Sé Geraghty: Sé Geraghty, who has died aged 66, was a trade union official in the 1960s and 1970s during what became known as the "decade of upheaval".
It was a period punctuated by protracted and sometimes bitter industrial disputes, involving, among others, building workers, night telephonists and maintenance workers.
Geraghty was active in the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, and later as a full-time official with the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union led his members in a particularly hard-fought dispute with the US-owned Waterford Gear Company.
Known for his muscular style of trade unionism, he provided robust leadership to his members.
He organised staff members at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) at a turbulent time in the college's history.
Born in Dublin on September 4th, 1940, he was one of the five sons of Thomas Geraghty and his wife Elizabeth (née O'Neill).
His father was an IRA veteran, while his mother was associated with the Communist Party; both subsequently became members of the Labour Party.
The family lived in Cornmarket in the Liberties, before moving to Curlew Road, Drimnagh.
He was educated by the Christian Brothers at Francis Street and James's Street.
He expanded his horizons by regularly visiting the National Gallery, National Museum and Hugh Lane Gallery.
In his teens he developed an interest in classical music and a neighbour, who was an usher at the Gaiety Theatre, arranged for him to attend operas and concerts for free. In later life he came to appreciate Irish traditional music.
On leaving school he took a job at the Urney chocolate factory in Tallaght, where he was elected a shop steward.
In the early 1960s he was involved in the founding of Scéim na gCeardcumann, the organisation that promoted co-operation between small farmers and trade unionists, most notably in Glencolumbkille, Co Donegal.
With three of his brothers in 1963, he joined the National Progressive Democrats, led by Noel Browne.
They followed Browne into the Labour Party where Geraghty met Kay Fallon, secretary of the South Crumlin branch; the couple later married and had two children. He subsequently joined the Communist Party of Ireland.
When the civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland gave way to civil conflict he provided assistance to the beleaguered residents of the Ardoyne in Belfast.
Notwithstanding several changes of political party affiliation, he remained at heart a republican.
He had a lifelong interest in art, and as a young boy showed considerable promise as an artist. In his mid-teens he studied life-drawing at the NCAD under Maurice MacGonigal.
He afterwards became a close friend of Harry Kernoff, and enjoyed the company of artists of all schools.
In the 1980s he moved into Number 4, Henrietta Street, a once-fashionable Georgian street currently being restored.
Reroofing the house, he made it habitable and found a home for his extensive library that encompassed the arts, literature, politics and history, with particular emphasis on old Dublin. For a time he operated a business providing law search and genealogical services.
His favourite opera was Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Prokofiev his favourite composer.
He was impressed by the young Luciano Pavarotti when he heard him sing in Dublin in 1963, but the singer he most admired was Auriliano Pertile.
At Henrietta Street he hosted many post-season gatherings of the Dublin Grand Opera Society under Col Bill Kelly.
He is survived by his best friend and companion Alice Hanratty, his daughters Kathleen and Maeve, and his brothers Seán, Tom, Des and Hughie; his wife predeceased him.
Séamus Bernard (Sé) Geraghty: born September 4th, 1940; died September 21st, 2006