Ogle speaking at a demonstration against Water Charges in the mid-2010s
Brendan Ogle is an Irish trade union official. He is a senior Unite the Union officer in the Republic of Ireland.
Career
Ogle led the Irish Locomotive Drivers Association and is the former secretary of the ESB Group of unions.[1][2] He was the first non-ESB employee to become secretary of the GoU.[3] During his tenure he caused controversy by referring to workers in the ESB as 'spoilt' at a meeting of the dissident Republican group Éirígí.[4][5][6][7][8] Throughout this time he was, according to the Irish Independent, "subject to much adverse media comment" and he and his family endured threats to kill them.[1] Among those to publicly defend him were former Irish presidential candidate and senior Labour Party member Fergus Finlay.[9]
Ogle was in 2014 to 2016 a central figure in the protest movement against Irish Water's introduction of water charges in Ireland.[10][11] He was a co-founder of the "Home Sweet Home" campaign, which saw protesters seize the vacant Apollo House in Dublin to house homeless people.[12]
In March 2018, Ogle announced that he would launch a new political party in September.[13] As of August 2023 no such party has been launched.
Ogle is a senior officer in Unite the Union.[14] In 2023 he made a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission about allegations of discrimination, harassment, whistleblower penalisation and the failure to provide reasonable adjustment after he returned to work from cancer treatment.[15][10]
Ogle comes from Dundalk, County Louth,[1] and had eight siblings.[18] He is married to Amanda La Combre.[10] Ogle was diagnosed with throat cancer in July 2020, and is now clear of the disease.[18]
