A Donegal man who became a leading trade unionist in Britain in the 19th century but is relatively unknown in Ireland will be commemorated in his native Buncrana this weekend. John Hume will give the opening address tonight at the first John Doherty School.
Trade union leaders and activists will join historians from Ireland and England in examining the legacy of a man who was imprisoned for his efforts to improve conditions for factory workers. Speakers include David Begg of SIPTU, journalist Eamonn McCann of Derry Trades Council and Independent election candidate in Sligo/Leitrim, Marian Harkin.
One of the event's organisers, Francis Devine, an education officer with SIPTU, will outline how Doherty devoted his life to radical causes including trade unionism, factory reform, radical politics and journalism.
"By any standards, he was a remarkable man. Much of what he did was visionary and he did it all from self-education," he said.
John Doherty was born in Buncrana in 1798 and started his working life at the age of 10 in the local Tullyarvan cotton mill. In 1838 in the House of Commons, Daniel O'Connell said of him that he was "as intelligent and highly educated as any man could be".
After emigrating to Manchester as a young man, he took part in the 1818 cotton spinners' strike and was active in many trade union campaigns over the following two decades. He was ahead of his time in setting up the National Association for the Protection of Labour (NAPL) which had about 150 different trade unions affiliated to it, more than 35 years before the TUC was formed in Britain.
He was also a pioneer in journalism and in 1830 he started a newspaper, The Voice of the People. It took up trade union issues and became a highly regarded publication. Even the Bank of Manchester published an account of its annual meeting in the paper. Doherty was a native Irish speaker, with a minimum of formal education, but this doesn't appear to have been an obstacle.
Some of the rights he fought for, such as the reduction of the working day to 10 hours, may seem like the issues of a long-gone era, but Francis Devine believes his arguments are still relevant today.
"Doherty campaigned for the abolition of child wage slavery, but there are more child labourers across the globe now than then," he said. Trade union recognition and the right to membership of a union also remain issues today, he added.
Historians speaking over the weekend include Dr Emmet O'Connor of Magee College, in Derry, Prof John Belchem of the University Of Liverpool, and Prof Desmond Greer of Queen's University Belfast.
A panel to discuss "Who Is The Voice Of The People Today?" includes David Begg, Marian Harkin, Derry Journal columnist Gerry Murray, and Eamonn McCann.