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The Socialist Party (Template:Lang-ga) is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI).

Formerly known as Militant Tendency, then Militant Labour, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of the organisation practiced entryism in the Labour Party. 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" 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. The party is currently represented by 2 TDs, 1 MEP and 6 councillors.

Electoral history

Through campaigning work it has built some electoral support, Joe Higgins first being elected to Dáil Éireann in 1997 and to the European Parliament in 2009 along with five other members elected to local councils in Dublin, Cork and Drogheda. 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 the party returned one TD to Dáil Éireann - Joe Higgins (Dublin West), who became prominent during the Anti-Water Charges Campaign. In the 2002 election, Joe Higgins retained his seat, and in the Dublin North constituency Councillor Clare Daly narrowly missed out on a second seat.

In the 2004 local elections the party gained two council seats, one in South Dublin County Council and another in Cork City Council. They also retained their two previous seats on Fingal County Council. In the European elections held on the same day, 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 and local elections, Joe Higgins took a seat in the Dublin European 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. The party held its seats on Fingal and Cork City Council while gaining a seat on Balbriggan Town Council and Drogheda Borough council respectively. The party lost its only councillor on South Dublin County Council.

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, a political alliance which included the People Before Profit Alliance 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. The Socialist Party unsuccessfully contested the 2011 Dublin West by-election, where its candidate Councillor Ruth Coppinger came third.

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 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 in 2003-2004. It has been involved in the movement against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the occupation of Palestine and continues to be active in campaigns against fascism, racism, low pay exploitation and religious sectarianism. They advocate and support rights for workers, women, ethnic minorities and members of the LBGT community.

On 19 September 2003, Joe Higgins and Clare Daly were sent to Mountjoy Prison for a month for refusing to abide by a High Court injunction relating to the blockading of bin lorries. This was part of the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign. 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 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 construction workers working for the Turkish multinational GAMA 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.

Youth wing

Socialist Youth is the youth wing of the Socialist Party.

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 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, the Socialist Party campaigned for a "no" vote. The party called for a referendum on the December 2011 EU deal, and said it would reject the deal in such a vote.

Expenses controversy

In 2012, legal advice was sought over the expense claims of TDs Clare Daly and Joe Higgins, as it emerged their travel expenses may have been used for travel outside their constituencies and journeys to the Dáil. Higgins and Daly were using them for travelling to anti-household charge meetings across the country, outside of their Dublin constituencies.

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
• Cork Socialist – Free paper distributed in Cork city

List of elected members

• Clare Daly, TD – Dublin North
• Joe Higgins, TD – Dublin West
• Paul Murphy, MEP – Dublin (co-opted in place of Joe Higgins on his election to the Dáil in February 2011)

Councillors

• Mick Barry – Cork City Council
• Eugene Coppinger – Swords, Fingal County Council (co-opted in place of Clare Daly on her election to the Dáil in February 2011)
• Ruth Coppinger – Mulhuddart, Fingal County Council
• Frank Gallagher – Drogheda Borough Council
• Terry Kelleher – Balbriggan Town Council
• Matt Waine – Castleknock, Fingal County Council (co-opted in place of Joe Higgins on his election to the European Parliament in June 2009)

See also

• Category:Socialist Party (Ireland) politicians
• United Left Alliance

References

1. "IRELAND". Parties and elections.
2. Guider, Ian. "Ireland’s Cowen Faces No-Confidence Vote After Poll". Bloomberg. 8 June 2009.
3. "Fianna Fáil humiliated in Dublin". breakingnews.ie. 8 June 2009.
4. Minihan, Mary. "Higgins pledges to build new party of left as five elected under ULA banner". The Irish Times. 28 February 2011.
5. "Murphy to replace Higgins as MEP". The Irish Times. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
6. Cullen, Paul. "Socialists target Government's political agenda". The Irish Times. 6 October 2011.
7. Cunningham, Grainne and Dowling, Brian. "Outrage over jailed TD's 'grandstand' bin protest". Irish Independent. 20 September 2003.
8. "Jail sentences for Joe Higgins and Clare Daly". breakingnews.ie. 19 September 2003.
9. Cunningham, Grainne. "Jail will not break mass opposition, vow campaigners". Irish Independent. 20 September 2003.
10. Reilly, Jerome. "Far left pulling the strings on bin charge campaign". Sunday Independent. 19 October 2003.
11. "Young Bloods: Ruth Coppinger" (PDF). The Phoenix. 19 October. p. 17. Retrieved 16 October 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. "Gama says Martin had no right to investigate". RTÉ News. 19 April 2005.
13. Wescott, Gareth. "Hundreds of foreign workers take to streets over low pay". Irish Independent. 5 April 2005.
14. "Five-hour protest by Gama staff in Galway". RTÉ News. 5 April 2005.
15. McDonald, Brian. "Martin takes action as Gama sends workers back to Turkey". Irish Independent. 6 April 2005.
16. "Higgins reacts to Lenihan 'kebabs' remark". RTÉ News. 18 May 2005.
17. "Left-wing groups launch anti-Lisbon campaign". The Belfast Telegraph. 18 August 2009.
18. Brennan, Michael. "Voting watchdog vows to clean up Lisbon debate". Irish Independent. 14 May 2008.
19. "Socialists call for referendum on EU deal". RTÉ News. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
20. "Legal advice sought on TD expenses claims". www.rte.ie. Wednesday, 4 July 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. O'Connor, Niall (Tuesday, July 03 2012). "Pressure mounts on technical group in expenses fiasco". Evening Herald. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. Expenses not for TD's to travel to protests - Leinster House by Michael Brennan, Irish Independent, Wednesday July 04 2012

External links

Audio

• The History and Politics of the Socialist Party - Interview with Socialist Party Councillor Mick Murphy on Dublin City FM (Dublin)

Websites

• Socialist Party – Official website
• Socialist Party Northern Ireland – Official website
• Socialist Youth – Youth section website
• The Socialist – Newspaper of the Socialist Party
• Socialist View – Political journal of the Socialist Party
• International Socialist Voice – Socialist Party E-zine
• The Socialist Party's political manifesto
• Committee for a Workers' International – to which the Socialist Party is affiliated

Template:Socialist Party (Ireland) Elected Representatives

• All-Ireland political parties
• Committee for a Workers' International
• Political parties established in 1996
• Trotskyist organisations of Ireland
• Trotskyist organizations of Northern Ireland