Early Life and Career
Gilmore was born in Caltra, County Galway in 1955 into a small farming family. When he was 14 months old his father died leaving his mother to run the mixed farm and raise Gilmore and his younger brother John.
Gilmore’s primary education was received in Caltra in a small two teacher national school where he was taught through the medium of Irish. He is a fluent Irish speaker to this day. Following his sixth-year state primary exam, he qualified for a scholarship from Galway County Council which enabled him to attend secondary school. He entered Garbally College, Ballinasloe as a boarder in 1965.
Availing of a third-level grant to fund his degree he went on to study psychology at University College Galway (UCG). He was an active member of the Drama Society in university where his contemporaries were the theatre director Garry Hynes and actor Marie Mullen who both went on to found the Druid Theatre Company. He also took part in the university debating scene mainly through the Literary and Debating Society.
A threat from the then cash strapped Psychology Department to scrap the psychology course altogether and transfer the students to University College Dublin propelled Gilmore towards student activism.
He was elected class representative and later at the age of 18 served as President of UCG Students' Union from July 1974 to June 1975. In 1975, towards the end of his term of office as President of the Student Union, he joined the UCG Republican Club, which was affiliated to Official Sinn Féin, subsequently "Sinn Féin the Workers’ Party" and later renamed the Workers' Party. In recent years he was accused of being evasive on the subject and trying to play down that he had joined the Official Republican Movement, stating that the party was in the process of becoming the Workers' Party at that time, I can't recall exactly the dates.
From 1976 until 1978 he served as President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). Together with Charles Clarke (former British Home Secretary) who was President of the National Union of Students in Britain, he worked within a structure which served to unify the student’s movement in Northern Ireland during the troubles. Other achievements during his tenure included increasing student grants and securing the right for students to work during the summer months.
Prior to establishing a career in politics, Gilmore served as a trade union organiser. He joined the Irish Transport & General Workers’ Union (now SIPTU) in 1978 and, after brief spells in Dublin No. 4 (Hotels & Catering) and Dublin No. 14 (Engineering) Branches, was rapidly promoted to become Acting Secretary of the Galway Branch, 1978–1979, Secretary of Tralee Branch, 1979–1981, and of the Professional & Managerial Staffs Branch, 1981–1989. He was heavily involved in organising tax protests in Galway and resisting redundancies and closures in Kerry.
Gilmore has described the driving factors which has informed his working life whether as a trade union officer or public representative. “I like advocating. I love to share in the joy people get out of cracking it, getting the job or getting some right they should have. I get huge satisfaction out of working for improvements and seeing those come through”.
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