SIPTU Divisional Organiser Gerry McCormack's roots are firmly planted in north Meath where he represented Kilskyre and Ballinlough in hurling and football respectively. 

Well-known SIPTU official Gerry McCormack has fond memories of his GAA career with Kilskyre and Ballinlough.
And despite representing 50,000 SIPTU members in his role as Divisional Organiser for Manufacturing, the Kilskyre native has maintained a strong interest in the GAA and is a passionate Meath supporter. His brother Joey is a former Meath hurler, while his son Aaron was corner forward on the Delvin team which won the Westmeath IHC this year.
"I've been a lifelong supporter of the GAA," he proudly states.
"I played hurling with Kilskyre and football with Ballinlough when I was younger. My claim to fame was making the Meath under 14 football panel one year! My brother Joe (Joey) was a very good hurler in his day and was on the Meath senior team for a number of years.
"My son Aaron is big into the hurling now and had a very good year with Delvin who won the intermediate championship in Westmeath and reached the Leinster semi-final. Anytime you see him, he has the hurl in his hand! My other son Adrian prefers the rugby and plays with Athboy RFC."
Now living in Kingscourt and working out of SIPTU's national headquarters in Liberty Hall, Gerry got involved with the Union during his time as a miner in Tara Mines.
"I worked in Tara Mines for 15 years and was involved as a shop steward for most of that time. This led to me joining SIPTU as a full-time official in May 1995," he explains.
Gerry, who is married to Marie and is expecting a Christmas baby, had two stints as Cavan Branch Secretary and also served as Monaghan Secretary before his appointment as National Industrial Secretary for the Private Sector in 2005. After serving that position for four years, he was appointed to his current role in 2009.
Gerry is responsible for every SIPTU member in relation to manufacturing. He has a team of 25 staff and 1,000 shop stewards working under him. There are five sectors within the division: Agribusiness (dairy and meat), pharmaceutical, chemicals and medical devices; industrial production; electronics and engineering; agriculture (food and drink).
Gerry admits the recession has led to job losses and much uncertainty among his Union members and that it's a very much a case of "holding what we have" at the present time.
"The economic crisis has impacted hugely on our members. We have had a lot of redundancies, especially in the manufacturing sector, but having said that, we haven't been hit as hard as the construction and service sectors. And the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors haven't really been affected at all," he says.
"The recession has thrown up huge challenges and there is a lot of uncertainty out there. We're in survival mode at the moment, trying to hold onto what we have and keep job losses to a minimum." 
SIPTU (The Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union) represents over 200,000 Irish workers from virtually every category of employment across almost every sector of the Irish economy. SIPTU provides the expertise, experience and back-up services necessary to assist workers in their dealings with employers, government and industrial relations institutions.
During the Celtic Tiger years, SIPTU played a pivotal role in the contribution made by the trade union movement to the success of the Irish economy while at the same time securing real improvements in living standards through increases in pay in the workplace and greater social provision in the community.
SIPTU is committed to the achievement of economic and social progress for its members and for the country. The Union caters for full-time, part-time, permanent, contract and temporary workers, as well as retired and unemployed members.
While it is fair to say that the size of its membership helps to give SIPTU strength and influence, the real power of the Union comes from the active involvement of its ordinary members. SIPTU's structure has been developed to ensure that every member has an opportunity to make his or her voice heard on every issue. Union members are entitled - and expected - to take part in the discussions and the democratic ballots on the matters facing the Union at local and national level.
Of course, these rights as a member of the Union carry with them a responsibility to abide by the decisions determined by the democratic process. So once a vote is taken, members are expected to respect the majority decision. It is this concept of collective action - based on the principle that unity is strength - that enables SIPTU to act to best effect.
Gerry acknowledges that 2010 has been one of the most controversial years in the history of Meath GAA. Despite leading the Royals to their first Leinster football title since 2001, Eamonn O'Brien was ousted as manager and after a long drawn-out selection process, was replaced by former Monaghan boss Seamus McEnaney who holds the distinction of being the county's first 'outside' manager.
Gerry doesn't subscribe to the view that Meath's Leinster title triumph has been tarnished by the controversial circumstances in which they defeated Louth in the final.
"I don't think it has been tarnished too much. The referee's decision is final and in a few years' time, the Meath players will come to value those medals," he says.
"I watched the game from the Cusack Stand and I didn't know there was anything wrong with Joe Sheridan's winning goal until I got home. I think the situation would have been a lot worse if everyone in the ground knew there was a question mark over the goal. You would have had a lot more angry Louth fans, that's for sure."
He continues: "I knew Eamonn O'Brien well and I have to say I was very surprised when the clubs voted to replace him. I think it was more of a backlash against the county board because his record with Meath was very good. No manager deserves to lose his job after bringing a team to a Leinster title and an All-Ireland semi-final in two years.
"After deciding to replace Eamonn in those circumstances, the best option was to appoint an 'outside' manager who has no ties with the county, and I'm pleased to see the county board have done that. Seamus McEnaney did great work during his time in charge of Monaghan and hopefully he'll make a similar impact with Meath." Tweet

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