Seán Dunne

Seán Dunne (18 December 1918 – 25 June 1969) was an Irish trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1948 to 1957 and from 1961 to 1969.

Early life Dunne was born in Waterford, to Michael Dunne, an RIC constable, and Bridget Coppinger, a schoolteacher. On 10 May 1920, in an ambush at nearby Ahawadda, his father and two other constables were killed by Irish Volunteers in an ambush. Dunne subsequently grew up in his mother's native area of County Waterford.

At 16, he became involved in the Labour and Republican movements. He joined the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI) in 1936 and led "hunger marches" in 1937. As a Republican, he was interned in the Curragh and Arbour Hill Prison for the first two years of the Second World War, rejoining the WUI on his release. In 1944, he became Secretary of the Agricultural Workers' section of the WUI. It was eventually decided that a separate union was required for agricultural workers and in May 1946 the Federation of Rural Workers was founded with Dunne as Organising Secretary, a post he held until 1954. Dunne organised many strikes among rural workers, and was instrumental in achieving the weekly half-day for members in the early 1950s. He held his seat at the 1965 general election, this time as a Labour Party candidate. He constantly carried "Leabhar Ballyfermot", a notebook containing his constituents' problems. His frequent boast was: "If Dunne can't do it, it can't be done". The by-election for his seat was held on 4 March 1970, and won for Fianna Fáil by Seán Sherwin; the Labour candidate, Matt Merrigan, lost by only 262 votes after Dunne's widow Cora stood as an independent candidate.