Jimmy Somers, who has died aged 84, was a leading figure in the trade union movement and four-time Labour candidate for Dáil Éireann. Born in Cabra, north Dublin, on November 2, 1939, he was from a family of six boys and two girls. His father, Jimmy Sr, who worked for CIÉ, was a life-long labour activist whose values were shared from an early age by his son of the same name.