Former IMPACT leader Harold O'Sullivan (1924-2009) was remembered at an event organised by the union at Louth county library earlier this month. A workspace in Dundalk library was dedicated to the memory of the public servant, trade unionist and historian in the place he spent many hours researching after retiring as general secretary of the Local Government and Public Services Union (LGPSU), a forerunner of IMPACT

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody said Harold was a dedicated public servant and a passionate historian. “Harold was a brilliant advocate for public services and it seems entirely appropriate that we remember him here and invite future visitors to the library to reflect on Harold’s positive legacy,” he said.

Early in his working life Harold joined what was then the Irish Local Government Officials Union, moving up through the ranks as shop steward and executive council member before becoming general secretary in 1964.

He was first elected to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ executive in 1968 and became its president ten years later, when he described the tax burden on PAYE workers – who then paid almost 80 per cent of their income in tax – as “grossly inequitable.” The following March he said the “PAYE classes” would no longer tolerate the situation, and ICTU supported massive nationwide demonstrations involving a quarter of a million workers.

Harold later made his mark as a local historian, publishing or contributing to several books dealing with the borderlands of southeast Ulster. He also wrote numerous articles for local historical journals.