A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Labour Party Páirtí an Lucht Oibre | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Ivana Bacik |
| Seanad leader | Rebecca Moynihan[1] |
| Parliamentary Party Chairperson | Seán Sherlock |
| Chairperson | Lisa Connell |
| General Secretary | Billie Sparks |
| Founders | |
| Founded | 28 May 1912 |
| Headquarters | 2 Whitefriars, Aungier Street, Dublin |
| Youth wing | Labour Youth |
| Women's wing | Labour Women |
| LGBT wing | Labour LGBT |
| Membership (2020) | ~3,000[2][needs update] |
| Ideology | Social democracy[3] Pro-Europeanism[4] |
| Political position | Centre-left[5] |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| International affiliation | |
| European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| Colours | Red |
| Anthem | "The Red Flag" |
| Dáil Éireann | 7 / 160 |
| Seanad Éireann | 4 / 60 |
| Local government | 55 / 949 |
| Website | |
| labour | |
| Part of a series on |
| Organised labour |
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The Labour Party (Irish: Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left[6][7][8] and social-democratic[9][10] political party in the Republic of Ireland.[3] Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin, and William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress,[11] it describes itself as a "democratic socialist party" in its constitution.[12]
Labour continues to be the political arm of the Irish trade union and labour movement and seeks to represent workers' interests in the Dáil and on a local level. Unlike many other Irish political parties, Labour did not arise as a faction of the original Sinn Féin party, although it merged with the Democratic Left in 1999, a party that traced its origins back to Sinn Féin. The party has served as a partner in coalition governments on eight occasions since its formation: seven times in coalition either with Fine Gael alone or with Fine Gael and other smaller parties, and once with Fianna Fáil. This gives Labour a cumulative total of twenty-five years served as part of a government, the third-longest total of any party in the Republic of Ireland after Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Led by Ivana Bacik, it is the fifth-largest party in Dáil Éireann, with seven seats, and is the joint third-largest party in Seanad Éireann, with four seats, making Labour the fifth-largest party in the Oireachtas overall as of 2021. The Labour Party is a member of the Progressive Alliance,[13] Socialist International,[14] and Party of European Socialists.[15]
History
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Foundation
James Connolly, James Larkin and William O'Brien established the Irish Labour Party on 28 May 1912, as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress, in Clonmel Town Hall.[16][17][18] This party was to represent the workers in the expected Dublin Parliament under the Third Home Rule Act 1914.[19] However, after the defeat of the trade unions in the Dublin Lockout of 1913 the labour movement was weakened; the emigration of James Larkin in 1914 and the execution of James Connolly following the Easter Rising in 1916 further damaged it.[citation needed]
The Irish Citizen Army (ICA), formed during the 1913 Lockout,[20] was informally the military wing of the Labour Movement. The ICA took part in the 1916 Rising.[21] Councillor Richard O'Carroll, a Labour Party member of Dublin Corporation, was the only serving elected representative to be killed during the Easter Rising. O'Carroll was shot by John Bowen-Colthurst and died several days later, on 5 May 1916.[22] The ICA was revived during Peadar O'Donnell's Republican Congress but after the 1935 split in the Congress most ICA members joined the Labour Party.
Early history
In Larkin's absence, William O'Brien became the dominant figure in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) and wielded considerable influence in the Labour Party.[citation needed] O'Brien also dominated the Irish Trades Union Congress[citation needed]. The Labour Party, led by Thomas Johnson from 1917,[23] declined to contest the 1918 general election in order to allow the election to take the form of a plebiscite on Ireland's constitutional status (although some candidates did run in Belfast constituencies under the Labour banner against Unionist candidates).[24] It also refrained from contesting the 1921 elections. As a result, the party was left outside Dáil Éireann during the vital years of the independence struggle, though Johnson sat in the First Dáil.
In the Irish Free State
The Anglo-Irish Treaty divided the Labour Party.[citation needed] Some members sided with the Irregulars in the Irish Civil War that quickly followed, [citation needed] however O'Brien and Johnson encouraged its members to support the Treaty. In the 1922 general election the party won 17 seats, having fielded 18 candidates. Winning 21.4% of the first preference vote, this remains the party's highest ever share of the vote as of 2022.[25][23] However, there were a number of strikes during the first year and a loss in support for the party. In the 1923 general election the Labour Party only won 14 seats. From 1922 until Fianna Fáil TDs took their seats in 1927, the Labour Party was the major opposition party in the Dáil. Labour attacked the lack of social reform by the Cumann na nGaedheal government. From 1927, a large number of the Labour Party's voters were pre-empted by Fianna Fáil, with its almost identical policies. Labour lacked Fianna Fáil's 'republican' image, which was a contributing factor to this loss.[26]
Larkin returned to Ireland in April 1923.[27] He hoped to resume the leadership role in the ITGWU which he had previously left, but O'Brien resisted him. Larkin also created a pro-communist party called the Irish Worker League. O'Brien regarded Larkin as a "loose cannon." Following a failed challenge to O'Brien's leadership and association with communist militancy, Larkin was expelled from the ITGWU and created the WUI, a communist alternative to the ITGWU, in 1924. Two-thirds of the Dublin membership of the ITGWU defected to the new union. O'Brien blocked the WUI from admission to the ITUC. Larkin was elected to Dáil Éireann at the September 1927 general election. However, the Labour Party prevented him from taking his seat as an undischarged bankrupt for losing a libel case against Labour leader Tom Johnson.[28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
In 1932, the Labour Party supported Éamon de Valera's first Fianna Fáil government, which had proposed a programme of social reform with which the party was in sympathy.[citation needed] In the 1943 general election the party won 17 seats, its best result since 1927.[citation needed]
The Irish Labour Party and the Irish Trades Union Congress separated in 1930. Future leader William Norton was prominent in urging the separation of the political and industrial wings of the labour movement into autonomous organisations, arguing that the move was necessary to broaden the party's electoral appeal beyond a trade union constituency.[35]
The party was socially conservative compared to similar European parties, and its leaders from 1932 to 1977 (William Norton and his successor Brendan Corish) were members of the Catholic fraternal organisation the Knights of Saint Columbanus.[36] The early to mid-20th century marked constant battles within Labour about whether to appease the Catholic Church or to take on a more militant labour approach.
Split with National Labour and the first coalition governments
Despite efforts in the 1930s to sternly downplay the idea of Communist influence over the party, by the 1940s internal conflict and complementary allegations of communist infiltration caused a split in the Labour Party and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Tensions peaked in 1941 when party founder Jim Larkin and a number of his supporters were re-admitted to the party and subsequently accused of "taking over" Labour branches in Dublin. In response William X. O'Brien left with six TDs in 1944, founding the National Labour Party, whose leader was James Everett. O'Brien also withdrew the ITGWU[37] from the Irish Trades Unions Congress and set up his own congress. The split damaged the Labour movement in the 1944 general election. The ITGWU attacked "Larkinite and Communist Party elements" which it claimed had taken over the Labour Party. The split and the anti-communist assault put Labour on the defensive. It launched its own inquiry into communist involvement, which resulted in the expulsion of six members. Alfred O'Rahilly in The Communist Front and the Attack on Irish Labour widened the assault to include the influence of British-based unions and communists in the ITUC. The National Labour Party juxtaposed itself against this by emphasising its commitment to Catholic Social Teaching. However, Labour also continued to emphasise its anti-communist credentials. It was only after Larkin's death in 1947 that an attempt at unity could be made.[38][39][40][41][42][43]
After the 1948 general election National Labour had five TDs – Everett, Dan Spring, James Pattison, James Hickey and John O'Leary. National Labour and Labour (with 14 TDs) both entered the First Inter-Party Government, with the leader of National Labour becoming Minister for Posts and Telegraphs. In 1950, the National Labour TDs rejoined the Labour Party.
From 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, the Labour Party was the second-largest partner in the two inter-party governments (the largest being Fine Gael). William Norton, the Labour Party leader, became Tánaiste on both occasions. During the First Inter-Party Government he served as Minister for Social Welfare, while during the Second Inter-Party Government he served as Minister for Industry and Commerce. (See first inter-party government and second inter-party government.)
Re-establishment in Northern Ireland
The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 and Ireland Act 1949 precipitated a split in the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) with Jack Macgougan leading anti-Partition members out and affiliating branches to the Dublin party, joined by other left-wing and nationalist representatives and branded locally as "Irish Labour".[44] At Westminster, Jack Beattie held Belfast West from 1951 to 1955;[45] the British Labour party refused Beattie its whip.[46] At Stormont, Belfast Dock was won by Murtagh Morgan in 1953 and Paddy Devlin in 1962,[47] but Devlin in 1964 left for the Republican Labour Party and Irish Labour contested no further Westminster or Stormont elections.[44][48] In the 1949 local elections it won 7 seats on Belfast City Council, 6 (unopposed) on Armagh urban district council (UDC) and one on Dungannon UDC.[44] In Derry, the party collapsed when Stephen McGonagle left after 1952.[49] It was strongest in Warrenpoint and Newry UDCs, winning control of the former in 1949 and the latter in 1958, retaining seats in both until their 1973 abolition. Tommy Markey was expelled from the party in 1964 for taking a salute as Newry council chair from the Irish Guards.[50] Party branches still existed in Warrenpoint and Newry as late as 1982,[48] though candidates were heavily defeated in Newry and Mourne District Council at the 1973 local elections.[51] The Social Democratic and Labour Party founded in 1970 took most of Irish Labour's voters and soon had its formal endorsement.
Under Brendan Corish, 1960–1977
The seventies will be socialist. At the next general election Labour must . . . make a major breakthrough in seats and votes. It must demonstrate convincingly that it has the capacity to become the Government of this country. Our present position is a mere transition phase on the road to securing the support of the majority of our people. At the next general election (we) must face the electorate with a clear-cut alternative to the conservatism of the past and present; and emerge . . . . as the Party which will shape the seventies. What I offer now is the outline of a new society, a New Republic.[52]
Brendan Corish, The 1967 Labour national conference
Brendan Corish became the new Labour leader in 1960. As leader, he advocated for more socialist policies to be adopted by the party; although initially tempering by this describing these policies as "a form of Christian socialism",[53] he would later feel comfortable enough to drop the "Christian" prefix. In contrast to his predecessors, Corish adopted an anti-coalition stance. He attempted to give his fractious, divided party a coherent national identity, lurched it to the left and insisted Labour was the natural party of social justice.[54] In the late 1960s, Labour began to embrace the 'New Left,' and Corish presented his A New Republic document at the 1967 Labour national conference, alongside a famous speech which declared that "The seventies will be socialist", which later became a Labour campaign slogan.[52] Corish's new socialist direction for Labour was generally well-received internally; the membership's faith in Corish had already been bolstered by encouraging election results in 1965 and 1967.[55][56][57][58][59]
Although Labour's share of the vote improved to 17% in the 1969 Irish general election, the best in 50 years, the party only won 17 seats - 5 fewer than in the 1965 general election. The result dented Corish's confidence and caused him to reconsider his anti-coalition stance.[54]
Labour promoted a Eurosceptic outlook in the 1961 general election,[60] and in 1972, the party campaigned against membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).[61]
Between 1973 and 1977, the Labour Party formed a coalition government with Fine Gael. The coalition partners lost the subsequent 1977 general election, and Corish resigned immediately after the defeat.
Late 1970s and 1980s: Coalition, internal feuding, electoral decline and regrowth
In 1977, shortly after the election defeat, members grouped around the Liaison Committee for the Labour Left split from Labour and formed the short-lived Socialist Labour Party. From 1981 to 1982 and from 1982 to 1987, the Labour Party participated in coalition governments with Fine Gael. While serving in coalition Labour was successful in averting steep cuts in social welfare favoured by Fine Gael.[62] labour ministers also presided over a number of social policy initiatives such as a Family Income Supplement, a child care protection bill, a Maternity Benefit,[63] a social employment scheme, the establishment of a Youth employment agency, and the adoption of an equa treatment directive.[64] Nevertheless, as noted by one study, “voters did not reward them. Instead they were disappointed by Labour's inability to implement more of its own policies (Marsh and Mitchell 1999:49).”[62]
In the later part of the second of these coalition terms, the country's poor economic and fiscal situation required strict curtailing of government spending, and the Labour Party bore much of the blame for unpopular cutbacks in health and other public services. The nadir for the Labour party was the 1987 general election where it received only 6.4% of the vote. Its vote was increasingly threatened by the growth of the Marxist and more radical Workers' Party, particularly in Dublin. Fianna Fáil formed a minority government from 1987 to 1989 and then a coalition with the Progressive Democrats.
The 1980s saw fierce disagreements between the wings of the party. The more radical elements, Labour Left, led by such figures as Emmet Stagg, Sam Nolan, Frank Buckley and Helena Sheehan, and Militant Tendency, led by Joe Higgins, opposed the idea of Labour entering into coalition government with either of the major centre-right parties (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael).[65][66] At the 1989 Labour Party conference in Tralee a number of socialist and Trotskyist activists, organised around the Militant Tendency and their internal newspaper, were expelled. Amongst those expelled included future TDs Clare Daly, Ruth Coppinger and Mick Barry as well as Joe Higgins, who went on to found the Socialist Party in 1996.[67][68]
1990s: Growing political influence and involvement
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The early 1990s saw a sustained period of growth for the Labour Party. In 1990 former Labour Senator Mary Robinson became the first President of Ireland to have been proposed by the Labour Party. Although she had contested the election as an independent candidate, having resigned from the party over her opposition to the Anglo Irish Agreement, her victory was generally considered as reflecting very well on Labour, who had supported her campaign.[69] Not only was it the first time a woman held the office but it was the first time, apart from Douglas Hyde, that a non-Fianna Fáil candidate was elected. It was also in 1990 that Limerick East TD Jim Kemmy's Democratic Socialist Party merged into the Labour Party, and in 1992 Sligo–Leitrim TD Declan Bree's Independent Socialist Party also followed suit and joined the Labour Party.
At the 1992 general election the Labour Party won a record 19.3% of the first preference votes, more than twice its share in the 1989 general election. The party's representation in the Dáil doubled to 33 seats in a momentum swing dubbed by the Irish national media as the "Spring Tide", who attributed much of the surge in the party's popularity to its leader Dick Spring.[70] After a period of negotiations, the Labour Party formed a coalition with Fianna Fáil, taking office in January 1993 as the 23rd government of Ireland. Fianna Fáil leader Albert Reynolds remained as Taoiseach, and Labour Party leader Dick Spring became Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
After less than two years the government fell in a controversy over the appointment of Attorney General, Harry Whelehan, as president of the High Court. The parliamentary arithmetic had changed as a result of Fianna Fáil's loss of two seats in by-elections in June, where the Labour Party itself had performed disastrously. On the pretext that the Labour Party voters were not happy with involvement with Fianna Fáil, Dick Spring withdrew his support for Reynolds as Taoiseach. The Labour Party negotiated a new coalition, the first time in Irish political history that one coalition replaced another without a general election. Between 1994 and 1997 Fine Gael, the Labour Party, and Democratic Left governed in the 24th government of Ireland. Dick Spring became Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs again. Labour greatly influenced the policy document for the 1993-1994 coalition, with one observer noting that Fianna Fáil's policy document for the coalition "contained lots of our policies, While swaths of texts were lifted from our manifesto". (Bowcott 1993)[71]
Merger with Democratic Left
The Labour Party presented the 1997 general election, held just weeks after spectacular electoral victories for the French Socialist Party and British Labour Party, as the first-ever choice between a government of the left and one of the right; but the party, as had often been the case following its participation in coalitions, lost support and lost half of its TDs. Labour's losses were so severe that while Fine Gael gained seats, it still came up well short of the support it needed to keep Bruton in office. This, combined with a poor showing by Labour Party candidate Adi Roche in the subsequent election for President of Ireland, led to Spring's resignation as party leader.
In 1997 Ruairi Quinn became the new Labour Party leader. Following negotiations in 1999, the Labour Party merged with Democratic Left, keeping the name of the larger partner.[72] This had been previously opposed by the former leader Dick Spring. Members of Democratic Left in Northern Ireland were invited to join the Irish Labour Party but were not permitted to organise.[73]
Quinn resigned as leader in 2002 following the poor results for the Labour Party in the 2002 general election. Former Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte became the new leader, the first to be elected directly by the members of the party.
Rabbitte as leader 2002 to 2007
Prior to the 2004 local elections, party leader Pat Rabbitte had endorsed a mutual transfer pact with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny. Rabbitte proposed an extension of this strategy, named "the Mullingar Accord", going into the 2007 general election. Although Rabbitte's strategy was opposed by some influential members such as Brendan Howlin[74] it was supported by approximately 80% of Labour conference delegates. However, at 2007 general election the Labour Party failed to increase its seat total and had a net loss of 1 seat, returning with 20 seats. Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the Green Party and independents did not have enough seats to form a government. Pat Rabbitte resisted calls to enter negotiations with Fianna Fáil on forming a government. Eventually, Fianna Fáil entered government with the Progressive Democrats and the Green Party with the support of independents. In the aftermath, Rabbitte resigned as Labour Party leader in late August, taking responsibility for the general election result. In his wake Eamon Gilmore was elected, unopposed, as the new Labour leader.
2007 to 2016
Initial surge of support
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Following the onset of the post-2008 Irish economic downturn, Labour's political fortunes began to alter rapidly. At the local elections of 5 June 2009, the Labour Party added 31 new councillors to their tally and performed particularly well in the Dublin region. At the 2009 European Parliament election held on the same day, the Labour Party increased its number of seats from one to three, retaining the seat of Proinsias De Rossa in the Dublin constituency, while gaining seats in the East constituency with Nessa Childers, and in the South constituency with Alan Kelly. It was the first time since the 1979 European Parliament Elections that Labour had equalled the number of seats held in Europe by either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.[75]
On 11 June 2010, a poll by MRBI was published in The Irish Times which, for the first time in the history of the state, showed the Labour Party as the most popular, at 32%, ahead of Fine Gael at 28% and Fianna Fáil at 17%. Eamon Gilmore's approval ratings were also the highest of any Dáil leader, standing at 46%.[76]
Entering government in 2011 and subsequent decline in support
At the 2011 general election, Labour received 19.5% of first preference votes, and 37 seats.[77] It was the most seats the Labour party had ever won in the Dáil, and their highest percentage of first-preference-votes since the Spring Tide of 1992.[77] On 9 March 2011, it became the junior partner in a coalition government with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil.[78] Eamon Gilmore was appointed as Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In October 2011 the Labour Party's candidate, Michael D. Higgins was elected as the 9th (and current) President of Ireland. On the same day, Labour's Patrick Nulty won the Dublin West by-election, making the Labour Party the first government party in Ireland to win a by-election since 1982.
Labour lost seven parliamentary members over the course of the 31st Dáil. On 15 November 2011 Willie Penrose resigned over the closure of an army barracks in his constituency.[79] On 1 December 2011 Tommy Broughan lost the party whip after voting against the government in relation to the Bank Guarantee Scheme.[80] On 6 December 2011 Patrick Nulty lost the party whip after voting against the VAT increase in the 2012 budget.[81] On 26 September 2012 Róisín Shortall resigned as Minister of State for Primary Care and lost the party whip after conflict with the Minister for Health James Reilly.[82] On 13 December 2012 Colm Keaveney lost the party whip after voting against the cut to the respite care grant in the 2013 budget.[83] Senator James Heffernan lost the party whip in December 2012 after voting against the government on the Social Welfare Bill.[84] MEP Nessa Childers resigned from the parliamentary party on 5 April 2013, saying that she "no longer want to support a Government that is actually hurting people",[85] and she resigned from the party in July 2013. In June 2013, Patrick Nulty and Colm Keaveney resigned from the Labour Party.[86] Willie Penrose returned to the parliamentary Labour Party in October 2013.[87]
On 26 May 2014, Gilmore resigned as party leader after Labour's poor performance in the European and local elections. On 4 July 2014, Joan Burton won the leadership election, defeating Alex White by 78% to 22%.[88] On her election, she said that the Labour Party "would focus on social repair, and govern more with the heart".[88] Burton was the first woman to lead the Labour Party.
2016
In the 2016 general election, Labour achieved a poor result, receiving only 6.6% of first preference votes, and 7 seats.[89] It was the worst general election in its history, with a loss of 30 seats on its showing in 2011.[90]
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On 20 May 2016, Brendan Howlin was elected unopposed as leader; some controversy arose from the fact that there was no contest for the leadership because none of his parliamentary colleagues were prepared to second the nomination of Alan Kelly.[91] Howlin stated that as leader he was prepared to bring Labour back into government, citing the lack of influence on policy from opposition.[92] He denied any suggestions that Labour could lose any further support from their 2016 performance, stating "We're not some outfit that comes out of the morning mist and disappears again. We're the oldest party in the state".[93]
2019–present
In the Irish local elections and the European Parliament election of May 2019, despite a decreased vote share by 1.4%, Labour increased their seat count on local authorities to 57, an increase of 6. However, the party failed to win a European seat, leaving the S&D Group unrepresented by an Irish MEP for the first time since 1984. At the February 2020 election, the party's first preference vote dropped to 4.4%, a record low.[94] In the subsequent Seanad elections, Labour won 5 seats, which tied them with Sinn Féin as the third-largest party in the House.
After the general election, Brendan Howlin announced his intention to step down as the leader of the Labour Party.[95] On 3 April 2020 Alan Kelly was elected as party leader, edging out fellow Dáil colleague Aodhán Ó Ríordáin 55% to 45%.[96] In July 2021, the party gained a seventh TD in the Dáil after Ivana Bacik won the 2021 Dublin Bay South by-election. In March 2022, Kelly resigned suddenly as leader, less than two years into the role and having not lead the party into an election. He did so upon being informed by Sean Sherlock and Duncan Smith, both of whom had supported him in his leadership bid, along with Mark Wall, that the parliamentary party had lost "collective confidence" in his leadership. The plan to remove him was devised by the parliamentary party in the home of Senator Marie Sherlock, in the absence of Kelly. An internal report reportedly showed that every one of the party's nationally elected representatives were at risk of losing their seats in the next general election.[97][98] Kelly became emotional as he announced his resignation, stating that the decision by the parliamentary party was a "surprise" to him, but that he accepted it immediately.[99][100][101] On 24 March 2022 Ivana Bacik was confirmed as the new leader of the party unopposed at a conference in Dublin.[102]
Ideology and policies
Overview
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