Jim Eadie


The death of Jim Eadie at the Beacon Hospital, Dublin, on December 6 severed a link with the establishment of the Irish office of the NUJ.


A member of honour, he was one of the best-known officials of the union over many decades: colourful, committed, controversial and, at times, delightfully contrary. His passing aged 93, following a short illness borne with typical good humour and stoicism, was marked by many tributes led by the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, who acknowledged his commitment to journalism, education and trade unionism. Jim was the first full-time official of the union in Ireland. From its early days, the NUJ had members on the island of Ireland but, until the early 1960s, members north and south were served by London- based officials. Over many years, the national executive council had been resistant to moves for a full-time Irish office but, in 1964, members at the annual delegate meeting defied the NEC by voting to appoint a full-time organiser based in Dublin. Jim was appointed to the role almost by accident. An Irish Times journalist, Pat Nolan, had been


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offered the job. He tentatively accepted but, with a characteristic twist, placed a condition on the appointment. He proposed that Irish members paid a levy to cover his salary as a means of ensuring that he and those he served would not be ‘beholden’ to the NUJ’s British head office. This was rejected, the job advertised and Eadie was appointed. Travel to London often exposed Eadie to the cultural differences between the two islands. During his induction period as an


official, he was invited for a drink by general secretary Jim Bradley. It was four o’clock in the afternoon and they could not find any pubs open. On their way back to the NUJ office, then in Soho’s Great Windmill Street, Bradley pointed to a billboard poster portraying scantily clad performers at Raymond’s Revue Bar and said: “You wouldn’t get that back in Ireland.” Eadie responded pithily: “‘No – but you could get a drink.” Jim’s appointment coincided with the opening of an NUJ office in Liberty Hall, the newly opened headquarters of the Irish Transport & General Workers’ Union. Office administration fell under the remit of Patsi Dunne who, in 1982, succeeded Eadie as organiser when he was appointed as Irish secretary


or, to give him the original title, assistant secretary (Ireland). Dunne and Eadie had complementary skills and talents and forged an impressive partnership. The creation of a full-time post


was a baptism by fire for Jim, whose appointment coincided with a print industry dispute that saw the entire Dublin NUJ membership being laid off and dependent on union benefits for 10 weeks. The foundation of RTÉ presented significant organisational challenges but, as in the national newspaper sector, Eadie was blessed with strong, lay activists. In 1963, NUJ members in RTÉ conducted a nine-week strike, which led to pay increases of over 10 per cent. RTÉ and the national newspapers


were already closed shops, with the NUJ and print unions controlling access to employment. National agreements were reached with the Provincial Newspapers Association of Ireland.


All agreements covered freelances


while Jim took pride in the fact that the NUJ was the first union in the Republic to lodge a maternity pay claim to a group of employers. Afterwards, he discovered that the


employers had conceded a claim for 12 weeks on full pay in the belief that it would not be a substantial burden “because we won’t be employing many women anyway”.


He played a pivotal role in negotiation terms in RTÉ news and Radio na Gaeltachta. Jim Eadie was born in Stonepark, Roscommon, on June 4 1929, and educated at Roscommon Christian Brothers’ School. He earned a reputation as a tough, uncompromising half forward when lining out on the winning Gaelic football team in the prestigious Connacht Colleges cup final in 1947-48 school year. Such was his prowess on the sports field that he was encouraged to repeat his final exams the following year but a successful objection by St Jarlath’s saw Eadie disqualified; he instead served as umpire, only to find himself in dispute with his fellow match official. Eadie then decided to pursue a career in journalism, joining the female-dominated secretarial course at Roscommon Vocational School, “sitting in the back row learning shorthand and typing”.


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