Speaking after the sad news of the passing of Baroness May Blood, ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy paid this tribute
May Blood learnt her politics and her vocation in the vanished world of the mills of Belfast, a harsh environment of long hours and lives shortened by unsafe working conditions. From her teenage years, she was active in the Transport & General Workers Union, challenging mill bosses on behalf of a largely female workforce for decency at work and winning more money, shorter hours and better lives.
That was her life’s mission, the advancement of working people, and challenging those who would divert those positive energies into sectarianism and division. She took risks for her neighbours, even being burnt out of her home at the start of the ‘troubles’, and later took risks for peace in supporting Labour causes, better housing, integrated education, women’s rights and most of all the trade union movement.
Those values, and the tenacity she displayed in expressing them, made her the most respected political figure in local opinion polls. When she retired at her 80th birthday, a gap was opened in the House of Lords, and public discourse, which needs to be filled.
May Blood is not the last of her type – Northern Ireland contains multitudes of people from all backgrounds who stand up and speak out for the same causes and reflect the same values forcefully expressed by our Baroness.
She will be greatly missed by our movement, and yet her best memorial will be the continuation of her work by a new generation of activists. We will be her legacy.
