James Hickey

James Hickey (c. 1886 – 7 June 1966) was an Irish Labour Party politician who joined the short-lived breakaway National Labour Party. He served four terms as Lord Mayor of Cork.

Hickey was one of twelve children in his family and was a native of Ballinagar, Mallow, County Cork. He was educated at Rahan national school, and moved to Cork City in 1913. At the age of 27, he found employment first with the Cork Steam Packet Company and later with John Daly & Co, then-manufacturers of Tanora. He joined the Labour Party about this time and became a trade union official. In 1931 he married Eileen Kiernan, and they had four children.

Hickey first stood for the Dáil at the 1937 general election for the Cork Borough constituency, but narrowly missed being elected. He was successful at the 1938 general election, unseating Richard Anthony, a former Labour TD who left the Party in the 1920s and sat as an independent. His filled the role of former Lord Mayor Seán French, who died in office in September 1937, and stayed in the role afterwards.

Hickey made international headlines in February 1939, when, as Lord Mayor of Cork, he refused to give a civic reception to the captain and crew of the German warship SMS Schlesien, which was on a "courtesy visit" to Cork Harbour flying the Nazi flag, despite Irish neutrality. The Schlesien was a 13,000-tonne World War I battleship. Hickey's refusal to entertain the German officers and crew was not primarily due to Nazi policies or the rising threat in Europe, but because of an affront he perceived from the German media following the death of Pope Pius XI earlier that year. Hickey explained his reasoning directly, stating that he could not overlook “the insult given to the Catholic world on the death of the Pope, when the responsible German Press termed our Holy Father a "political adventurer"." As a staunch Roman Catholic, Hickey regarded the Pope as Christ's Vicar on Earth, and therefore saw the German press's disparagement as a direct insult to the Catholic faith itself. For him, the logic was clear: whoever insulted the Pope, insulted Christ. This stand led him to publicly refuse to meet the German delegation, a move that caused controversy but also earned him support both locally and internationally. His stance received strong backing from the Catholic Bishop of Cork, Dr Daniel Cohalan, who also criticised Nazi Germany's disrespect and hostility towards the Vatican.

After his defeat at the 1954 general election (to his running mate, Seán Casey), he stood unsuccessfully for election to Seanad Éireann. He was later nominated to the 8th Seanad by the Taoiseach John A. Costello.