His support for the Irish Republican Army led to run-ins with British authorities, so he moved to New York City at age 20.
[1] He studied first at City College of New York (CCNY) and then earned a law degree from Fordham University in 1937.
By day, he worked variously as elevator operator, grocery clerk, teacher of delinquents, and editorial writer for The Irish Echo.
[1] In the 1930s, O'Donnell became aide and friend to (then) City Councilman Michael J. Quill, who went on to co-found the Transport Workers Union and became its president.
[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] During the strike, O'Donnell stated: (The TWU's "no contract no work policy") isn't set in concrete.
The no contract, no work policy was adopted at a time when we had a lot of private employers and it never was carried out in every instance ... (Still), we would have as much right to strike as before.