Gerry Light

For over 30 years, Gerry worked as a full-time official with Mandate Trade Union, the largest body representing the interests of workers in retail, which is the biggest private sector employer in the Irish economy. He held the position of General Secretary within the union until 2023. He also performed many other roles in the Irish trade union movement, including membership of the National Executive Council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Because of the high prevalence of low pay and precarious working conditions encountered by Gerry in his working life, he has established an acute knowledge surrounding the impact of these working conditions, thus allowing him to develop a capacity to evolve strategies as to how they might be mitigated for the workers concerned.

Gerry is currently the worker representative on the National Retail Forum, which operates under the auspices of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He holds an honours degree in industrial relations and personnel management from the National College of Industrial Relations and is an accredited member of the Mediators Institute of Ireland following the attainment of a qualification from the National University in Maynooth.

Gerry currently offers his services as an independent consultant specialising in the area of workplace conflict prevention/resolution.