Socialist Party (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
The Socialist Party is a socialist political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 active in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International
Committee for a Workers' International
The Committee for a Workers' International is an international association of Trotskyist parties. Members include the Socialist Party of England and Wales, the Socialist Party , the Socialist Party the Democratic Socialist Movement in South Africa and Nigeria and groups using the name Socialist...

 (CWI).

Formerly known as Militant Tendency
Irish Militant Tendency
Militant Tendency was the Irish section of the Committee for a Workers' International in the 1970s and 1980s when it practiced entryism in the Labour Party . In Northern Ireland it operated as a separate organization known as the Labour and Trade Union Group. John Throne founded the group in 1972...

, then Militant Labour
Irish Militant Labour
Militant Labour was the name adopted by the Militant Tendency of the Irish Labour Party after its expulsion in 1989. The name Militant Labour was used by other sections of the Committee for a Workers' International at the time. Militant Labour changed its name in 1996 to the Socialist Party...

, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of the organisation practiced entryism
Entryism
Entryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely...

 in the Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of its members were expelled from Labour, and it was at this point they took an "Open Turn
Open Turn (politics)
The Open Turn debate took place in 1991, initially within the Militant Tendency. The essence of the debate was the ways of winning the support of Marxism within working masses in modern, changing, situation....

" and established an independent organisation with the name Militant Labour.

The Socialist Party is a member of the national left-wing coalition United Left Alliance
United Left Alliance
The United Left Alliance is an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election...

. The party is currently represented by 2 TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

s, 1 MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 and 6 councillors.

Electoral history

Through campaigning work it has built some electoral support, Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...

 first being elected to Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

 - the lower house of the Irish parliament
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...

 - in 1997 and to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 in 2009 along with five other members elected to local councils in Dublin, Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

 and Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

. It has found it harder to gain an electoral foothold in Northern Ireland, but it has a minor presence in the trade union movement there plus a youth wing.

In the 1997 election
Irish general election, 1997
The Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday, 6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected members of the 28th Dáil assembled on 26 June 1997 when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

 the party returned one TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 to Dáil Éireann - Joe Higgins (Dublin West), who became prominent during the Anti-Water Charges Campaign. In the 2002 election
Irish general election, 2002
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...

, Joe Higgins retained his seat, and in the Dublin North constituency Councillor
Dublin County Council
Dublin County Council was a local authority for the administrative county of County Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. It was established by the Local Government Act 1898....

 Clare Daly
Clare Daly
Clare Daly is an Irish Socialist Party politician and trade union activist. She was elected as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency at the 2011 general election. She was previously a Socialist Party councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council.-Early life:Daly was...

 narrowly missed out on a second seat.

In the 2004 local elections the party gained two council seats, one in South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council is the local authority for the county of South Dublin in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition, and one of four councils in the Dublin Region...

 and another in ork City Council]. They also retained their two previous seats on Fingal County Council
Fingal County Council
Fingal County council is the local authority for the county of Fingal in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The county seat is in Swords, with another major office...

. In the European elections held on the same day
European Parliament election, 2004 (Ireland)
The 2004 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2004 European Parliament election. The voting was held on Friday, 11 June 2004. The election coincided with the 2004 local elections...

, Joe Higgins received 23,200 (5.5%) votes in the Dublin constituency, but did not win a seat being eliminated on the 3rd count. In the 2007 Dail election, Joe Higgins failed to retain his seat in the Dublin West constituency.

In the 2009 European
European Parliament election, 2009 (Ireland)
The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections...

 and local
Irish local elections, 2009
The 2009 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections .-Overview:...

 elections, Joe Higgins took a seat in the Dublin European constituency
Dublin (European Parliament constituency)
Dublin is a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland. It elects 3 Members of the European Parliament using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .-History and boundaries:...

 with 50,510 (12.4%) first preference votes, as well as gaining a seat in the Castleknock local electoral area
Local electoral area
A local electoral area is a sub-division of a county and city-level local government used for electoral purposes in Ireland. Each local electoral area consists of a number of lower-level units known as district electoral divisions...

 of Fingal County Council
Fingal County Council
Fingal County council is the local authority for the county of Fingal in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The county seat is in Swords, with another major office...

. Elsewhere in the local elections, Clare Daly, Ruth Coppinger and Mick Barry retained their seats while Terry Kelleher and Frank Gallagher won seats on Balbriggan Town Council
Balbriggan Town Council
Balbriggan Town Council is the unit of local government responsible for the governance of the town of Balbriggan, in the county of Fingal in Ireland.-History:...

 and Drogheda Borough council respectively. Mick Murphy lost his seat on South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council is the local authority for the county of South Dublin in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition, and one of four councils in the Dublin Region...

.

In the 2011 general election the Socialist Party elected two TDs to Dáil Éireann. Clare Daly was elected for the Dublin North constituency, while Joe Higgins regained his seat in Dublin West. The party contested these elections as part of the United Left Alliance
United Left Alliance
The United Left Alliance is an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election...

, a political alliance which included the People Before Profit Alliance
People Before Profit Alliance
The People Before Profit Alliance is an Irish political party formed in October 2005. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.-Overview:It was established by the Socialist Workers Party...

 and the Workers and Unemployed Action Group along with independent activists. The ULA took five seats in total. Higgins's seat in the European Parliament was filled by Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy (Irish politician)
Paul Murphy is an Irish Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency, representing the Socialist Party/United Left Alliance .-Early life:...

. The Socialist Party selected Councillor Ruth Coppinger to contest the Dublin West by-election, 2011
Dublin West by-election, 2011
A by-election was held in the Dublin West constituency on 27 October 2011 following the death of the Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála and former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, Jnr on 10 June 2011...

, with a full recount ordered after only 18 votes separated her from Fianna Fáil's David McGuinness.

Trade union, campaigning and other extra-parliamentary activities

The Socialist Party is active in the trade union movement, arguing for more militant action in defence of workers’ interests. 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
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 in 2004.

The Socialist Party is also involved in many community campaigns, including the Anti Water Charge campaign in 1996 and the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
The Anti-Bin Tax campaign was a campaign which opposed the introduction of bin charges by local authorities in Ireland. The campaign centred largely in city areas, in particular Dublin. The campaigns were locally based with some co-ordination in the Dublin area...

 in 2003-2004. It has been involved in the movement against the wars in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, the occupation of Palestine
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

 and continues to be active in campaigns against fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

, low pay exploitation and religious sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...

. They advocate and support rights for workers, women, ethnic minorities and homosexuals.

On 19 September 2003, Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...

 and Clare Daly
Clare Daly
Clare Daly is an Irish Socialist Party politician and trade union activist. She was elected as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency at the 2011 general election. She was previously a Socialist Party councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council.-Early life:Daly was...

 were sent to Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...

 for a month for refusing to abide by a High Court injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...

 relating to the blockading of bin lorries. This was part of the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
The Anti-Bin Tax campaign was a campaign which opposed the introduction of bin charges by local authorities in Ireland. The campaign centred largely in city areas, in particular Dublin. The campaigns were locally based with some co-ordination in the Dublin area...

. Other members (along with people from other parties, and non-aligned activists) also went to prison for varying amounts of time for similar reasons. The campaign however was described by the Phoenix Magazine
The Phoenix (magazine)
The Phoenix is Ireland's best selling political and current affairs magazine. Inspired by the British magazine Private Eye, and a source of investigative journalism in Ireland...

 as "an abject failure" which "left many thousands of families across Dublin in financial and legal difficulty, it proved a useful campaign and publicity tool for SP candidates in a number of constituencies"

In 2005 the Socialist Party and in particular Joe Higgins TD and Mick Murphy were involved in highlighting the exploitation of immigrant Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 construction workers working for the Turkish multinational GAMA
GAMA Endustri
GAMA Industrial Plants Manufacturing and Erection, Inc. is the construction arm of the Turkish company Gama Group, which was established in 1970...

 on Irish state projects. Workers were being paid as little as €2.20 an hour (minimum wage in Ireland was €8.65) while being forced to work up to 80 hours per week. This led to a strike by immigrant workers in Ireland. The strike ended, with the workers winning tens of thousand of euros each in unpaid wages and overtime. Joe Higgins called on Conor Lenihan
Conor Lenihan
Conor Lenihan is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South West constituency from 1997 to 2011, and served as a Minister of State from 2004 to 2011. He then moved to Moscow.-Biography:...

 to resign after Lenihan referred to the GAMA Construction workers as "kebabs".

Youth wing

Socialist Youth
Socialist Youth (Ireland)
Socialist Youth is the youth section of the Socialist Party of Ireland. It has its strongest bases of support in Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway.Socialist Youth has protested about issues such as Lebanon, Iraq, inequality and imperialism...

 is the youth wing of the Socialist Party. One of its members was also imprisoned as a result of the events around the anti-bin charge campaign.

Some members of Socialist Youth have been supportive of the Shell to Sea
Shell to Sea
Shell to Sea is a campaign based in Cill Chomáin parish, Erris, County Mayo, Ireland which opposes the proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline through the parish and the ongoing construction by Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and Vermilion Energy Trust of a refinery at Bellanaboy intended to...

 campaign and anti-war movements.

Policies

Both Socialist Youth and the Socialist Party itself have as key policies the taking of economic power out of the hands of the bankers, speculators and wealthy industrialists and instead transfer that power to working class people. The Socialist Party stands for public ownership and democratic economic planning
Economic democracy
Economic democracy is a socioeconomic philosophy that suggests a shift in decision-making power from a small minority of corporate shareholders to a larger majority of public stakeholders...

 of the key areas of economic activity.

In relation to Northern Ireland, the Socialist Party advocate a radical alternative to the status quo. They wish to transcend borders and bring working class unity in Ireland. They argue a capitalist united Ireland would mean continuance of capitalist exploitation of the working class and that capitalism is incapable of overcoming sectarianism. The socialist Ireland that they propose would be a voluntary part of an international socialist federation.

In the 2008 and 2009 referendums on the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....

, the Socialist Party campaigned for a "no" vote.

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 Fingal
    Fingal
    Fingal is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. With its county seat located in Swords, it has a population of 239,992 according to the 2006 census...

  • Cork Socialist – Free paper distributed in Cork city

List of elected members

  • Clare Daly
    Clare Daly
    Clare Daly is an Irish Socialist Party politician and trade union activist. She was elected as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency at the 2011 general election. She was previously a Socialist Party councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council.-Early life:Daly was...

    , TD
    Teachta Dála
    A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

     – Dublin North
  • Joe Higgins
    Joe Higgins
    Joe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...

    , TD
    Teachta Dála
    A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

     – Dublin West
  • Paul Murphy
    Paul Murphy (Irish politician)
    Paul Murphy is an Irish Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency, representing the Socialist Party/United Left Alliance .-Early life:...

    , MEP
    Member of the European Parliament
    A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

     – Dublin
    Dublin (European Parliament constituency)
    Dublin is a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland. It elects 3 Members of the European Parliament using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .-History and boundaries:...

     (co-opted in place of Joe Higgins on his election to the Dáil in February 2011)

Councillors

  • Mick Barry
    Mick Barry (Irish Socialist Party)
    Mick Barry is an Irish Socialist Party councillor for Cork City Council first elected in 2004 and re-elected in June 2009 on the first count in the Cork City North Central ward. He also stood unsuccessfully in the 2002, 2007 and 2011 general elections in the Cork North Central constituency...

     – Cork City Council
    Cork City Council
    Cork City Council is the local authority which is responsible for the city of Cork and its immediate hinterland in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment...

  • Eugene Coppinger – Swords
    Swords
    A sword is a cutting/thrusting weapon made of metal. Sword or swords may also refer to:* Swords, County Dublin, Ireland* Suit of swords, a suit in Latin-suited playing cards and Tarot decks* SWORDS, a ground-based military robot...

    , Fingal County Council
    Fingal County Council
    Fingal County council is the local authority for the county of Fingal in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The county seat is in Swords, with another major office...

     (co-opted in place of Clare Daly on her election to the Dáil in February 2011)
  • Ruth Coppinger – Mulhuddart
    Mulhuddart
    Mulhuddart is a suburb situated to the north-west of Dublin city, in the barony of Castleknock, Ireland. The River Tolka passes near the village.-Location and access:The N3 dual carriageway now by-passes the village...

    , Fingal County Council
    Fingal County Council
    Fingal County council is the local authority for the county of Fingal in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The county seat is in Swords, with another major office...

  • Frank Gallagher – Drogheda Borough Council
  • Terry Kelleher – Balbriggan Town Council
    Balbriggan Town Council
    Balbriggan Town Council is the unit of local government responsible for the governance of the town of Balbriggan, in the county of Fingal in Ireland.-History:...

  • Matt Waine – Castleknock
    Castleknock
    Castleknock is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the west of the modern administrative county of Fingal within the traditional county of Dublin. It is located west of the centre of Dublin....

    , Fingal County Council
    Fingal County Council
    Fingal County council is the local authority for the county of Fingal in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The county seat is in Swords, with another major office...

     (co-opted in place of Joe Higgins on his election to the European Parliament in June 2009)

Audio

  • The History and Politics of the Socialist Party - Interview with Socialist Party Councillor Mick Murphy on Dublin City FM
    Dublin City FM
    103.2 Dublin City FM is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Dublin Public Service Radio Association Ltd, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 103.2 MHz FM frequency...

    (Dublin)

Websites

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