Retiring school secretary Kathleen O’Doherty was among the former members of Fórsa’s School Secretaries branch committee given a hero’s farewell at the branch AGM last Saturday in Loughrea, Co Galway.

Kathleen, a long-standing and passionate trade union activist based in Donegal, received a standing ovation from 200 delegates who had travelled from 20 different counties to attend the AGM.

Leading the tributes was incoming branch chair Luisa Carty and Fórsa president Michael Smyth.

Michael acknowledged Kathleen’s key role in driving the campaign for pay fairness for school secretaries over several years.

Those efforts saw school secretaries move on to a standardised pay scale, and move to a centralised payroll system, since last September.

Michael praised Kathleen’s “total commitment to the campaign for pay fairness, and her strong belief in the power of trade union solidarity.”

Outgoing branch committee members Marion Jackson and Anita Reilly were also in attendance at the AGM and received presentations and thanks from the branch.

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