Brendan Halligan of the Irish Labour Party attends his party's annual conference in Connolly Hall, Cork city, on 25 or 26 October 1980. RTÉ Television and Radio provided live coverage of this conference; the RTÉ Guide featured a preview of the event in its edition of 24 October 1980.

Brendan Halligan was appointed General Secretary of the Labour Party in 1967, a position he held until his resignation in 1980. He was a Taoiseach's nominee to the Seanad in 1973 and won a by-election to the Dáil in Dublin South-West in 1976 but failed to hold his seat in the 1977 general election.