JOHN LUCEY: John Lucey, who died on January 6th aged 56, was one of the driving forces behind the foundation of the State's first representative body for non-commissioned officers, the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA).
In setting up the organisation John Lucey and Warrant Officer Michael Martin won a kind of cold war, helping to bring the Defence Forces out of a bleak era of neglect and deprivation hidden behind an official veil of secrecy. Both had faced discharge and even imprisonment in their pursuit of representative rights for members of the dismissively-termed "other ranks".
In the mid 1980s John Lucey held the rank of chief petty officer and worked as a telegraphist at the Naval headquarters in Halbowline, Cork. He lived in the Blackpool area of Cork, where he had grown up, with his wife Bernadette, three sons and two daughters. He was interested in Gaelic sports, had played hurling and was apparently settled into a quiet, unassuming existence as a poorly paid member of the Defence Forces.
There was, however, growing anger at the low rates of pay and Dickensian barracks conditions. Basic pay rates were exceptionally low with few opportunities for additional allowances. Colleagues recall that the allowance in 1989 for sailors for time spent at sea was 22p (28c) a day on top of pay.
The mood was made worse by the experience of soldiers serving along the Border with gardaí. The gardaí, who had won the right to representation in the 1970s, received overtime and extra work allowances. Soldiers could serve 24-hour continuous shifts without any overtime or extra allowances.
Irish military personnel were prohibited under the Defence Act from organising as a trade union or representative body. There was also implacable opposition to any such idea among military management. Soldiers were also forbidden from speaking to the media. And with no public representation their plight was largely ignored by media and government.
The first signs of agitation came in 1988 when a group of soldiers' wives, based mainly in the Border region and the Curragh, formed a group called the National Army Spouses' Association (NASA). Almost immediately they grabbed the attention of Government by standing candidates in the general election, threatening at least one marginal Government seat.
NASA's action proved successful and the Government announced the setting up of an inquiry into pay, conditions and remuneration under Judge Gleeson. Michael Martin, then one of the youngest and most senior NCOs in the Defence Forces, was chosen to put the case of the "other ranks". John Lucey also quickly rose to prominence after he made a highly lucid and compelling submission to Judge Gleeson on behalf of the Navy telegraphists.
However, when the offer of representation came, it fell far short of the NCOs' expectations. They were offered an arrangement where they could only pursue demands through the military structure and would have no access to the media or the Departments of Defence or Finance.
Then in February, 1990, Martin and an Army colleague, Dick Dillon, travelled to Denmark to meet their European counterparts in Euromil, the European Organisation of Military Personnel. During the visit Michael Martin gave an interview to RTÉ in defiance of standing military orders.
On his return he faced arrest by military police. The PDFORRA plan in such an event was for John Lucey to be ready at Dublin Airport to make a further statement to the press which could then lead to his arrest. This would be followed by further statements by PDFORRA people.
The standoff led to High Court action in Michael Martin's name claiming constitutional rights to free expression. John Lucey and Michael Martin began touring the country addressing meetings and lobbying politicians. They had scarce resources. At one point the two found themselves in Tralee after a meeting with Dick Spring and with only enough money for two bags of chips before setting off home to Cork late at night.
The growing support for PDFORRA eventually forced the Government's hand. Under the sympathetic handling of then Minister for Defence, Mr Brian Lenihan, PDFORRA eventually gained its demands for freedom of expression and negotiating rights in 1992. It was formally recognised under the Defence Forces Amendment Act along with the representative body for officers, Representative Association for Commissioned Officers (RACO).
John Lucey was born in the St Luke's area of Cork city and attended St Patrick's National School and then the School of Commerce in Cork. His father Denis, a city bus inspector, died in 1979 and his mother Jane died last September. He was one of eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Another brother, Robin, died in 1995.
He was a very enthusiastic hillwalker and twice climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. During his visits he made contact with missionary teachers and decided with friends to set up a charity, Child Aid, to raise funds for schools in the county. He was in training for a third visit to climb Kilimanjaro to raise funds when he fell to his death on the Magillicuddy Reeks.
John Lucey was responsible for drawing up the PDFORRA constitution which was recognised by statute. He was elected deputy general secretary, succeeding Michael Martin as general secretary in 1994.
In the mid-1990s, he successfully fought off an attempt to introduce a new system of short-term contracts for recruits which could see them lose their jobs after three years' service. The system he negotiated in its place ensures that service personnel who meet set tests and requirements can serve for 12 or 21 years with pensionable rights.
In Europe, he became a highly respected figure in Euromil and helped win European Parliament support for the introduction of health and safety regulations for soldiers in peacetime. This, in turn, forced this State to adopt similar measures.
John Lucey also championed the institution of the international convention making the murder of UN personnel on peacekeeping duties punishable by international law as a war crime. Most recently he succeeded in making another major advance on behalf of rights of Irish military personnel through the institution of a military ombudsman. The legislation to set up the ombudsman comes before the Dáil this year.
From the start of his involvement in PDFORRA John Lucey kept up a remarkable work rate: typically driving from his home in Cork to Dublin at the start of the week and working late each day before retiring to a small granny flat above the offices in Dublin's Capel Street.
His military career began on enlistment in August, 1963. He joined the Air Corps after initial training and then moved to the Army, joining the 1st Battalion in Galway in July, 1964. He moved to the Naval Service in Haulbowline in February, 1966, and served on the LE Maev, LE Cliona, LE Mocha, LE Deirdre and his last ship, LE Aoife, which he left in 1979.
He served a six-month tour with the UN in Cyprus in 1964-1965. He was promoted chief petty officer in 1980 and to warrant officer in October last year. He was due to retire this August.
John Lucey is survived by his wife Bernadette, children; John, Pauline, Colm, Brian and Gráinne, brothers; Diarmuid Paul, Oliver and Rory, and sister Nessa.
John Lucey: born 1945; died, January 2002