Eamon McMahon presente!
13 September 2022
Eamonn McMahon
The death of Eamon McMahon has led to an extraordinary outpouring of grief and commemoration from his comrades, best summed up by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Co-founder of the ICTU Friends of Palestine, a main driver of the European Trade Union Network for Palestine, the Ireland Palestine Mental Health Network, a leader in ISPC Belfast and in the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions campaign against Israeli repression.
We will not expand on this stunning set of achievements. We can only add that Eamon's commitment was lifelong, that it included an extended period as a member of Peoples Democracy and that, in the long and tragic battle for political status, he was the leader and organiser of the Trade Union H-Block Committees.
The IPSC saluted Eamon as the eternal optimist. It is a term well chosen. By sheer hard work and persistence, he managed to wring support for Palestine from Trade Union leaders, but he was working with very reluctant and recalcitrant material. In the Hunger Strikes campaign, they were bitterly opposed to the prisoners' demands and did not give an inch. Eamon, undismayed, was able to build a national rank and file network that convinced many militants of the importance of a class perspective.
As others have said, the only true memorial to Eamon will be forged in bringing about an end to the merciless oppression of the Palestinian people.