A "legendary" south Wales miner and trades unionist who led the miners' buyout of Tower Colliery, the last deep pit in south Wales, has died aged 77. Tyrone O'Sullivan, born and raised in the heart of the south Wales coalfield and into a mining family, was regarded as someone who "epitomised the strength and depth of the mining industry and what it meant to the communities of south Wales".
Tributes have poured in for Mr O'Sullivan following his death on May 27. The former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) branch secretary remained the chairman of Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd, the owners of Tower Colliery, right up to his death.
Led by Mr O'Sullivan the miners used their redundancy money to buy out the Tower Colliery in Hirwaun. Tower became the symbol for the miners’ resistance in the 1990s. And in 2008, with coal reserves finally exhausted after 140 years of production, it was the workers themselves who decided it was time to leave.
