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Labour Party (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
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 political parties, Labour does not trace its origins to the original Sinn Féin. In the 2011 general election it gained 37 of the 166 seats in Dáil Éireann
, almost double its total of 20 in the 2007 election, making it the second largest political party in the 31st Dáil
. The Labour Party has served in government for a total of nineteen years, six times in coalition either with Fine Gael
alone or with Fine Gael and other smaller parties, and once with Fianna Fáil
, giving it the second-longest time in government of Irish parties, next to Fianna Fáil. As of 9 March 2011 it is the junior partner in a coalition
with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil
. The current party leader is Eamon Gilmore
, elected in October 2007 alongside Joan Burton
as deputy leader. Gilmore is the current Tánaiste
(deputy prime minister).
The Labour Party is a member of the Socialist International
and the Party of European Socialists
, whilst the party's MEPs sit in the European Parliament group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
. Through these bodies Labour is linked with the Social Democratic and Labour Party
in Northern Ireland
.
, James Larkin
and William X. O'Brien
established the Irish Labour Party as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. This party would represent the workers in the expected Dublin Parliament under the Third Home Rule Act 1914. However, after the defeat of the trade unions in the Dublin Lockout
of 1913 the labour movement was weakened, and the emigration of James Larkin in 1914 and the execution of James Connolly following the Easter Rising
in 1916 further damaged it.
The Irish Citizen Army
(ICA) formed during the 1913 Lockout, was informally the military wing of the Labour Movement. The ICA took part in the 1916 Rising. 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.
The British Labour Party
had previously organised in Ireland, but in 1913 the Labour NEC agreed that the Irish Labour Party would have organising rights over the entirety of Ireland. A group of trade unionists in Belfast objected and the Belfast Labour Party
, which later became the nucleus of the Northern Ireland Labour Party
, remained outside the new Irish party.
became the dominant figure in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union
and wielded considerable influence in the Labour Party. O'Brien also dominated the Irish Trade Union Congress. The Labour Party, led by Thomas Johnson
from 1917, as successor to such organisations as D. D. Sheehan
's (independent Labour MPs) Irish Land and Labour Association
, 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). It also refrained from contesting the 1921 elections
. As a result the party was left out of the Dáil Éireann
during the vital years of the independence struggle, though Johnson sat in the First Dáil
.
divided the Labour Party. Some members sided with the Irregulars in the Irish Civil War
that quickly followed. O'Brien and Johnson encouraged its members to support the Treaty. In the 1922 general election
the party won 17 seats. 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
TD
s 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.
In 1923 Larkin returned to Ireland. He hoped to take over the leadership role he had left, but O'Brien resisted him. Larkin sided with the more radical
elements of the party and in September that year he established the Irish Worker League
.
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. In the 1940s it looked for a while as if the Labour Party would replace Fine Gael
as the main opposition party. In the 1943 general election
the party won 17 seats, its best result since 1927.
The party was socially conservative
, compared to similar European parties, and its leaders from 1932 to 1977 (William Norton
and Brendan Corish) were members of the Knights of Saint Columbanus
.
. James Everett
was the leader of National Labour Party. O'Brien also withdrew the ITGWU from the Irish Trade Unions Congress and set up his own congress. The split damaged the Labour movement in the 1944 general election
. It was only after Larkin's death in 1947 that an attempt at unity could be made.
After the 1948 election National Labour had 5 TDs - James 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, the leader of National Labour became Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. In 1950, the National Labour TDs rejoined the Labour Party.
From 1948–1951 and from 1954–1957 the Labour Party was the second-largest partner in the two inter-party governments. 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
.
, after a split in the Northern Ireland Labour Party
when Paddy Devlin
helped re-establish the party in Belfast
, the party did win seats in the Westminster Parliament (Jack Beattie
MP for West Belfast 1951) and Stormont Parliament
in the Belfast
area as well as in district council elections (Falls
, Belfast City Council by election 1956, Gerry Fitt
1958 Council Elections).
Activity declined greatly after Gerry Fitt
, then the party's sole Stormont MP, left the party to form the Republican Labour Party
in 1964, with the party's last known contest being two seats on Newry and Mourne District Council
at the 1973 local elections
.
with Fine Gael
. The coalition partners lost the subsequent 1977 general election
. Corish resigned immediately after the defeat.
. 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 left and right wings of the party. The more radical elements, led by figures including Emmet Stagg
and Joe Higgins
, opposed the idea of Labour entering into coalition government with either of the major centre-right
parties (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael). 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. These expulsions continued during the early 1990s and those expelled, including Joe Higgins
, went on to found the Socialist Party
.
became the first President of Ireland
to have been proposed by the Labour Party, although she contested the election as an independent candidate, she had been expelled from the party over her opposition to the Anglo Irish Agreement. 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.
In 1990, 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 joined the Labour Party (in May 2007 Declan Bree resigned from the Labour Party over differences with the Leadership).
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 and, 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 Rainbow Coalition. Dick Spring
of the Labour Party became Tánaiste
and Minister for Foreign Affairs again.
, 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 failed to retain some of its Dáil seats. A poor performance 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. 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 not permitted to organise.
This left Gerry Cullen their councillor in Dungannon Borough Council in a state of limbo
elected for a party he could no longer seek election for.
The launch was held in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
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.
In the 2004 elections
to the European Parliament
, Proinsias De Rossa
retained his seat for the Labour Party in the Dublin
constituency. This was the Labour Party's only success in the election. In the local elections held the same day, the Labour Party won over 100 county council seats, the first time ever in its history, and emerged as the largest party in Dublin City and Galway city.
. Rabbitte proposed the extension of this strategy, named "the Mullingar
Accord" after a meeting between Rabbitte and Kenny in the County Westmeath
town, at the 2005 Labour Party National Conference.
Rabbitte's strategy was favoured by most TD's, notably Deputy Leader Liz McManus
, Eamon Gilmore
, who had proposed a different electoral strategy in the 2002 leadership election, and former opponent of coalition Emmet Stagg
. Opposition to the strategy came from Brendan Howlin
, Kathleen Lynch and Tommy Broughan
(who is regarded as being on the party's left wing and who advocated closer co-operation with the Green Party
and Sinn Féin
), who opposed the boost that would be given to Fine Gael in such a strategy and stated their preference for an independent campaign. Outside the PLP, organised opposition to the pact came from Labour Youth
and the ATGWU
, who opposed the pact on political and tactical grounds. Nevertheless, the strategy proposed by Rabbitte was supported by approximately 80% of conference delegates.
In the 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.
On 23 August 2007, Pat Rabbitte
resigned as Labour Party leader. He stated that he took responsibility for the outcome of the recent general election, in which his party failed to gain new seats and failed to replace the outgoing government.
On 6 September 2007, Eamon Gilmore
was unanimously elected leader of the Labour Party, being the only nominee after Pat Rabbitte's resignation.
of 5 June 2009, the Labour Party added to its total of council seats, with 132 seats won (+31) and gained an additional two seats from councillors joining the party since the election. On Dublin City Council
, the party was again the largest party, but now with more seats than the two other main parties combined. The Labour Party's status as the largest party on both Fingal
and South Dublin
councils was also improved by seat gains.
At the 2009 European Parliament election
held on the same day, the Labour Party increased its number of seats from 1 to 3, 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. This was the first time in history that Labour equalled the amount of seats held in Europe by either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
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%.
At the 2011 general election, Labour received 19.4% of first preference votes, and 37 seats. Since 9 March 2011, it is the junior partner in a coalition
with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil
. Party leader, Eamon Gilmore is the current Tánaiste
(deputy prime minister).
In October 2011 the Labour Party's candidate, Michael D. Higgins
was elected as the 9th 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.
In December 1994, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left entered into government without a general election being called.
) constituency councils, affiliated trade union
s and socialist societies. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions (Dáil, Seanad, European Parliament) form the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). The party's decision-making bodies on a national level formally include the Executive Board (formerly known as the National Executive Committee), Labour Party Conference and Central Council. The Executive Board has responsibility for organisation and finance, with the Central Council being responsible for policy formation - although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say on policy. The Labour Party Conference debates motions put forward by branches, constituency councils, party members sections and affiliates. Motions set principles of policy and organisation but are not generally detailed policy statements.
For many years Labour held to a policy of not allowing residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership, instead supporting the Social Democratic and Labour Party
(SDLP). The National Conference approved the establishment of a Northern Ireland Members Forum but it has not agreed to contest elections there.
As a party with a constitutional commitment to democratic socialism
founded by trade unions to represent the interests of working class
people, Labour's link with unions has always been a defining characteristic of the party. Over time this link has come under increasing strain, with most craft based unions based in the public sector and Irish Congress of Trades Unions having disaffiliated since the 1950s. The remaining affiliated unions are primarily private sector general union
s. Currently affiliated unions still send delegates to the National Conference in proportion to the size of their membership. Recent constitutional changes mean that in future, affiliated unions will send delegations based on the number of party members in their organisation.
Socialist Societies Affiliated to the Party:
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
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 the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel
Clonmel
Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, by James Connolly
James Connolly
James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...
, James Larkin
James Larkin
James Larkin was an Irish trade union leader and socialist activist, born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England. He and his family later moved to a small cottage in Burren, southern County Down. Growing up in poverty, he received little formal education and began working in a variety of jobs...
and William X. O'Brien
William X. O'Brien
William X. O'Brien was a politician and trade unionist in Ireland.Born in Clonakilty, County Cork, O'Brien moved with his family to Dublin in 1897, and quickly became involved in the Irish Socialist Republican Party...
as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress
Irish Trade Union Congress
The Irish Trade Union Congress was a union federation covering the island of Ireland.Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress. However, many felt that they had little impact on the British body, and decided to form their own federation. This...
. Unlike the other main Irish political parties, Labour does not trace its origins to the original Sinn Féin. In the 2011 general election it gained 37 of the 166 seats in 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...
, almost double its total of 20 in the 2007 election, making it the second largest political party in the 31st Dáil
Members of the 31st Dáil
This is a list of the members who were elected to the 31st Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and met at midday on 9 March 2011...
. The Labour Party has served in government for a total of nineteen years, six times in coalition either with Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
alone or with Fine Gael and other smaller parties, and once with Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
, giving it the second-longest time in government of Irish parties, next to Fianna Fáil. As of 9 March 2011 it is the junior partner in a coalition
Government of the 31st Dáil
The Government of the 31st Dáil is the present Government of Ireland, formed after the 2011 general election to Dáil Éireann on 25 February 2011. Fine Gael entered into discussions with the Labour Party which culminated in a joint programme for government. The 31st Dáil first met on 9 March 2011...
with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil
Members of the 31st Dáil
This is a list of the members who were elected to the 31st Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and met at midday on 9 March 2011...
. The current party leader is Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...
, elected in October 2007 alongside Joan Burton
Joan Burton
Joan Burton is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Minister for Social Protection. She is a Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency....
as deputy leader. Gilmore is the current Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
(deputy prime minister).
The Labour Party is a member of the Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
and the Party of European Socialists
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
, whilst the party's MEPs sit in the European Parliament group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European...
. Through these bodies Labour is linked with the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Foundation
In 1914, James ConnollyJames Connolly
James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...
, James Larkin
James Larkin
James Larkin was an Irish trade union leader and socialist activist, born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England. He and his family later moved to a small cottage in Burren, southern County Down. Growing up in poverty, he received little formal education and began working in a variety of jobs...
and William X. O'Brien
William X. O'Brien
William X. O'Brien was a politician and trade unionist in Ireland.Born in Clonakilty, County Cork, O'Brien moved with his family to Dublin in 1897, and quickly became involved in the Irish Socialist Republican Party...
established the Irish Labour Party as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. This party would represent the workers in the expected Dublin Parliament under the Third Home Rule Act 1914. However, after the defeat of the trade unions in the Dublin Lockout
Dublin Lockout
The Dublin Lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers which took place in Ireland's capital city of Dublin. The dispute lasted from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, and is often viewed as the most severe and significant industrial dispute in...
of 1913 the labour movement was weakened, and the emigration of James Larkin in 1914 and the execution of James Connolly following the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
in 1916 further damaged it.
The Irish Citizen Army
Irish Citizen Army
The Irish Citizen Army , or ICA, was a small group of trained trade union volunteers established in Dublin for the defence of worker’s demonstrations from the police. It was formed by James Larkin and Jack White. Other prominent members included James Connolly, Seán O'Casey, Constance Markievicz,...
(ICA) formed during the 1913 Lockout, was informally the military wing of the Labour Movement. The ICA took part in the 1916 Rising. The ICA was revived during Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell was an Irish republican and socialist activist and writer.-Early life:Peadar O'Donnell was born into an Irish speaking family in Dungloe, County Donegal in northwest Ireland, in 1893. He attended St. Patrick's College, Dublin, where he trained as a teacher...
's Republican Congress
Republican Congress
The Republican Congress was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left-wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such IRA veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore. It was a socialist organisation and was dedicated to a...
but after the 1935 split in the Congress most ICA members joined the Labour Party.
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...
had previously organised in Ireland, but in 1913 the Labour NEC agreed that the Irish Labour Party would have organising rights over the entirety of Ireland. A group of trade unionists in Belfast objected and the Belfast Labour Party
Belfast Labour Party
The Belfast Labour Party was a political party in Belfast, Ireland from 1892 until 1924.The first socialist party in Ireland, it was founded in 1892, affiliated to the British Labour Representation Committee in 1900 and remained attached to the UK Labour Party which subsequently evolved.Labour ran...
, which later became the nucleus of the Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern Ireland Labour Party
The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...
, remained outside the new Irish party.
Early history
In Larkin's absence, William X. O'BrienWilliam X. O'Brien
William X. O'Brien was a politician and trade unionist in Ireland.Born in Clonakilty, County Cork, O'Brien moved with his family to Dublin in 1897, and quickly became involved in the Irish Socialist Republican Party...
became the dominant figure in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union
Irish Transport and General Workers' Union
The Irish Transport and General Workers Union, an Irish trade union, was founded by James Larkin in 1908 as a general union. Initially drawing its membership from branches of the Liverpool-based National Union of Dock Labourers, from which Larkin had been expelled, it grew to include workers in a...
and wielded considerable influence in the Labour Party. O'Brien also dominated the Irish Trade Union Congress. The Labour Party, led by Thomas Johnson
Thomas Johnson (Irish politician)
Thomas Johnson was an Irish nationalist and Irish Labour Party leader. He was elected a Teachta Dála for Dublin County to the Third Dáil at the 1922 general election and was the leader of the Labour Party until 1927...
from 1917, as successor to such organisations as D. D. Sheehan
D. D. Sheehan
Daniel Desmond Sheehan, usually known as D. D. Sheehan was an Irish nationalist, politician, labour leader, journalist, barrister and author...
's (independent Labour MPs) Irish Land and Labour Association
Irish Land and Labour Association
The Irish Land and Labour Association was a progressive movement founded in the early 1890s in Munster, Ireland, to organise and pursue political agitation for small tenant farmers' and rural labourers' rights. Its branches also spread into Connacht. The ILLA was known under different names—Land...
, declined to contest the 1918 general election
Irish (UK) general election, 1918
The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. It is seen as a key moment in modern Irish history...
, 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
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
constituencies under the Labour banner against Unionist candidates). It also refrained from contesting the 1921 elections
Irish elections, 1921
Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil...
. As a result the party was left out of the 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...
during the vital years of the independence struggle, though Johnson sat in the First Dáil
First Dáil
The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...
.
In the Irish Free State
The Anglo-Irish TreatyAnglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
divided the Labour Party. Some members sided with the Irregulars in the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
that quickly followed. O'Brien and Johnson encouraged its members to support the Treaty. In the 1922 general election
Irish general election, 1922
The Irish general election of 1922 took place in Southern Ireland on 16 June 1922, under the provisions of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty to elect a constituent assembly paving the way for the formal establishment of the Irish Free State...
the party won 17 seats. However there were a number of strikes during the first year and a loss in support for the party. In the 1923 general election
Irish general election, 1923
The Irish general election of 1923 was held on 27 August 1923. The newly elected members of the 4th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 19 September when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed. The election was held just after the end...
the Labour Party only won 14 seats. From 1922 until Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
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 took their seats in 1927, the Labour Party was the major opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
party in the Dáil
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...
. Labour attacked the lack of social reform by the Cumann na nGaedheal government.
In 1923 Larkin returned to Ireland. He hoped to take over the leadership role he had left, but O'Brien resisted him. Larkin sided with the more radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
elements of the party and in September that year he established the Irish Worker League
Irish Worker League
The Irish Worker League was an Irish communist party, established in September 1923 by Jim Larkin.In July 1924 Larkin attended the Fifth Comintern congress, held in Moscow, and was elected to its executive committee. Initially, the League was not organised as a political party and had no founding...
.
In 1932 the Labour Party supported Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
's first Fianna Fáil government, which had proposed a programme of social reform with which the party was in sympathy. In the 1940s it looked for a while as if the Labour Party would replace Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
as the main opposition party. In the 1943 general election
Irish general election, 1943
The Irish general election of 1943 was held on 23 June 1943. The 138 newly elected members of the 11th Dáil assembled on 1 July when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
the party won 17 seats, its best result since 1927.
The party was socially conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
, compared to similar European parties, and its leaders from 1932 to 1977 (William Norton
William Norton
William Norton was an Irish Labour Party politician, and leader of the party from 1932 to 1960.Norton was born in Dublin in 1900. He joined the postal service in 1916. By 1920 he was a prominent member in the trade union movement in Ireland. From 1924 to 1948 he served as secretary of the Post...
and Brendan Corish) were members of the Knights of Saint Columbanus
Knights of Saint Columbanus
The Order of the Knights of Saint Columbanus is an Irish Catholic fraternal and service organization for lay men over twenty-one years of age.- Organisation :...
.
The split with National Labour and the first coalition governments
The Larkin-O'Brien feud still continued, and worsened over time. In the 1940s the hatred caused a split in the Labour Party and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. In 1944 O'Brien left with 6 TDs and founded the National Labour PartyNational Labour Party (Ireland)
The National Labour Party was an Irish political party active between 1944 and 1950. It was founded in 1944 from a rebel faction of the Labour Party, inspired by the intransigence of the incumbent leadership of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union against the majority of the party.The...
. James Everett
James Everett
James Everett was an Irish politician. On leaving school Everett became an organiser with County Wicklow Agricultural Union, which later merged with the ITGWU. He was a member of Sinn Féin and served as a justice in the Republican courts for Kildare and Wicklow from 1919. He was first elected to...
was the leader of National Labour Party. O'Brien also withdrew the ITGWU from the Irish Trade Unions Congress and set up his own congress. The split damaged the Labour movement in the 1944 general election
Irish general election, 1944
The Irish general election of 1944 was held on 30 May 1944, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 9 May. The 138 newly elected members of the 12th Dáil assembled on 9 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
. It was only after Larkin's death in 1947 that an attempt at unity could be made.
After the 1948 election National Labour had 5 TDs - James Everett
James Everett
James Everett was an Irish politician. On leaving school Everett became an organiser with County Wicklow Agricultural Union, which later merged with the ITGWU. He was a member of Sinn Féin and served as a justice in the Republican courts for Kildare and Wicklow from 1919. He was first elected to...
, Dan Spring
Dan Spring
Dan Spring was an Irish politician who represented the constituency of Kerry North in the Dáil, from 1943 to 1981. He was a member of the Labour Party and was the father of Dick Spring, who led the Labour Party from 1982 to 1997.Dan Spring was born into a working-class family in Tralee, County Kerry...
, James Pattison
James Pattison
James P. Pattison was an Irish Labour Party politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann on his second attempt at the 1933 general election for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency....
, James Hickey
James Hickey
James Hickey may refer to:*James Hickey , colonel in the US Army who earned notoriety during Operation Red Dawn.*James Hickey , Irish Labour party politician, TD and senator...
and John O'Leary
John O'Leary
John O'Leary may refer to:* John O'Leary , Irish nationalist who was imprisoned in England during the nineteenth century*John O'Leary , former Irish Fianna Fáil party politician and TD for Kerry South...
. National Labour and Labour (with 14 TDs) both entered the first inter-party government, the leader of National Labour became Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. In 1950, the National Labour TDs rejoined the Labour Party.
From 1948–1951 and from 1954–1957 the Labour Party was the second-largest partner in the two inter-party governments. William Norton
William Norton
William Norton was an Irish Labour Party politician, and leader of the party from 1932 to 1960.Norton was born in Dublin in 1900. He joined the postal service in 1916. By 1920 he was a prominent member in the trade union movement in Ireland. From 1924 to 1948 he served as secretary of the Post...
, the Labour Party leader, became Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
on both occasions. During the first inter-party government he served as Minister for Social Welfare
Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Ireland)
The Minister for Social Protection is the senior minister at the Department of Social Protection in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Social Protection is Joan Burton, TD.-Overview:...
, while during the second inter-party government he served as Minister for Industry and Commerce
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ireland)
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is the senior minister at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is Richard Bruton, TD...
. See First Inter-Party Government
Government of the 13th Dáil
The 13th Dáil was elected at the 1948 general election on 4 February 1948 and first met on 18 February when the 5th Government of Ireland was appointed. The 13th Dáil lasted for 1,211 days....
and Second Inter-Party Government
Government of the 15th Dáil
The 15th Dáil was elected at the 1954 general election on 18 May 1954 and first met on 2 June when the 7th Government of Ireland was appointed. The 15th Dáil lasted for 1,022 days.-7th Government of Ireland:...
.
Re-establishment in Northern Ireland
During this period the party stood for elections in Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, after a split in the Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern Ireland Labour Party
The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...
when Paddy Devlin
Paddy Devlin
Paddy Devlin was a Northern Irish social democrat and Labour activist, a former Stormont MP, a founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and a member of the 1974 Power Sharing Executive.-Early life:...
helped re-establish the party in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, the party did win seats in the Westminster Parliament (Jack Beattie
Jack Beattie
Jack Beattie was a politician from Northern Ireland.He was a teacher by profession. He joined the Northern Ireland Labour Party . In 1925, he became a Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for Belfast East. He represented Belfast Pottinger from 1929...
MP for West Belfast 1951) and Stormont Parliament
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
in the Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
area as well as in district council elections (Falls
Falls
Falls may refer to:* Waterfalls* Falls, North Carolina* Belfast Falls ** Falls Road, Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland** Belfast Falls ** Belfast Falls...
, Belfast City Council by election 1956, Gerry Fitt
Gerry Fitt
Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party , a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.-Early years:...
1958 Council Elections).
Activity declined greatly after Gerry Fitt
Gerry Fitt
Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party , a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.-Early years:...
, then the party's sole Stormont MP, left the party to form the Republican Labour Party
Republican Labour Party
The Republican Labour Party was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt...
in 1964, with the party's last known contest being two seats on Newry and Mourne District Council
Newry and Mourne District Council
Newry and Mourne District Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. It includes much of the south of County Armagh and the south of County Down and has a population of approximately 93,400. Council headquarters are in Newry, the largest settlement and only city in the area; it has a...
at the 1973 local elections
Northern Ireland local elections, 1973
Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government Act 1971 and the Local Government Act 1972...
.
Under Brendan Corish, 1960–1977
In 1960 Brendan Corish became the new Labour Party leader. As leader he advocated and introduced more socialist policies to the party. Between 1973 and 1977, the Labour Party formed a coalition governmentCoalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
with Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
. The coalition partners lost the subsequent 1977 general election
Irish general election, 1977
The Irish general election of 1977 was held on 16 June 1977 and is regarded as a pivotal point in twentieth century Irish politics. The general election took place in 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 148 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The number of...
. Corish resigned immediately after the defeat.
Late 70's 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 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 GaelFine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
. 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
Government spending
Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Government acquisition of goods and services for current use to directly satisfy individual or collective needs of the members of the community is classed as government final...
, and the Labour Party bore much of the blame for unpopular cutbacks in health
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
and other public services
Public services
Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...
. The nadir for the Labour party was the 1987 general election
Irish general election, 1987
The Irish general election of 1987 was held on 17 February 1987, four weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 20 January. The newly-elected 166 members of the 25th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 10 March when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place in...
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
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
particularly in Dublin. Fianna Fáil formed a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
from 1987 to 1989 and then a coalition with the Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
.
The 1980s saw fierce disagreements between left and right wings of the party. The more radical elements, led by figures including Emmet Stagg
Emmet Stagg
Emmet Stagg is an Irish Labour Party politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Kildare North constituency and Labour Party Chief Whip.-Early life:...
and 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...
, opposed the idea of Labour entering into coalition government with either of the major centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
parties (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael). At the 1989 Labour Party conference in Tralee a number of socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
activists, organised around the Militant Tendency and their internal newspaper, were expelled. These expulsions continued during the early 1990s and those expelled, including 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...
, went on to found the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Ireland)
The Socialist Party is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International .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...
.
1990s: Growing political influence and involvement
In 1990 Mary RobinsonMary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
became the first President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
to have been proposed by the Labour Party, although she contested the election as an independent candidate, she had been expelled from the party over her opposition to the Anglo Irish Agreement. Not only was it the first time a woman held the office but it was the first time, apart from Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde , known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn , was an Irish scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945...
, that a non-Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
candidate was elected.
In 1990, Limerick East 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...
Jim Kemmy
Jim Kemmy
Jim Kemmy was an Irish socialist politician from Limerick, who started his political career in the Labour Party...
's Democratic Socialist Party
Democratic Socialist Party (Ireland)
The Democratic Socialist Party was a small left wing political party in the Republic of Ireland. It was a merger of Jim Kemmy's Limerick Socialist Organisation and the Socialist Party of Ireland. Jim Kemmy was an Irish politician and member of Dáil Éireann...
merged into the Labour party and in 1992 Sligo-Leitrim
Sligo-Leitrim (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Sligo–Leitrim was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1948 to 2007...
TD Declan Bree
Declan Bree
Declan Bree is an Irish independent politician who is currently the joint longest-serving member of Sligo Borough Council. He was a founder of the Sligo/Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation in 1974, and was a member of that group until joining the Labour Party in 1991. He served in Dáil...
's Independent Socialist Party also joined the Labour Party (in May 2007 Declan Bree resigned from the Labour Party over differences with the Leadership).
At the 1992 general election
Irish general election, 1992
The Irish general election of 1992 was held on Wednesday, 25 November 1992, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. However, after difficulties in forming a government the newly elected 166 members of the 27th Dáil did not assemble at Leinster House until 4 January 1993...
the Labour Party won a record 19.3% of the first preference votes, more than twice its share in the 1989 general election
Irish general election, 1989
The Irish general election of 1989 was held on Thursday, 15 June 1989, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 25 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 26th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 29 June...
. The party's representation in the Dáil
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...
doubled to 33 seats and, after a period of negotiations, the Labour Party formed a coalition with Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
, taking office in January 1993 as the 23rd government of Ireland
Government of the 27th Dáil
The 27th Dáil was elected at the 1992 general election on 25 November 1992 but did not meet until 4 January 1993, however the 23rd Government of Ireland was not appointed until the 12 January. The 27th Dáil lasted a total of 1,654 days.-23rd Government of Ireland :...
. Fianna Fáil leader Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...
remained as Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
, and Labour Party leader Dick Spring
Dick Spring
Richard "Dick" Spring is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dála in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997...
became Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
and Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.The current...
.
After less than two years the government fell in a controversy over the appointment of Attorney General
Attorney General of Ireland
The Attorney General is a constitutional officer who is the official adviser to the Government of Ireland in matters of law. He is in effect the chief law officer in Ireland. The Attorney General is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends...
, Harry Whelehan
Harry Whelehan
Harry Whelehan is a former Irish Attorney general and for six days was President of the High Court.-X Case controversy:In 1992 as attorney general, Harry Whelehan sought an injunction in the X Case to prevent a 14 year old rape victim having an abortion...
, as president of the High Court
High Court (Republic of Ireland)
The High Court of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and there is a jury. It also acts as a court of appeal for civil cases in the Circuit 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
Dick Spring
Richard "Dick" Spring is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dála in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997...
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
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
, the Labour Party, and Democratic Left
Democratic Left (Ireland)
Democratic Left was a democratic socialist political party active in Ireland between 1992 and 1999. It came into being after a split in the Workers' Party and, after just seven years in existence, it merged into the Irish Labour Party.-Origins:...
governed in the Rainbow Coalition. Dick Spring
Dick Spring
Richard "Dick" Spring is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dála in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997...
of the Labour Party became Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
and Minister for Foreign Affairs again.
Merger with Democratic Left and recent electoral performance
The Labour Party presented the 1997 general electionIrish 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....
, held just weeks after spectacular electoral victories for the French Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
and 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...
, 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 failed to retain some of its Dáil seats. A poor performance by Labour Party candidate Adi Roche
Adi Roche
Adi Roche is a campaigner for peace, humanitarian aid, and education. She is the chief executive of Irish-based charity Chernobyl Children's Project International, and in November 2010 received the Health Award at the World of Children Awards ceremony.-Campaign work:As founder and chief executive...
in the subsequent election for President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
led to Spring's resignation as party leader.
In 1997 Ruairi Quinn
Ruairi Quinn
Ruairi Quinn is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Education and Skills since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency. He was Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002.-Early...
became the new Labour Party leader. Following negotiations in 1999 the Labour Party merged with Democratic Left
Democratic Left (Ireland)
Democratic Left was a democratic socialist political party active in Ireland between 1992 and 1999. It came into being after a split in the Workers' Party and, after just seven years in existence, it merged into the Irish Labour Party.-Origins:...
, keeping the name of the larger partner. 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 not permitted to organise.
This left Gerry Cullen their councillor in Dungannon Borough Council in a state of limbo
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
elected for a party he could no longer seek election for.
The launch was held in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
Quinn resigned as leader in 2002 following the poor results for the Labour Party in the 2002 general 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...
. Former Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources since March 2011...
became the new leader, the first to be elected directly by the members of the party.
In the 2004 elections
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...
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...
, Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa is an Irish Labour Party politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency. He a former President of the Workers' Party and subsequently leader of Democratic Left, and later, a senior member of the Labour Party. He was Minister for Social Welfare from...
retained his seat for the Labour Party in the 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:...
constituency. This was the Labour Party's only success in the election. In the local elections held the same day, the Labour Party won over 100 county council seats, the first time ever in its history, and emerged as the largest party in Dublin City and Galway city.
2007 general election and aftermath
Prior to the 2004 local elections, Party Leader Pat Rabbitte had endorsed a mutual transfer pact with Fine Gael leader Enda KennyEnda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...
. Rabbitte proposed the extension of this strategy, named "the Mullingar
Mullingar
Mullingar is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act of 1542, proclaimed Westmeath a county, separating it from Meath. Mullingar became the administrative centre for County Westmeath...
Accord" after a meeting between Rabbitte and Kenny in the County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
town, at the 2005 Labour Party National Conference.
Rabbitte's strategy was favoured by most TD's, notably Deputy Leader Liz McManus
Liz McManus
Elizabeth "Liz" McManus is a former Irish politician. She served as a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency from 1992 to 2011.-Personal life:...
, Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...
, who had proposed a different electoral strategy in the 2002 leadership election, and former opponent of coalition Emmet Stagg
Emmet Stagg
Emmet Stagg is an Irish Labour Party politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Kildare North constituency and Labour Party Chief Whip.-Early life:...
. Opposition to the strategy came from Brendan Howlin
Brendan Howlin
Brendan Howlin is an Irish Labour Party politician who has served as a Teachta Dála for Wexford since 1987. Currently the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, he previously served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Health.-Early life:Born into a highly...
, Kathleen Lynch and Tommy Broughan
Tommy Broughan
Thomas P. "Tommy" Broughan is an Irish politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North–East constituency since November 1992. He sits as an independent TD after losing the Labour Party whip on 1 December 2011....
(who is regarded as being on the party's left wing and who advocated closer co-operation with the Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...
and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
), who opposed the boost that would be given to Fine Gael in such a strategy and stated their preference for an independent campaign. Outside the PLP, organised opposition to the pact came from Labour Youth
Labour Youth
Labour Youth is the youth wing of the Labour Party of Ireland. Anyone under the age of 27 is eligible to join Labour Youth....
and the ATGWU
Transport and General Workers' Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union - with 900,000 members...
, who opposed the pact on political and tactical grounds. Nevertheless, the strategy proposed by Rabbitte was supported by approximately 80% of conference delegates.
In the 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
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...
and independents did not have enough seats to form a government. Pat Rabbitte resisted calls to enter negotiations with Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
on forming a government. Eventually, Fianna Fáil entered government with the Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
and the Green Party with the support of independents.
On 23 August 2007, Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources since March 2011...
resigned as Labour Party leader. He stated that he took responsibility for the outcome of the recent general election, in which his party failed to gain new seats and failed to replace the outgoing government.
On 6 September 2007, Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...
was unanimously elected leader of the Labour Party, being the only nominee after Pat Rabbitte's resignation.
2009 Local and European elections
At the local electionsIrish 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:...
of 5 June 2009, the Labour Party added to its total of council seats, with 132 seats won (+31) and gained an additional two seats from councillors joining the party since the election. On Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council is the local authority for the city of Dublin in Ireland. It has 52 members and is the largest local authority in Ireland. Until 2001, it was known as Dublin Corporation.-Legal status:...
, the party was again the largest party, but now with more seats than the two other main parties combined. The Labour Party's status as the largest party on both 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...
and South Dublin
South Dublin
South Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. The county seat is Tallaght, the largest suburb of Dublin and the biggest urban centre in the county. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin...
councils was also improved by seat gains.
At the 2009 European Parliament election
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...
held on the same day, the Labour Party increased its number of seats from 1 to 3, retaining the seat of Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa is an Irish Labour Party politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency. He a former President of the Workers' Party and subsequently leader of Democratic Left, and later, a senior member of the Labour Party. He was Minister for Social Welfare from...
in the Dublin 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:...
, while gaining seats in the East constituency with Nessa Childers
Nessa Childers
Nessa Maria Vereker Childers is an Irish Labour Party politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament for the East constituency....
, and in the South constituency with Alan Kelly. This was the first time in history that Labour equalled the amount of seats held in Europe by either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
2011 general election and aftermath
On 11 June 2010, a poll by MRBI was published in The Irish TimesThe Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
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%.
At the 2011 general election, Labour received 19.4% of first preference votes, and 37 seats. Since 9 March 2011, it is the junior partner in a coalition
Government of the 31st Dáil
The Government of the 31st Dáil is the present Government of Ireland, formed after the 2011 general election to Dáil Éireann on 25 February 2011. Fine Gael entered into discussions with the Labour Party which culminated in a joint programme for government. The 31st Dáil first met on 9 March 2011...
with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil
Members of the 31st Dáil
This is a list of the members who were elected to the 31st Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and met at midday on 9 March 2011...
. Party leader, Eamon Gilmore is the current Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
(deputy prime minister).
In October 2011 the Labour Party's candidate, Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...
was elected as the 9th President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
. On the same day, Labour's Patrick Nulty
Patrick Nulty
Patrick Nulty is an Irish Labour Party politician. He was elected as a Teachta Dála for Dublin West at a by-election in October 2011.-Biography:...
won the Dublin West by-election
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...
, making the Labour Party the first government party in Ireland to win a by-election since 1982.
General election results and governments
| Election | Dáil | Share of votes | Seats | Outcome of election | Total seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 Irish general election, 1922 The Irish general election of 1922 took place in Southern Ireland on 16 June 1922, under the provisions of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty to elect a constituent assembly paving the way for the formal establishment of the Irish Free State... |
21.4% | 17 | Cumann na nGaedheal government | 128 | |
| 1923 Irish general election, 1923 The Irish general election of 1923 was held on 27 August 1923. The newly elected members of the 4th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 19 September when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed. The election was held just after the end... |
10.6% | 14 | Cumann na nGaedheal government | 153 | |
| 12.6% | 22 | Cumann na nGaedheal government | 153 | ||
| 9.1% | 13 | Cumann na nGaedheal government | 153 | ||
| 1932 Irish general election, 1932 The Irish general election of 1932 was held on 16 February 1932, just over two weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 29 January. The newly elected 153 members of the 7th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 9 March 1932 when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of... |
7.7% | 7 | Fianna Fáil government with Labour Party support | 153 | |
| 1933 Irish general election, 1933 The Irish general election of 1933 was held on 24 January 1933. The newly elected members of the 8th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 8 February when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed.... |
5.7% | 8 | Fianna Fáil government | 153 | |
| 1937 Irish general election, 1937 The Irish general election of 1937 was held on 1 July 1937, just over two weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 14 June. A plebiscite to ratify the Constitution of Ireland was held on the same day... |
10.3% | 13 | Fianna Fáil government | 138 | |
| 1938 Irish general election, 1938 The Irish general election of 1938 was held on 17 June 1938. The 138 newly elected members of the 10th Dáil assembled on 30 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
10th Members of the 10th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 10th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1938 general election on 17 June 1938 and met on 30 June 1938. The 10th Dáil was dissolved by President Douglas Hyde, at the request of the... |
10.0% | 9 | Fianna Fáil government | 138 |
| 1943 Irish general election, 1943 The Irish general election of 1943 was held on 23 June 1943. The 138 newly elected members of the 11th Dáil assembled on 1 July when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
11th Members of the 11th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 11th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1943 general election on 23 June 1943 and met on 1 July 1943. The 11th Dáil was dissolved by President Douglas Hyde, at the request of the Taoiseach... |
15.3% | 17 | Fianna Fáil government | 138 |
| 1944 Irish general election, 1944 The Irish general election of 1944 was held on 30 May 1944, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 9 May. The 138 newly elected members of the 12th Dáil assembled on 9 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
12th Members of the 12th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 12th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1944 general election on 30 May 1944 and met on 9 June 1944. The 12th Dáil was dissolved by President Seán T. O'Kelly, at the request of the... |
8.7% | 8 | Fianna Fáil government | 138 |
| 1948 Irish general election, 1948 The Irish general election of 1948 was held on 4 February 1948. The 147 newly elected members of the 13th Dáil assembled on 18 February when the First Inter-Party government in the history of the Irish state was appointed.... |
13th Members of the 13th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 13th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1948 general election on 4 February 1948 and met on 18 February 1948. The 13th Dáil was dissolved by President Seán T. O'Kelly, at the request of... |
11.3% | 14 | Fine Gael–Labour Party–Clann na Poblachta–Clann na Talmhan–National Labour government | 147 |
| 1951 Irish general election, 1951 The Irish general election of 1951 was held on 30 May 1951. The newly elected members of the 14th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 13 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
14th Members of the 14th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 14th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1951 general election on 30 May 1951 and met on 13 June 1951. The 14th Dáil was dissolved by President Seán T. O'Kelly, at the request of the... |
11.4% | 16 | Fianna Fáil government | 147 |
| 1954 Irish general election, 1954 The Irish general election of 1954 was held on 18 May 1954. The newly elected members of the 15th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 2 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
15th Members of the 15th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 15th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1954 general election on 14 May 1954 and met on 2 June 1954. The 15th Dáil was dissolved by President Seán T. O'Kelly, at the request of the... |
12.1% | 19 | Fine Gael–Labour Party–Clann na Talmhan government | 147 |
| 1957 Irish general election, 1957 The Irish general election of 1957 was held on 5 March 1957, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 4 February. The newly elected members of the 16th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 20 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place... |
16th Members of the 16th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 16th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1957 general election on 5 March 1957 and met on 20 March 1957. The 16th Dáil was dissolved by President Éamon de Valera, at the request of the... |
9.1% | 13 | Fianna Fáil government | 147 |
| 1961 Irish general election, 1961 The Irish general election of 1961 was held on 4 October 1961, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 8 September. The newly elected members of the 17th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 11 October when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took... |
17th Members of the 17th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 17th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1961 general election on 4 October 1961 and met on 11 October 1961. The 17th Dáil was dissolved by President Éamon de Valera, at the request of the... |
11.7% | 16 | Fianna Fáil government | 144 |
| 1965 Irish general election, 1965 The Irish general election of 1965 was held on 7 April 1965. The newly elected members of the 18th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 21 April when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
18th Members of the 18th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 18th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1965 general election on 7 April 1965 and met on 21 April 1965. The 18th Dáil was dissolved by President Éamon de Valera, at the request of the... |
15.4% | 22 | Fianna Fáil government | 144 |
| 1969 Irish general election, 1969 The Irish general election of 1969 was held on 18 June 1969. The newly elected members of the 19th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 2 July when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed... |
19th Members of the 19th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 19th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1969 general election on 18 June 1969 and met on 2 July 1969. The 19th Dáil was dissolved by President Éamon de Valera, at the request of the... |
16.6% | 18 | Fianna Fáil government | 144 |
| 1973 Irish general election, 1973 The Irish general election of 1973 was held on 28 February 1973. The newly elected 144 members of the 20th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 4 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
20th Members of the 20th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 20th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1973 general election on 26 February 1973 and met on 4 March 1973. The 20th Dáil was dissolved by President Patrick Hillery, at the request of the... |
13.7% | 19 | Fine Gael–Labour Party government | 144 |
| 1977 Irish general election, 1977 The Irish general election of 1977 was held on 16 June 1977 and is regarded as a pivotal point in twentieth century Irish politics. The general election took place in 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 148 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The number of... |
21st Members of the 21st Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 21st Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1977 general election on 16 June 1977 and met on 5 July 1977. The 21st Dáil was dissolved by President Patrick Hillery, at the request of the... |
11.6% | 17 | Fianna Fáil government | 148 |
| 1981 Irish general election, 1981 The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.... |
22nd Members of the 22nd Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 22nd Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1981 general election on 11 June 1981 and met on 30 June 1981. The 22nd Dáil was dissolved by President Patrick Hillery, at the request of the... |
9.9% | 15 | Fine Gael–Labour Party government | 166 |
| 23rd Members of the 23rd Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 23rd Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the February 1982 general election on 18 February 1982 and met on 9 March 1982. The 23rd Dáil was dissolved by President Patrick Hillery, at the request... |
9.1% | 15 | Fianna Fáil government | 166 | |
| 24th Members of the 24th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 24th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the November 1982 general election on 24 November 1982 and met on 14 December 1982... |
9.4% | 16 | Fine Gael–Labour Party government | 166 | |
| 1987 Irish general election, 1987 The Irish general election of 1987 was held on 17 February 1987, four weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 20 January. The newly-elected 166 members of the 25th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 10 March when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place in... |
25th Members of the 25th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 25th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1987 general election on 17 February 1987 and met on 10 March 1987. The 25th Dáil was dissolved by President Patrick Hillery, at the request of the... |
6.5% | 12 | Fianna Fáil government | 166 |
| 1989 Irish general election, 1989 The Irish general election of 1989 was held on Thursday, 15 June 1989, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 25 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 26th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 29 June... |
26th Members of the 26th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 26th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1989 general election on 15 June 1989 and met on 29 June 1989. The 26th Dáil was dissolved by President Patrick Hillery, at the request of the... |
9.5% | 15 | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats government | 166 |
| 1992 Irish general election, 1992 The Irish general election of 1992 was held on Wednesday, 25 November 1992, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. However, after difficulties in forming a government the newly elected 166 members of the 27th Dáil did not assemble at Leinster House until 4 January 1993... |
27th Members of the 27th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 27th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1992 general election on 25 November 1992 and met on 4 January 1993. The 27th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary Robinson, at the request of the... |
19.5% | 33 | Fianna Fáil–Labour Party (1992–94) Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left (1994–97) |
166 |
| 1997 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.... |
28th Members of the 28th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 28th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 1997 general election on 6 June 1997 and met on 26 June 1997. The 28th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the... |
10.4% | 17 | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats government | 166 |
| 2002 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... |
29th Members of the 29th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 29th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2002 general election on 17 May 2002 and met on 6 June 2002. The 29th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach... |
10.8% | 21 | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats government | 166 |
| 2007 | 30th Members of the 30th Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 30th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2007 general election on 24 May 2007 and met on 14 June 2007. The 30th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the... |
10.1% | 20 | Fianna Fáil–Green Party-Progressive Democrats government | 166 |
| 2011 | 31st Members of the 31st Dáil This is a list of the members who were elected to the 31st Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. These TDs were elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and met at midday on 9 March 2011... |
19.4% | 37 | Fine Gael–Labour Party government | 166 |
In December 1994, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left entered into government without a general election being called.
Structure
The Labour Party is a membership organisation consisting of Labour (DáilDáil 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...
) constituency councils, affiliated trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and socialist societies. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions (Dáil, Seanad, European Parliament) form the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). The party's decision-making bodies on a national level formally include the Executive Board (formerly known as the National Executive Committee), Labour Party Conference and Central Council. The Executive Board has responsibility for organisation and finance, with the Central Council being responsible for policy formation - although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say on policy. The Labour Party Conference debates motions put forward by branches, constituency councils, party members sections and affiliates. Motions set principles of policy and organisation but are not generally detailed policy statements.
For many years Labour held to a policy of not allowing residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership, instead supporting the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
(SDLP). The National Conference approved the establishment of a Northern Ireland Members Forum but it has not agreed to contest elections there.
As a party with a constitutional commitment to democratic socialism
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
founded by trade unions to represent the interests of working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
people, Labour's link with unions has always been a defining characteristic of the party. Over time this link has come under increasing strain, with most craft based unions based in the public sector and Irish Congress of Trades Unions having disaffiliated since the 1950s. The remaining affiliated unions are primarily private sector general union
General union
A General Union is a trade union which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organization or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union...
s. Currently affiliated unions still send delegates to the National Conference in proportion to the size of their membership. Recent constitutional changes mean that in future, affiliated unions will send delegations based on the number of party members in their organisation.
Sections
Within the Labour Party there are different sections:- Labour YouthLabour YouthLabour Youth is the youth wing of the Labour Party of Ireland. Anyone under the age of 27 is eligible to join Labour Youth....
- Labour Women
- Labour Trade Unionists
- Labour CouncillorCouncillorA councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
s - Labour Equality (this section also includes groups such as Labour LGBT)
Affiliates
The Irish Labour Party constitution makes provision for both Trade Unions and Socialist Societies to affiliate to the party. There are currently eleven Trade Unions affiliated to the Party:- Unite the UnionUnite the UnionUnite – the Union, known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union, formed on 1 May 2007, by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union...
- Munster & District Graphical Society
- Irish Municipal Public and Civil Trade Union (IMPACT) Municipal Employees Division
- National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport WorkersNational Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport WorkersThe National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...
(RMT) - General, Municipal and Boilermakers' Union (GMB)
- Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTUSIPTUSIPTU , or in Irish: CSTGT is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Republic of Ireland, although the union does have a Northern Ireland branch...
) - Bakers, Food and Allied Workers UnionBakers, Food and Allied Workers UnionThe Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1847 in Manchester, it is a trade-based union of workers in the food industry....
(BFWAU) - Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA)
- Union of Construction, Allied Trades and TechniciansUnion of Construction, Allied Trades and TechniciansThe Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians is a British and Irish trade union which represents, as of December 2009, 127,433 workers in construction and allied trades, an increase of nearly 17,000 since 2003....
(UCATT)
Socialist Societies Affiliated to the Party:
- Labour Party Lawyers Group
- Association of Labour Teachers
- Labour Social Services Group
Leadership
- Thomas JohnsonThomas Johnson (Irish politician)Thomas Johnson was an Irish nationalist and Irish Labour Party leader. He was elected a Teachta Dála for Dublin County to the Third Dáil at the 1922 general election and was the leader of the Labour Party until 1927...
(1922–1927) - Thomas J. O'ConnellThomas J. O'ConnellThomas J. O'Connell was an Irish trade unionist and politician, and was leader of the Irish Labour Party from 1927 to 1932....
(1927–1932) - William NortonWilliam NortonWilliam Norton was an Irish Labour Party politician, and leader of the party from 1932 to 1960.Norton was born in Dublin in 1900. He joined the postal service in 1916. By 1920 he was a prominent member in the trade union movement in Ireland. From 1924 to 1948 he served as secretary of the Post...
(1932–1960) - Brendan Corish (1960–1977)
- Frank CluskeyFrank CluskeyFrank Cluskey was an Irish politician and a former leader of the Irish Labour Party.Frank Cluskey was born on 1 April 1930 in Dublin. He worked as a butcher and then joined the Labour Party. He quickly became a branch secretary in the Workers' Union of Ireland. In the 1965 general election he was...
(1977–1981) - Michael O'Leary (1981–1982)
- Dick SpringDick SpringRichard "Dick" Spring is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dála in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997...
(1982–1997) - Ruairi QuinnRuairi QuinnRuairi Quinn is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Education and Skills since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency. He was Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002.-Early...
(1997–2002) - Pat RabbittePat RabbittePat Rabbitte is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources since March 2011...
(2002–2007) - Eamon GilmoreEamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...
(2007–)
Deputy Leader
- James TullyJames TullyJames "Jim" Tully was a prominent Irish trade unionist, politician and Deputy Leader of the Irish Labour Party who served as a minister in a series of Fine Gael-Labour Irish coalition governments....
(1981-1982) - Barry DesmondBarry DesmondBarry Desmond is a former Irish Labour Party politician and government minister.He was educated at the Presentation Brothers, the School of Commerce and University College Cork, and became a trade union official with the ITGWU and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions...
(1982–1989) - Ruairi QuinnRuairi QuinnRuairi Quinn is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Education and Skills since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency. He was Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002.-Early...
(1989–1997) - Brendan HowlinBrendan HowlinBrendan Howlin is an Irish Labour Party politician who has served as a Teachta Dála for Wexford since 1987. Currently the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, he previously served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Health.-Early life:Born into a highly...
(1997–2002) - Liz McManusLiz McManusElizabeth "Liz" McManus is a former Irish politician. She served as a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency from 1992 to 2011.-Personal life:...
(2002–2007) - Joan BurtonJoan BurtonJoan Burton is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Minister for Social Protection. She is a Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency....
(2007–)
See also
- History of the Labour Party (Ireland)
- Labour YouthLabour YouthLabour Youth is the youth wing of the Labour Party of Ireland. Anyone under the age of 27 is eligible to join Labour Youth....
- :Category:Labour Party (Ireland) politicians