Proinsias De Rossa
Encyclopedia
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 1994 to 1997. In the European Parliament
he is a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
(S&D) group.
. Soon after his sixteenth birthday, in May 1956, he joined the IRA
, and was politically active in Sinn Féin from an early age. During the IRA Border Campaign, he was captured training IRA members in Glencree
in May 1956, served seven months in Mountjoy Prison
and was then interned at the Curragh Camp
.
He worked in his family's fruit and vegetable shop and later was employed as a postman and an encyclopaedia salesman. He took the Official Sinn Féin side in the 1970 split. In 1977 he contested his first general election for the party, which that year was renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party (in 1982 the name changed again to the Workers' Party
).
He was successful on his third attempt and was elected at the February 1982 general election as a Sinn Féin the Workers Party Teachta Dála
(TD) for the Dublin North West
constituency. He retained his seat until 2002, when he did not contest the general election in order to devote more time to his work in the European parliament.
, where he topped the poll and the party almost succeeded in replacing Fine Gael
as the capital's second-largest party. However the campaign resulted in a serious build up of the financial debt of the Workers' Party, which threatened to greatly inhibit the party's ability to successfully ensure it would hold on to its gains.
In 1992, long-standing tensions within the Workers' Party pitting reformers, including most of the party's TDs, against hard-liners centred around former general secretary Seán Garland
came to a head. Disagreements on policy issues were exacerbated by the desire of the reformers to ditch the democratic centralist
nature of the party structures and remove any remaining questions about alleged party links with the Official IRA, a topic which had been the subject of persistent and embarrassing media coverage. De Rossa called a Special Ardfheis (party conference) to debate changes to the constitution. The motion failed to get the required two-thirds majority and subsequently De Rossa led the majority of the parliamentary group and councillors out of a meeting of the party's Central Executive Committee the following Saturday at Wynn's Hotel, splitting the party.
and De Rossa was elected party leader. Later that year, he resigned his European Parliament seat in favour of Democratic Left general secretary Des Geraghty
.
Following the collapse of the Fianna Fáil
–Labour Party
coalition government in 1994, Fine Gael
, Labour and Democratic Left successfully negotiated a government programme for the remaining life of the 27th Dáil. De Rossa became Minister for Social Welfare. He initiated Ireland's first national anti-poverty strategy, a commission on the family, and a commission to examine national pension policy. He defended in the Dáil, the Soviet Union's treatment of its Jewish population despite evidence that they were doing their utmost to leave and were overrepresented among the ranks of imprisoned dissidents.
The 1997 general election
resulted in the defeat of the outgoing coalition. At this point, the party had accumulated a very significant financial debt. In light of the co-operation achieved during the rainbow government, in practically all policy areas, Democratic Left decided to merge with the Labour Party. Labour leader Ruairi Quinn
became leader of the unified party while De Rossa took up the symbolic post of party president, which he held until 2002.
In 1999 De Rossa was elected at the European Parliament election
for the Dublin constituency. He was re-elected at the 2004 European Parliament election. De Rossa did not contest his Dáil seat at the 2002 general election
.
, writing in the Sunday Independent
newspaper, published an article alleging that De Rossa was aware, while a member of the Workers' Party, of the Official IRA's alleged illegal activities, including bank robberies and forgery. De Rossa sued the newspaper for libel and was awarded IR£300,000.
De Rossa was a member of the European Convention which produced the July 2003 draft European constitution
. De Rossa is chair of the European Parliament
's delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council
. Moreover, he is a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
and the Conference of Delegation Chairs. De Rossa is also a substitute member of the Committee on Development
and is a substitute on the delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly
.
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,...
Labour Party
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...
politician and Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for 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:...
. He a former President of the 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....
and subsequently leader of 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:...
, and later, a senior member of the Labour Party. He was Minister for Social Welfare from 1994 to 1997. In 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...
he is a member 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...
(S&D) group.
Early life and political activity
Born as Francis Ross in 1940 in Dublin, he was educated at Marlborough Street National School and Dublin Institute of TechnologyDublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...
. Soon after his sixteenth birthday, in May 1956, he joined the IRA
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
, and was politically active in Sinn Féin from an early age. During the IRA Border Campaign, he was captured training IRA members in Glencree
Glencree
Glencree is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is the second closest valley in the mountains to Dublin city, the first being Glencullen. The river Dargle flows down the valley, which rises to a height of abut 400 metres...
in May 1956, served seven months in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
and was then interned at the Curragh Camp
Curragh Camp
The Curragh Camp is an army base and military college located in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Army.- Brief history of the Curragh's military heritage :...
.
He worked in his family's fruit and vegetable shop and later was employed as a postman and an encyclopaedia salesman. He took the Official Sinn Féin side in the 1970 split. In 1977 he contested his first general election for the party, which that year was renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party (in 1982 the name changed again to the 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....
).
He was successful on his third attempt and was elected at the February 1982 general election as a Sinn Féin the Workers Party Teachta Dála
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...
(TD) for the Dublin North West
Dublin North West (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin North–West is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies...
constituency. He retained his seat until 2002, when he did not contest the general election in order to devote more time to his work in the European parliament.
Workers' Party leadership and split
In 1988, De Rossa succeeded Tomás Mac Giolla as president of the Workers' Party. The party had been growing steadily in the 1980s and had its best ever electoral performance in the general and European elections held in 1989. The party won 7 Dáil seats with 5% of the vote. De Rossa himself was elected to the European Parliament for the Dublin constituencyDublin (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:...
, where he topped the poll and the party almost succeeded in replacing 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 capital's second-largest party. However the campaign resulted in a serious build up of the financial debt of the Workers' Party, which threatened to greatly inhibit the party's ability to successfully ensure it would hold on to its gains.
In 1992, long-standing tensions within the Workers' Party pitting reformers, including most of the party's TDs, against hard-liners centred around former general secretary Seán Garland
Seán Garland
Seán Garland is a former President of the Workers' Party in Ireland.-Early Life:Born at Belvedere Place, off Mountjoy Square in Dublin, Garland joined the Irish Republican Army in 1953. In 1954, he briefly joined the British Army as an IRA agent and collected intelligence on Gough Barracks in...
came to a head. Disagreements on policy issues were exacerbated by the desire of the reformers to ditch the democratic centralist
Democratic centralism
Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist policy inside a political party...
nature of the party structures and remove any remaining questions about alleged party links with the Official IRA, a topic which had been the subject of persistent and embarrassing media coverage. De Rossa called a Special Ardfheis (party conference) to debate changes to the constitution. The motion failed to get the required two-thirds majority and subsequently De Rossa led the majority of the parliamentary group and councillors out of a meeting of the party's Central Executive Committee the following Saturday at Wynn's Hotel, splitting the party.
Democratic Left
De Rossa and the other former Workers' Party members then established a new political party, provisionally called New Agenda. At its founding conference in March 1992 it was named Democratic LeftDemocratic 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:...
and De Rossa was elected party leader. Later that year, he resigned his European Parliament seat in favour of Democratic Left general secretary Des Geraghty
Des Geraghty
Desmond "Des" Geraghty is a former Irish politician and trade union leader. He was president of SIPTU from 1999 to 2004. He stood unsuccessfully at the 1984 European Parliament election for the Dublin constituency as a Workers' Party candidate...
.
Following the collapse of the 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...
–Labour Party
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...
coalition government in 1994, 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...
, Labour and Democratic Left successfully negotiated a government programme for the remaining life of the 27th Dáil. De Rossa became Minister for Social Welfare. He initiated Ireland's first national anti-poverty strategy, a commission on the family, and a commission to examine national pension policy. He defended in the Dáil, the Soviet Union's treatment of its Jewish population despite evidence that they were doing their utmost to leave and were overrepresented among the ranks of imprisoned dissidents.
The 1997 general election
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....
resulted in the defeat of the outgoing coalition. At this point, the party had accumulated a very significant financial debt. In light of the co-operation achieved during the rainbow government, in practically all policy areas, Democratic Left decided to merge with the Labour Party. Labour leader 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 leader of the unified party while De Rossa took up the symbolic post of party president, which he held until 2002.
In 1999 De Rossa was elected at the European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 1999 (Ireland)
The 1999 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 1999 European Parliament election. The election was conducted under the single transferable vote.-Results:-Voting details :-See also:...
for the Dublin constituency. He was re-elected at the 2004 European Parliament election. De Rossa did not contest his Dáil seat at 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...
.
Libel action
It was during De Rossa's period as leader of Democratic Left that Irish journalist Eamon DunphyEamon Dunphy
Eamon Martin Dunphy is an Irish media personality, radio and television presenter, author, sports pundit, as well as a former professional football player. He is best known as a soccer analyst on Raidió Teilifís Éireann 's coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. He was paid...
, writing in the Sunday Independent
Sunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
newspaper, published an article alleging that De Rossa was aware, while a member of the Workers' Party, of the Official IRA's alleged illegal activities, including bank robberies and forgery. De Rossa sued the newspaper for libel and was awarded IR£300,000.
Work as an MEP
De Rossa has been a member of the European Parliament, with a strong pro-integration approach from a distinctly Social Democratic perspective, as well as a keen interest in foreign policy and social policy. He originally joined the Communist and Allies group before transferring to the PES.De Rossa was a member of the European Convention which produced the July 2003 draft European constitution
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
. De Rossa is chair of 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...
's delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
. Moreover, he is a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs is a committee of the European Parliament.- Chairman :2009 - : -External links:*...
and the Conference of Delegation Chairs. De Rossa is also a substitute member of the Committee on Development
Committee on Development
The Committee on Development is a standing committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with developing countries; aid to developing countries; and promotion of democratic...
and is a substitute on the delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly
Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly
The Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly , established in Naples on 3 December 2003 by decision of the Ministerial Conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, is the most recent institution of the Barcelona Process. The EMPA opened its proceedings in Vouliagmeni on 22 and 23 March 2004...
.
Sources
- The Politics of Illusion: A Political History of the IRA, Henry Patterson, ISBN 1-897959-31-1
- The Workers' Party in Dáil Éireann: The First Ten Years, The Workers' Party, 1991
- Patterns of Betrayal: The Flight From Socialism, The Workers' Party, 1992