TRIBUTE TO BARONESS MAY BLOOD

The Integrated Education Fund (IEF) is deeply saddened by the passing of their great friend and champion Baroness May Blood. She passed peacefully at the Northern Ireland Hospice.

May, as she wanted everyone to call her, devoted so much of her life to helping others in our society, particularly children and young people, her local community in the Greater Shankill and anyone she felt to be disadvantaged or in need.
May yearned to see Northern Ireland at peace with itself. It was that desire for peace that drove her to do exceptional things for so many people. She was such an inspiration to all who knew her.

She grew up in a working class community in Belfast. As she often said, her family might have been poor but she didn’t know they were poor because there was no social worker at the time to tell them. May realised that people, particularly women, were facing the same challenges no matter what side of the peace wall you happened to live on.

May left school at a young age to work in the Blackstaff Linen Mill in west Belfast. Her time there exposed her to horrendous working conditions, something she would later go on to fight against through her involvement in the Trade Union movement. Equally she loved her time in the Mill where she enjoyed the friendship of all the workers. As May often reflected – in the Mill everyone was just the same, it didn’t matter what religion you were or were you came from, everyone shared a common enemy – the boss!

Her Christian faith was very important to her and these values she held dear throughout her life. Renowned for her straight-talking, no-nonsense approach, May could strike fear into those who got on her wrong side of her but she was also one of the most kindest, generous and compassionate individuals you could ever meet. People could relate to her honest and humble approach. May could get on with everyone. It made no difference to her if you were a Peer in the House of Lords or someone who worked on the factory floor. She valued you as an individual.

Having left school so young, May regretted not having the formal education that so many others had. However, she cherished the education the Trade Union gave her. She always said “Education is your passport for life” and so it came as no surprise that she would devote so much of her life to advancing Early Years education in the Shankill. One of her greatest achievements was to help bring the Sure Start programme to the Shankill and then to watch it roll out across Northern Ireland.

Her interest in integrated education came later. At first May felt integrated schools must be for the middle classes, not for the likes of her. Her eyes were opened however during a visit to Hazelwood Integrated College on the North Belfast peace line. There she met children from the Shankill, Tigers Bay and the New Lodge – all being educated together and wearing the same uniform with pride.

When the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) first approached May to be a volunteer fundraiser for six months in 2001, she willingly accepted. Little did she know then that her support would continue for a further 22 years as our Campaign Chair. Using her title to open doors and host events, May was our inspirational leader for over two decades helping to raise millions for the cause. She was only a phone call away to offer her guidance or support at any time. She took enormous pride in the continued growth and development of the schools. She travelled all over the world to speak and meet potential donors and supporters. Her passion, conviction and dedication was clear to all that knew her. Her wish was that there would be at least 100 integrated schools in Northern Ireland. Something she said would be unlikely in her lifetime. She recently launched the new Strategic Vision of the IEF with that very goal.

May was hugely respected. She transcended community division like no-one else. She was as equally comfortable visiting nationalist communities, as unionist. She knew there were times when she took personal risk to speak out against injustice but it never deterred her.

She was enormously proud of the contribution of the Women’s Coalition and its achievements in the Good Friday Peace Talks but she also believed it had achieved its ultimate goal – more women in politics and more female elected representatives. It was during this time she got to know Senator George Mitchell, someone she admired enormously and deeply valued his efforts for peace in Northern Ireland.

May loved her time in the House of Lords. At first, like many, she thought the Lords was a place for rich old men who sat around and slept all day. She discovered the reality was a little different. She felt honoured to get to know so many special people who worked there and so many people who had achieved great things in their life.

May also said when she turned 80 it would be time to retire from Parliament and she stuck to her word. Instead devoting the last of her days to the causes she held so dear.