See Workers Power (Ireland)

Workers Power (Ireland)

Workers Power is a small Trotskyist political group in Ireland.The party was founded as the Irish Workers Group, which developed as a factional grouping in the Socialist Workers' Movement in the 1970s. It was formed as a separate organisation after being expelled from that group in 1976. It...

 for the Irish Workers' Group which was a member of the League for a Fifth International.

The Irish Workers' Group (IWG) was a Marxist 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...

 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 originated as the Irish Workers Union, which later called itself the Irish Communist Group, and contained a variety of people who all considered themselves to be Marxists. Some were from an Irish Republican background, and some, including Gerald Lawless, also known as Gerry Lawless, became involved in Saor Éire

Saor Éire (1967-1975)

Saor Éire was an armed, radical Irish Republican organisation composed of Trotskyists and ex-IRA members. It took its name from a similar organisation of the 1930s....

.
In time the group developed distinct Trotskyist and Maoist wings. The latter broke away to form the Irish Communist Organisation, which evolved into the British and Irish Communist Organisation

British and Irish Communist Organisation

The British and Irish Communist Organisation was a small but highly influential group based in London, Belfast, Cork, and Dublin. Its leader was Brendan Clifford. The group produced a great number of pamphlets, and many regular publications including, The Irish Communist and Workers Weekly in...

. The former became the Irish Workers' Group,and produced a paper Irish Militant and a theoretical journal An Solas/Workers' Republic.

By 1967 the IWG, then based in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 among exiled political activists, was failing and handed over their journal to Sean Matgamna

Sean Matgamna

Sean Matgamna, also known as John O'Mahony is a Trotskyist theorist and activist. He was a founder of Workers' Fight in 1966 and is still a prominent member of the group, now called the Alliance for Workers' Liberty.- Early political experience :He joined the Young Communist League as a teenager...

 and Rachel Lever who were about to launch Workers Fight. A section with support in Ireland then formed the League for a Workers Republic

League for a Workers Republic

The League for a Workers' Republic was a Trotskyist organisation in Ireland.- Foundation :It was founded in 1968 by members of the Irish Workers' Group, which was mainly centred on Irish emigrants to Britain and was itself the result of a previous split in the Irish Communist Group between those,...

 which entered discussions with the Socialist Labour League, British affiliate of the International Committee of the Fourth International

International Committee of the Fourth International

The International Committee of the Fourth International is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.-Foundation:The International...

.

Other members of the IWG later influential in the Irish far-left were Eamonn McCann

Eamonn McCann

Eamonn McCann is an Irish journalist, author and political activist.-Life:McCann was born and has lived most of his life in Derry. He was educated at St. Columb's College in the city. He is prominently featured in the documentary film The Boys of St...

, a leader of the Socialist Workers Party

Socialist Workers Party (Ireland)

The Socialist Workers Party is an Irish Trotskyist political party.-Foundation and growth:The SWP was originally founded in 1971 as the Socialist Workers Movement by supporters of the International Socialists of Britain living in Northern Ireland, who had previously been members of People's...

, and Michael Farrell, a leader of the now defunct People's Democracy

People's Democracy

People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland...

. This group seems to have ceased to exist in the late 1960s.

A later Irish Workers' Group

Workers Power (Ireland)

Workers Power is a small Trotskyist political group in Ireland.The party was founded as the Irish Workers Group, which developed as a factional grouping in the Socialist Workers' Movement in the 1970s. It was formed as a separate organisation after being expelled from that group in 1976. It...

 was an organisation that split from the
Socialist Workers Movement in 1976. It maintained links with the
British Workers Power

Workers Power

Workers' Power is a Trotskyist group which is the British section of the League for the Fifth International. The group publishes the magazine Workers Power and distributed the English language journal Fifth International.-Origin:...

 group and
the League for a Fifth International.