Eamonn Rory O'Kane died May 22 2004. He went from being an ordinary political activist to major rank in a major Teachers' Union: there he rose from Northern Ireland President to the top position: General Secretary. He was about to take a role in empowering labour more generally, with the NAS/UWT seat on the Trade Union Congress (where he had been elected to the Europe sub-committee), when cancer took him. (He had had a previous bout of the disease, which he had overcome.) There was an extra measure of frustration at his untimely death, because his good nature led him to cede that TUC seat to the retiring General Secretary for a year (enabling him to become the President of the TUC).
Unlike so many others who have climbed the ladder of success, Eamonn did not shed his principles on the way up. On the contrary, he remained absolutely committed to genuine political and industrial democracy.
A web-site is here being established for Eamonn O'Kane: it will feature documents and commentaries relating to Eamonn's political and trade union work and it is hoped that it will eventually host a discussion forum for some of the industrial objectives for which Eamonn worked.
Some articles he wrote on educational themes have been included to make a start on an archival basis for discussion of the political and trade union issues that mattered to Eamonn O'Kane.