5.
A special lecture honouring the legacy of Strabane-born trade unionist Ann Browne, whose work had global impact, was held in the Alley Theatre as part of the DCSDC Museum Service programme. In 1977, Ann Browne, paid her first visit to Latin America. Then working as co-ordinator with the Joint Working Group for Refugees from Latin America (JWGRLA), she accompanied a delegation from the National Union of Mineworkers on a visit to Bolivia and Chile. It awoke her interest in the mineworkers and their unions, and particularly in Latin American working conditions. The contact led eventually to her move, in 1981, to the Mine- workers International Federation (MIF), based in London and Brussels. As education and organisation projects secretary at MIF, she helped develop a long-term education policy for trade unionists and miners' wives and encouraged their organisations. Ann was born in Strabane, she attended Mount Carmel grammar school in Strabane, and read Spanish at Queen's University, Belfast.