Labour Youth
Encyclopedia
Labour Youth is the youth
wing of the Labour Party of Ireland
. Anyone under the age of 27 is eligible to join Labour Youth.
It replaced an earlier organisation, the Young Labour League
. The 1990s saw Labour Youth change and reestablished after the merger of the Labour Party and Democratic Left
. In the 2007 General Election Labour Youth opposed a pre-election pact with Fine Gael. Labour Youth Delegates to the Labour Party Special Delegate Conference in March 2011 also opposed the entry into coalition government with Fine Gael.
. The first annual conference took place on 13 May 1979, in which John Kelleher was elected as the first Chair of Labour Youth. The first campaign undertaken by Labour Youth was on combating unemployment.
During the 1980s, Labour Youth proudly stood with the Dunnes Stores
employees in their long strike against the apartheid regime in South Africa
. They raised and donated £1900 to support the striking workers, and regularly joined them on the picket-lines. The 1980s also marked a high-point in terms of youth participation, whereby Labour Youth had over 1200 members and could call demonstrations of over 1000 people in Dublin alone.
From the early 1980s Militant Tendency wielded significant control over the group, with Clare Daly
, (now a ULA
TD
) being elected a youth representative for the Labour Administrative Committee. 1988 a broad left coalition led by Joanna Tuffy
, (now a Labour Party TD
) won control over the group. The following year the leaders of Militant were expelled from the party.
Members were extremely active in the election of presidential candidate Mary Robinson
, forming a base of membership during the campaign that would provide the backbone of leadership within the organisation for years to come. They provided leadership to the National Youth Council of Ireland and in 1992 were among the founding members of the European Council of Socialist Youth. The #Tom Johnson Summer School, which is still a major date on Labour Youth’s calendar, was first initiated in 1994. In 1999, along with the main party, Labour Youth merged with Democratic Left Youth.
The group recently undertook an extremely active and visible role in the 2011 Irish General Election in support of Labour Party candidates. They later called on the Party to abandon talks on forming a coalition government with Fine Gael
, describing the proposal as inherently undemocratic.
National meetings are held several times a year to hold the National Youth Executive to account and to discuss campaigns, recruitment and ongoing issues.
Day-to-Day management of Labour Youth nationally, along with the implementation of Conference and National Meeting mandates is handled by the National Youth Executive. Individual National Officers also hold working groups relating to their portfolios to make policies and to plan campaigns and recruitment.
The basic operating unit of Labour Youth is the Branch. Branches are organized in most Universities and Institutes of Technology, where meetings are held, policies are debated and campaigns are organized and embarked upon. Branches retain their own leadership and administrative structures, the positions generally somewhat mirroring those of the National Youth Executive. Branches send delegates to Youth Conference to vote on Labour Youth Policy for the year and the composition of the National Youth Executive, and many Youth Branches are recognized as full Branches of the Labour Party in their own right, thereby having the ability to send delegates to vote at the Labour Party National Conference.
Labour Youth is also active on a central council, senior branch, constituency and local level.
. At Tom Johnson, panel discussions are held on a number of topics, with speakers from within and outside of the Party. The Jim Kemmy "Thirst for Justice" Award is awarded at Tom Johnson.
The current National Youth Executive are:
The Youth & Development Officer, employed by the Labour Party of Ireland
, is currently Rory Geraghty. The Y&DO facilitates and advises the Executive in the course of their functions and decisions.
Related Links
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
wing of the Labour Party of Ireland
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
. Anyone under the age of 27 is eligible to join Labour Youth.
It replaced an earlier organisation, the Young Labour League
Young Labour League
-Australia:The first Young Labor League appears to have been founded in Australia in the last years of the nineteenth century, and became associated with the Australian Labor Party.-United Kingdom:...
. The 1990s saw Labour Youth change and reestablished after the merger of 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:...
. In the 2007 General Election Labour Youth opposed a pre-election pact with Fine Gael. Labour Youth Delegates to the Labour Party Special Delegate Conference in March 2011 also opposed the entry into coalition government with Fine Gael.
History
Labour Youth succeeded the Young Labour League as a full section of the Party in 1979, under Party Leader Frank CluskeyFrank Cluskey
Frank 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...
. The first annual conference took place on 13 May 1979, in which John Kelleher was elected as the first Chair of Labour Youth. The first campaign undertaken by Labour Youth was on combating unemployment.
During the 1980s, Labour Youth proudly stood with the Dunnes Stores
Dunnes Stores
Dunnes Stores, also known as Dunnes, is a supermarket and clothing retail chain, that is based in Dublin, Ireland.The chain primarily sells food, clothes and household wares. In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain has operations in Great Britain and Spain...
employees in their long strike against the apartheid regime in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. They raised and donated £1900 to support the striking workers, and regularly joined them on the picket-lines. The 1980s also marked a high-point in terms of youth participation, whereby Labour Youth had over 1200 members and could call demonstrations of over 1000 people in Dublin alone.
From the early 1980s Militant Tendency wielded significant control over the group, with Clare Daly
Clare Daly
Clare Daly is an Irish Socialist Party politician and trade union activist. She was elected as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency at the 2011 general election. She was previously a Socialist Party councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council.-Early life:Daly was...
, (now a ULA
United Left Alliance
The United Left Alliance is an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election...
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...
) being elected a youth representative for the Labour Administrative Committee. 1988 a broad left coalition led by Joanna Tuffy
Joanna Tuffy
Joanna Tuffy is an Irish Labour Party politician. She has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin Mid West constituency since 2007....
, (now a Labour Party 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...
) won control over the group. The following year the leaders of Militant were expelled from the party.
Members were extremely active in the election of presidential candidate Mary Robinson
Mary 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...
, forming a base of membership during the campaign that would provide the backbone of leadership within the organisation for years to come. They provided leadership to the National Youth Council of Ireland and in 1992 were among the founding members of the European Council of Socialist Youth. The #Tom Johnson Summer School, which is still a major date on Labour Youth’s calendar, was first initiated in 1994. In 1999, along with the main party, Labour Youth merged with Democratic Left Youth.
The group recently undertook an extremely active and visible role in the 2011 Irish General Election in support of Labour Party candidates. They later called on the Party to abandon talks on forming a coalition government 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...
, describing the proposal as inherently undemocratic.
Campaigns
Recent campaigns have included:- No to College Fees
- Killer Coca Cola
- Shell To SeaShell to SeaShell to Sea is a campaign based in Cill Chomáin parish, Erris, County Mayo, Ireland which opposes the proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline through the parish and the ongoing construction by Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and Vermilion Energy Trust of a refinery at Bellanaboy intended to...
- Justice for Terence Wheelock
- Living wageLiving wageIn public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
- Same-sex marriage in Ireland
- US Military Out of ShannonShannon AirportShannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...
- Pro-ChoicePro-choiceSupport for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
- Student Grants Campaign
- No Sweat
- Seize the Power
Structure
Youth Conference is held every year in November. At Youth Conference, motions are debated and voted upon, setting Labour Youth policy. The National Youth Executive is also elected at Youth Conference. Youth Conference is the supreme decision-making body of Labour YouthNational meetings are held several times a year to hold the National Youth Executive to account and to discuss campaigns, recruitment and ongoing issues.
Day-to-Day management of Labour Youth nationally, along with the implementation of Conference and National Meeting mandates is handled by the National Youth Executive. Individual National Officers also hold working groups relating to their portfolios to make policies and to plan campaigns and recruitment.
The basic operating unit of Labour Youth is the Branch. Branches are organized in most Universities and Institutes of Technology, where meetings are held, policies are debated and campaigns are organized and embarked upon. Branches retain their own leadership and administrative structures, the positions generally somewhat mirroring those of the National Youth Executive. Branches send delegates to Youth Conference to vote on Labour Youth Policy for the year and the composition of the National Youth Executive, and many Youth Branches are recognized as full Branches of the Labour Party in their own right, thereby having the ability to send delegates to vote at the Labour Party National Conference.
Labour Youth is also active on a central council, senior branch, constituency and local level.
Tom Johnson Summer School
The Tom Johnson Summer School is held annually in July. It is named after Tom Johnson, the first leader of the Labour Party and the only leader to date to serve as the leader of the opposition in Dáil ÉireannDáil 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...
. At Tom Johnson, panel discussions are held on a number of topics, with speakers from within and outside of the Party. The Jim Kemmy "Thirst for Justice" Award is awarded at Tom Johnson.
Executive
The National Youth Executive (NYE) is responsible for the day to day running of Labour Youth. Officers are elected to the NYE at Youth Conference, held in November each year. The Labour Party Youth & Development Officer is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the NYE.The current National Youth Executive are:
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| National Chairperson | Conor Ryan |
| Vice-Chair/Campaigns | Luke Field |
| National Secretary | Noel Cullen |
| Education and Policy Officer | Deirdre Hosford |
| Communications Officer | Colm Maguire |
| Recruitment Officer | Aideen Carberry |
| International Officer | Cian Moran |
The Youth & Development Officer, employed by the Labour Party of Ireland
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
, is currently Rory Geraghty. The Y&DO facilitates and advises the Executive in the course of their functions and decisions.
| Former National Chairs | Years |
|---|---|
| Colm Lawless | 2010-2011 |
| Rory Geraghty | 2009-2010 |
| Gary Honer | 2008-2009 |
| Enda Duffy | 2007-2008 |
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:... TD |
2006-2007 |
| Graham Ó Maonaigh | 2005-2006 |
Publications
Labour Youth publishes The Left Tribune on a regular basis.External links
Official LinksRelated Links