Socialist Party (Ireland)

The Socialist Party is a political party in Ireland, active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Internationally, it is affiliated to the Trotskyist International Socialist Alternative. The party has been involved in various populist campaigns including the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign and the Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes. Members of the party were jailed for their part in the former, while members have been arrested for their role in the latter. The Socialist Party has also been credited with bringing to light the GAMA construction scandal. It had a seat in the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014. In 2015, the party received state funding of €132,000.[5]

This article is about the party founded in 1996. For the party founded in 1904, see Socialist Party of Ireland (1904). For the party founded in 1949, see World Socialist Party (Ireland). For the party founded in 1971, see Socialist Party of Ireland (1971).

Socialist Party
LeaderCollective Leadership
Founded1996 (1996)
Split fromLabour Party
Headquarters141 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland
NewspaperThe Socialist
Youth wingSocialist Youth
IdeologyDemocratic socialism
Political radicalism[1]
Trotskyism[2]
Euroscepticism[3]
Political positionLeft-wing to far-left
National affiliationSolidarity
Solidarity–People Before Profit
CCLA
European affiliationEuropean Anti-Capitalist Left
International affiliationInternational Socialist Alternative[4]
European Parliament groupGUE/NGL
ColoursRed, white
Website
socialistparty.ie
socialistpartyni.org (Northern Ireland)

From 2014, the party's election candidates in the Republic did not stand for election directly on the Socialist Party platform, but have instead run as candidates of the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA), (now Solidarity), which was a registered party in its own right between 2014 and 2015 and which continues to contest elections as part of Solidarity–People Before Profit (S–PBP). Socialist Party members Ruth Coppinger, Mick Barry and former member Paul Murphy, were elected in this way as TDs in the 32nd Dáil. Similarly, the Socialist Party does not field official candidates in Northern Ireland elections at present, where Cross-Community Labour Alternative is used instead.

History

The party was formed by former members of the Labour Party, collectively known as the Militant Tendency, who were expelled in 1989 having been accused of Trotskyist entryism. They formed Militant Labour, which became the Socialist Party in 1996.

Foundation and Split from the Labour Party

The party was founded in 1972 as a tendency within the Labour Party, grouped around the newsletter Militant Irish Monthly.[6] The tendency organised within the Labour Party throughout the 1970s and 1980s, attempting to win the party towards socialism, and briefly controlled Labour Youth from 1983 to 1986. People associated with it include Dermot Connolly, Clare Daly, Finn Geaney, Joe Higgins and John Throne. In the late 1980s, a number of known members were expelled from Labour. In 1989 they established an independent party, adopting the title Militant Labour—also used by other sections of the Committee for a Workers' International at the time. In 1996 the party merged fully with the Labour and Trade Union Group of Northern Ireland and changed its name to the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party has been built some electoral support in the Republic of Ireland. It found it harder to gain an electoral foothold in Northern Ireland, but it has maintained a minor presence in the trade union movement there, as well as a youth wing.

1996–2002 (27th and 28th Dáil)

Militant Labour was renamed the Socialist Party in 1996, and came to wider attention among the general public when Joe Higgins polled just 252 votes behind victor Brian Lenihan Jnr in the Dublin-West by-election of that same year.[7] In the general election of the following year, Higgins was elected to Dáil Éireann for the first time.[8]

2002–2007 (29th Dáil)
Socialist Party TDs Clare Daly (left) and Joe Higgins (centre), pictured here during the Boycott the Household Tax campaign in January 2012, were jailed for their part in the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign.

At the 2002 general election, Joe Higgins retained his Dublin West seat in Dáil Éireann.[9] Clare Daly narrowly missed out on gaining a second seat for the party in the Dublin North constituency.[10]

The Anti-Bin Tax Campaign came about at this time. On 19 September 2003, Higgins and Daly were sent to Mountjoy Prison for a month after refusing to abide by a High Court injunction relating to the blockading of bin lorries.[11][12][13][14]

At the 2004 local elections, the Socialist Party gained two council seats, with Mick Murphy being elected to South Dublin County Council and Mick Barry being elected to Cork City Council.[15][16] The party also retained their two previous seats (held by Daly and Ruth Coppinger) on Fingal County Council.[17][18] At the European election held on the same day, Joe Higgins received 23,218 (5.5%) votes in the Dublin constituency, but did not win a seat.[19]

Councillor Mick Murphy was responsible for bringing the GAMA construction scandal to light in October 2004.[20] This involved a group of Turkish workers being brought to Ireland by GAMA, a Turkish construction company. They were illegally underpaid and forced to work hours in breach of the EU Working Time Directive. Murphy discovered the workers living on the building site where they were employed. After contacting the local council, GAMA and trade union officials and remaining unenlightened, Murphy wrote a leaflet in English, had it translated into Turkish "mainly to say that we had no problem with them being here, and saying what GAMA had said", then threw it over the hoarding surrounding the site.[20] Murphy brought it to the attention of his party colleague Joe Higgins, who was then a TD for Dublin West, and Higgins raised the matter in Dáil Éireann on 8 February 2005, bringing public awareness to the workers' plight.[21] The exploitation included migrant Turkish construction workers bring employed on state projects, being paid as little as €2.20 an hour[22] (the minimum wage in Ireland was €7.00) while being forced to work up to 80 hours per week. This led to a strike by immigrant workers in Ireland.[23][24][25] The exploited workers each won tens of thousand of euro worth of unpaid wages and overtime.[26]

2007–2011 (30th Dáil)

At the 2007 general election, Joe Higgins lost his Dublin West seat and the Socialist Party was left without a TD for the first time since 1997.[27] The Party campaigned for a "no" vote the 2008 and 2009 referenda on the Treaty of Lisbon.[28][29]

At the 2009 European and local elections, Joe Higgins won a seat in the Dublin constituency with 50,510 (12.4%) first preference votes, as well as gaining a seat in the Castleknock local electoral area of Fingal County Council.[30][31] The party held its seats on Fingal County and Cork City Council (Ruth Coppinger and Mick Barry respectively), while gaining one seat each on Balbriggan Town Council and Drogheda Borough Council.[32][33][34] However, the party lost Mick Murphy, its only councillor on South Dublin County Council.[35]

2011–2016 (31st Dáil)

At the 2011 general election the Socialist Party returned two TDs to Dáil Éireann: Clare Daly was elected for the Dublin North constituency, while Joe Higgins regained his seat in Dublin West. The Socialist Party contested this election as part of the United Left Alliance (ULA), an alliance of far-left parties[36] which included both People Before Profit (PBP) and Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG), as well as independent activists. The Alliance won five seats in the national parliament.[37] Higgins resigned his European Parliament seat, and Paul Murphy was selected by the party to replace him.[38] Following the death of Brian Lenihan Jnr, the Socialist Party contested the 2011 Dublin West by-election, with its candidate Ruth Coppinger coming in third.[39] The Socialist Party also called for a referendum on the December 2011 EU deal, which it opposed.[40]

In 2012, legal advice was sought when it emerged that the expenses given to Higgins and Daly as TDs may have been used for travel outside their constituencies and journeys to the Dáil.[41] Public expenditure minister Brendan Howlin subsequently confirmed that TDs were, in fact, entitled to claim expenses for travel outside their constituencies and that Daly and Higgins were guilty of no wrongdoing.[42] The Socialist Party and ULA said the story was a "manufactured controversy", part of a "vindictive smear campaign by Independent Newspapers", which were owned by billionaire Denis O'Brien.[43][44][45]

Clare Daly resigned from the Socialist Party in August 2012, following a dispute over her support of Independent TD Mick Wallace, whom the party had called on to resign after the revelation of tax irregularities.[46][47] The Socialist Party left the ULA in January 2013.[48]

Socialist Party members contested the 2014 local elections as part of the Anti-Austerity Alliance.[49] The party gained seats on Limerick and Cork City Councils, making it "a national rather than Dublin-centric alliance".[1] The Dublin West by-election of the same day returned Ruth Coppinger to Dáil Éireann, giving Dublin West two Socialist Party TDs.[50] Paul Murphy was unsuccessful in retaining the Socialist Party's European seat at this time but was elected to Dáil Éireann that October after a surprise victory in the Dublin South-West by-election, which the Sinn Féin candidate had been favourite to win.[51]

The party altered its registered name in 2014 to Stop the Water Tax – Socialist Party.[52] In 2015, water charge protestors, including party elected representatives Paul Murphy, Kieran Mahon and Mick Murphy, were arrested.[53][54][55] The arrests led to accusations of "political policing" and sparked minor solidarity protests across Europe, including in London, Berlin, Vienna and Stockholm.[56][57]

2016–2020 (32nd Dáil)

In the 2016 general election Murphy and Coppinger were re-elected in Dublin South-West and Dublin West, respectively, and Barry was elected in Cork North-Central, all of them running as Anti-Austerity Alliance–People Before Profit members.[58]
For the 2016 Assembly Election, the Socialist Party in Northern Ireland supported Cross-Community Labour Alternative and critically called for a vote for the People Before Profit as the two parties did not stand candidates in the same constituencies.[59]

In 2019, divisions in the party resulting from a split in the Committee for a Workers' International led to Paul Murphy TD leaving to form RISE. The split separately led to the formation of Militant Left, which aligned with the Committee for a Workers' International (Refounded), a body predominantly supported by the Socialist Party of England and Wales.

Policies
Socialist Party (Ireland) poster in Dublin 2020

According to its website, the Socialist Party "stands for the socialist alternative to the dictatorship of the markets – namely real democracy whereby ordinary people take centre stage in running society, with democratic public ownership of banks, of key sectors of the economy and industry, and a democratic plan of the economy to provide for the needs of people". It opposes the so-called "Social Partnership" deals and those in the trade union movement who advocate them, considering the agreements detrimental to the well-being of workers.[60] It also holds influence in the Northern Irish branch of the FBU, where its members played a key role in encouraging the FBU's split from the British Labour Party in 2004,[61] as well as influence in NIPSA with members in the NIPSA Broad Left faction.[62]

The Socialist Party is Eurosceptic.[3]

The Socialist Party is involved in many community campaigns, including the 1996 Anti Water Tax Campaign, the 2003–2004 Anti-Bin Tax Campaign and the current Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes. It opposes the U.S-led wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, the occupation of Palestine, targeted killings and drone warfare in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere and continues to be active in campaigns against fascism, racism, low pay exploitation and religious sectarianism. They claim to advocate on behalf of, and support, workers, women in the home, LGBT people and ethnic minorities.

Regarding the divided north, the Socialist Party opposes sectarian divisions between Protestants and Catholics and seeks to bring working class unity to both sides of the border. They argue that capitalism is incapable of overcoming sectarianism. The Socialist Party take a critical view of the Good Friday Agreement and other subsequent initiatives, claiming it further entrenches and institutionalises sectarianism and doesn't work towards solving the fundamental causes of the conflict.[63]

Youth wing

Socialist Youth is the youth wing of the Socialist Party.[64]

List of newspapers and publications
  • The Socialist (formerly Socialist Voice, The Voice, and Militant) – Monthly newspaper
  • Socialist View (formerly Socialism 2000) – Quarterly Theoretical Journal
  • International Socialist Voice – E-Zine
  • Fingal Socialist – Free paper distributed in Northern and Western Dublin
  • Cork Socialist – Free paper distributed in Cork city

Election results

Dáil Éireann
Election Dáil First Preference Vote Vote % Seats
1997 28th 12,445 0.7%
1 / 166
2002 29th 14,896 0.8%
1 / 166
2007 30th 13,218 0.6%
0 / 166
2011 31st 26,770 1.2%
2 / 166
2016 32nd
3 / 158

Northern Ireland Assembly
Election Assembly First Preference Vote Vote % Seats
1998 1st 789 0.1%
0 / 108
2003 2nd 343 0.0%
0 / 108
2007 3rd 473 0.1%
0 / 108
2011 4th 819 0.1%
0 / 108

Local
Election Country First Preference Vote Vote % Seats
1999 Republic of Ireland 5,312 0.4%
2 / 883
2004 Republic of Ireland 13,494 0.7%
4 / 883
2005 Northern Ireland 828 0.1%
0 / 582
2009 Republic of Ireland 16,052 0.9%
4 / 883
2011 Northern Ireland 682 0.1%
0 / 583
2014 Northern Ireland 272 0.0%
0 / 462
2014 Republic of Ireland Contested the election as part of Anti-Austerity Alliance[note 1]
  1. 14 Socialist Party members were elected as part of the Anti-Austerity Alliance in 2014.

European

The Socialist Party has contested European elections in the Republic of Ireland but not in Northern Ireland.

Election First Preference Vote Vote % Seats
1999 10,619 0.8%
0 / 15
2004 23,218 1.3%
0 / 13
2009 50,510 2.7%
1 / 12
2014 29,953 1.8%
0 / 11

See also

References
  1. Silke, Henry (14 June 2014). "Ireland: Left surge in South's local and European elections". International Journal of Socialist Renewal. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  2. Routledge Handbook of European Elections. Edited by Donatella M.Viola. Published by Routledge. First published in 2016, in Oxon, United Kingdom. Accessed via Google Books.
  3. "Ireland, Brexit and why the EU must be opposed". Socialist Party. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  4. About us. Socialist Party (Ireland) (official website). Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  5. SIPO - funding of party leaders
  6. McCabe, Conor (7 November 2009). "John Throne: Irish Militant". Irish Left Review. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  7. "Dublin West 1996". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  8. "Dublin West 1997". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. "Dublin West 2002". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  10. "Dublin North 2002". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  11. Cunningham, Grainne; Dowling, Brian (20 September 2003). "Outrage over jailed TD's 'grandstand' bin protest". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 September 2003.
  12. "Jail sentences for Joe Higgins and Clare Daly". BreakingNews.ie. 19 September 2003. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2003.
  13. Cunningham, Grainne (20 September 2003). "Jail will not break mass opposition, vow campaigners". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 September 2003.
  14. Reilly, Jerome (19 October 2003). "Far left pulling the strings on bin charge campaign". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2003.
  15. "Tallaght Central 2004". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  16. "Cork City North Central 2004". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  17. "Swords 2004". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  18. "Mulhuddart 2004". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  19. "Dublin 2004". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  20. McDonald, Frank; Sheridan, Kathy (2009). The Builders. Penguin. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-141-03780-6.
  21. Ibid.
  22. "Gama says Martin had no right to investigate". RTÉ News. 19 April 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2005.
  23. Wescott, Gareth (5 April 2005). "Hundreds of foreign workers take to streets over low pay". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 April 2005.
  24. "Five-hour protest by Gama staff in Galway". RTÉ News. 5 April 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2005.
  25. McDonald, Brian (6 April 2005). "Martin takes action as Gama sends workers back to Turkey". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2005.
  26. "Higgins reacts to Lenihan 'kebabs' remark". RTÉ News. 18 May 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2005.
  27. "Dublin West 2007". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  28. "Left-wing groups launch anti-Lisbon campaign". The Belfast Telegraph. 18 August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  29. Brennan, Michael (14 May 2008). "Voting watchdog vows to clean up Lisbon debate". Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  30. Guider, Ian (8 June 2009). "Ireland's Cowen Faces No-Confidence Vote After Poll". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 June 2009..
  31. "Fianna Fáil humiliated in Dublin". BreakingNews.ie. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  32. "Mulhuddart 2009". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  33. "Cork City North Central 2009". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  34. "Balbriggan Town Council 2009". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  35. "Tallaght Central 2009". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  36. Archived 12 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine Campus, "The far-left, Ireland’s socialist TDs, may be easily found if one moves the eyes to the back benches of opposition. Here sits three Socialist Party deputies, a Socialist Workers Party TD and United Left socialists, Joan Collins and Clare Daly."
  37. Minihan, Mary (28 February 2011). "Higgins pledges to build new party of left as five elected under ULA banner". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  38. "Murphy to replace Higgins as MEP". The Irish Times. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  39. Cullen, Paul (6 October 2011). "Socialists target Government's political agenda". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  40. "Socialists call for referendum on EU deal". RTÉ News. 10 December 2011. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  41. "Legal advice sought on TD expenses claims". RTÉ News. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  42. McGee, Harry (20 October 2012). "Higgins entitled to rally expenses". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  43. O'Connor, Niall (3 July 2012). "Pressure mounts on technical group in expenses fiasco". Evening Herald. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  44. Brennan, Michael (4 July 2012). "Expenses not for TD's to travel to protests – Leinster House". Irish Independent. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  45. "Press Statement: Manufactured Dail travel expenses controversy will not divert from fight against unjust home taxes". 2 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  46. "Clare Daly resigns from the Socialist Party". RTÉ News. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  47. "Daly resigns from Socialist Party". The Irish Times. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  48. "Socialist Party withdraws from United Left Alliance". TheJournal.ie. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  49. "Anti-Austerity Alliance launches election campaign". RTÉ News. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  50. "Coppinger wins Dublin West by-election". RTÉ News. 24 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  51. O'Regan, Michael (12 October 2014). "Paul Murphy trumps Sinn Féin's Cathal King in Dublin South West". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2014. Anti-Austerity Alliance candidate Paul Murphy has won a sensational victory in the Dublin South West byelection. He defeated the hot favourite, Sinn Fein's Cathal King on the eight count, having trailed him earlier.
  52. "The Socialist Party is changing its name". TheJournal.ie. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015.
  53. Minihan, Mary (9 February 2015). "Arrest of Paul Murphy and others described as 'way over the top': Ruth Coppinger believes 'over the top' action by gardaí will 'rebound completely'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  54. "Paul Murphy TD 'didn't think Government would be stupid enough to arrest him' – partner". Irish Independent. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  55. Clifford, Michael (10 February 2015). "Anti-water tax activist raid: Were the dawn swoops really necessary?". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  56. "Protest at Irish embassy on 11th Feb". 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  57. "International protest against political policing in Ireland". 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  58. McEnroe, Juno (29 February 2016). "A political earthquake, the collapse of the two-party system". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  59. socialistpartyni.net/analysis-news/stormont/assembly-election-what-alternative-to-the-status-quo/
  60. "About us". Socialist Party. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  61. "A letter to the Fire Brigades' Union". World Socialism. September 2004. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2004.
  62. "Left wins majority on General Council of North's largest union". Socialist Party. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  63. "Northern Ireland: 20 years after the ceasefires". Socialist Party. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  64. "Struggle, Solidarity, Socialism – For a socialist future". Socialist Youth. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.