LOCAL MSP BACKS CAMPAIGN FOR HOLYROOD MEMORIAL FOR FORMER CAMBUSLANG MINER

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LOCAL MSP BACKS CAMPAIGN FOR HOLYROOD MEMORIAL FOR FORMER CAMBUSLANG MINER

SNP MSP Clare Haughey has thrown her weight behind a campaign for a memorial to be installed in the Scottish Parliament for former miner, trade unionist, and Cambuslang resident Mick McGahey.

The trade unionist was a passionate supporter of the creation of the Scottish Parliament but he died aged 73 on January 30 1999, just months before the Parliament opened.

His ashes were scattered in the building’s foundations.

Mick McGahey was born in Shotts, then moved down to England with his family, before settling in Cambuslang where he spent his formative years.

After leaving a local school at the age of 14, he began to work in Cambuslang’s Gateside Colliery – the same pit as his father.

From then, he became actively involved in trade union politics, serving as Vice-President of the National Union of Mineworkers for a period, and a life-long member of the Communist party.

Cambuslang Miners Monument has a plaque which pays tribute to Mick McGahey.

Ms Haughey’s calls for a permanent memorial to Mr McGahey in the Scottish Parliament coincided with a debate at Holyrood marking the 25th anniversary of Mr McGahey’s death.

MSP Richard Leonard, who led the debate, and McGahey’s previous union the NUM are campaigning for a bust of him to be installed within the Scottish Parliament.

Commenting, Ms Haughey, who took part in the debate celebrating Mick McGahey’s life, told the Rutherglen Reformer:

“Mick McGahey must count as one of the most influential people to come from Cambuslang in recent times.

“He was a giant in the trade union movement, serving as vice-president of the NUM for a period, and was a key voice calling for the formation of the Scottish Parliament.

“Mick McGahey sadly passed away just months before the Scottish Parliament re-convened in 1999, but as far back as 1968 at the Scottish Trades Union Congress, he moved a motion to try to shift the labour movement’s constitutional position to one in support of devolution.

“In Cambuslang, the Miners’ Memorial Wheel bears an inscription to Mick McGahey whilst I understand McGahey Drive in Whitlawburn is named after him too.

“It’s time he’s recognised in the Scottish Parliament with a permanent memorial.”