Mick Lynch: 'I‘d support Cork in anything, even in tiddlywinks if they had a team'

Leader of the Britain's RMT union has been speaking truth to power in Brexit Britain — and is proud of his Cork connections

RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch speaks at a rally outside Kings Cross station, London, as train services continue to be disrupted following the nationwide strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union in a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Mick Lynch has never sought fame. The Londoner has become something of a celebrity despite himself. Last year, when the union he leads, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, went on strike to demand better pay in the face of rising inflation, his calm demeanour and unflappable logic won him many admirers both at home and abroad.

“I wouldn’t call it fame,” says Lynch. “But equally nobody wants to be in a union that nobody knows about. If you’re in a completely anonymous union then they are probably not doing anything. The RMT has always had a bit of a profile. We’ve always been at the cutting edge and had a leading role in the union movement but it has gone a bit stellar recently. I’m not stellar, but it’s gone into orbit really.”