Lynch celebrates a Dublin working class hero

MICK Lynch, general secretary of the RMT union was a guest speaker at the Robert Tressell festival at Liberty Hall Theatre. The festival took place last weekend.

Tressell, who was born in Wexford Street in Dublin, wrote The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. The book is regarded as one of the most influential publications in shaping working class consciousness in the 20th century.

Mick Lynch, who was born in Paddington to parents from Co. Cork and Co. Armagh, was one of the keynote speakers at the festival. Mr Lynch has spoken in the past about the influence The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and its author on its significance internationally, and on a personal note the inspiration it gave him in his own political development.