Danny Burke:DANNY BURKE was a teacher, socialist, photographer, community activist, and he was above all colourful. A native of Galway city, he spent nearly two-thirds of his 62 years in Belfast.
In the early 1970s as a member of Official Sinn Féin (which mutated into The Workers’ Party), he was a charismatic orator and activist in Galway. At the time he was a full-time political activist, on the dole, having been sacked from three teaching jobs.
His lasting memorial is the Belfast Exposedproject. This brought together amateur photographers from across Belfast to document working-class life. Though Danny was a Republican from Galway, he got participation from some strongly Protestant areas of Belfast.
Danny was born on June 22nd, 1947, the youngest of four children of Peter and Kathleen (nee O’Shea) Burke. The family was comfortably off; Peter was a salesman for detergent manufacturers Lever Brothers, and with Kathleen he ran a shop.
Danny was exposed to political upheaval while at national school. His older brother Peadar was interned in the Curragh during the 1950s IRA Border campaign.
Danny’s secondary education was at the Jesuit-run Coláiste Iognáid, where he edited the school newspaper. After school, he entered University College Galway (now NUI Galway), studying English and Geography, followed by a Higher Diploma in Education. He also joined the IRA and Sinn Féin. When these split in 1970, he joined the more left-wing Officials.
Political activism ran parallel to a teaching career blighted by conflict with authority. His first job in a Christian Brothers school in Waterford ended when he asked a brother to stop beating a boy.
He moved to a convent boarding school in Monaghan. The vision of a male teacher of English in his early 20s with long dark hair and wearing a white suit is still remembered. At the time, Chinese communists were seen as the most radical socialists. Danny circulated copies of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book, and treated the older girls as his social equals.
After dismissal he moved briefly to another job in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, returning to Galway after dismissal. There, Official Sinn Féin had a significant influence. Its paper, the Galway News, was widely read. It organised agitation on all sorts of issues in the city and surrounding area.
Later, Danny got a job in St Peter’s Secondary School in West Belfast. The Troubles meant the area’s schools had difficulties recruiting teachers. Danny was to teach there for over a decade.
Belfast Exposedgrew from his teaching. A former student who was a Republican prisoner suggested that Danny organise an exhibition of photographs, and in 1983 he appealed for work from amateur photographers across the city, then set up a cross-community steering group. Danny later left teaching to work in photography projects. At the time of his death, he was manager of the Safehouse art gallery in Belfast.
Danny is survived by his sister Mary (Greene), nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers Peadar and Seán.
Danny Burke: born June 22nd, 1947, died April 23rd, 2010