May Blood, Baroness Blood Cause of Death

Baroness Blood, a former Labour peer and trade unionist, died on October 21, 2022, at the age of 84. Her cause of death is unknown.heardid

Baroness Blood was the president of the Northern Ireland Labour Party and previously worked with the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition. She started working at the Blackstaff Linen Mill in west Belfast when she was 14 years old.

After the mill closed, she ran a training programme for long-term unemployed men in the Shankill Road area and worked for the Greater Shankill Partnership from 1993 to 1999.

In 1999, she became the first woman in Northern Ireland to be bestowed with a life peerage, becoming Baroness Blood of Blackwatertown.

Politicians have praised her for her activism on behalf of working-class communities.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said she was a “fearless and tireless campaigner” who focused on making people’s lives better.

Saddened to here that Baroness May Blood has passed away. She done so much positive work for the people of the greater Shankill and further afield. Her passion for integrated education won't be surpassed. RIP

— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) October 21, 2022

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill said Baroness Blood was a “committed community and trade union activist” who always stood up for workers and families.