrical Union
* Transport Salaried Staffs Association
* Ulster Teachers' Union
* Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
* Unison
* Unite the Union
* University and College Union
* Veterinary Ireland
* Veterinary Officers Association

### Former members

* ACCORD
* Association of Teachers and Lecturers
* Civil and Public Services Union
* Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union
* National Union of Sheet Metal Workers of Ireland
* Prison Officers' Association (Northern Ireland)
* Public Service Executive Union
* Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians

## General Secretaries

    1959: James Larkin Jnr
    1960: Leo Crawford and Ruaidhri Roberts
    1967: Ruaidhri Roberts
    1982: Donal Nevin
    1989: Peter Cassells
    2001: David Begg
    2015: Patricia King
    2022: Owen Reidy

## Presidents

| Year | President | Union |
| 1959 | John Conroy | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1960 | James Larkin Jnr | Workers' Union of Ireland |
| 1961 | Norman Kennedy | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1962 | Billy Fitzpatrick | Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks |
| 1963 | Jack Macgougan | National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers |
| 1964 | Charles McCarthy | Vocational Teachers' Association |
| 1965 | Dominick Murphy | Transport Salaried Staffs' Association |
| 1966 | Fintan Kennedy | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1967 | Bob Thompson | General and Municipal Workers' Union |
| 1968 | John Conroy | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1969 | Jimmy Dunne | Marine Port and General Workers' Union |
| 1970 | James Morrow | Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers |
| 1971 | Maurice Cosgrave | Post Office Workers' Union |
| 1972 | Jim Cox | Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers |
| 1972–73 | Stephen McGonagle | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1974 | Denis Larkin | Workers' Union of Ireland |
| 1975 | Andy Barr | National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers |
| 1976 | Matt Griffin | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 1977 | Brendan Harkin | Northern Ireland Civil Service Alliance |
| 1977–78 | John Mulhall | Irish National Painters' and Decorators' Trade Union |
| 1979 | Harold O'Sullivan | Local Government and Public Services Union |
| 1980 | Jack Curlis | General and Municipal Workers' Union |
| 1981 | Dan Murphy | Civil Service Executive Union |
| 1982 | David Wylie | Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers |
| 1983 | Paddy Cardiff | Federated Workers' Union of Ireland |
| 1984 | James Graham | Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers |
| 1985 | Matt Merrigan | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1986 | Jim McCusker | Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance |
| 1987 | John Carroll | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1988 | William Wallace | National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers |
| 1989 | Gerry Quigley | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 1990 | Jimmy Blair | Amalgamated Engineering Union |
| 1991 | Christy Kirwan | SIPTU |
| 1991–93 | Tom Douglas | GMB Union |
| 1993–95 | Phil Flynn | Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union |
| 1995–97 | John Freeman | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1997–99 | Edmund Browne | SIPTU |
| 1999–2001 | Inez McCormack | UNISON |
| 2001–03 | Joe O'Toole | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 2003–05 | Brendan Mackin | Amicus |
| 2005–07 | Peter McLoone | Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union |
| 2007–09 | Patricia McKeown | UNISON |
| 2009–11 | Jack O'Connor | SIPTU |
| 2011–13 | Eugene McGlone | Unite |
| 2013–15 | John Douglas | Mandate |
| 2015–17 | Brian Campfield | Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance |
| 2017–19 | Sheila Nunan | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 2019–21 | Gerry Murphy | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 2021–23 | Kevin Callinan | Fórsa |
| 2023–25 | Justin McCamphill | NASUWT |

## Treasurers

    1959: Walter Beirne
    1960: John Conroy
    1967: Fintan Kennedy
    1982: Patrick Clancy
    1985: Christy Kirwan
    1989: Edmund Browne
    1995: Bill Attley
    1999: Jimmy Somers
    2001: John McDonnell
    2003: Joe O'Flynn
    2019: Joe Cunningham