Socialist Party (Ireland)
| Páirtí Sóisialach Socialist Party |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Party leader | collective leadership |
| founding | 1996 |
| Headquarters | 141 Thomas Street, Dublin 8 |
| Alignment |
Socialism Trotskyism |
| Colours) | Red White |
|
Parliamentary seats Dáil Éireann |
2020 : 1/160 |
| Seanad Éireann | 2020: 0/60 |
| International connections | CWI |
| MEPs |
2019 : 0/13 |
| European party | EAL |
| Website |
socialistparty.ie Northern Ireland: socialistpartyni.net |
The Socialist Party (SP, Irish : Páirtí Sóisialach ) is an active political party in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland . It was Ireland's only Marxist and socialist organization with seats in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2007 . After the European elections in 2009 , it was represented with a seat in the European Parliament until 2014 . The party is part of the Trotskyist Committee for a Workers' International (KAI / CWI) , its German sister organization is the Socialist Alternative (SAV) .
The Socialist Party should not be confused with the Irish Republican Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party (standalone) .
history
Before the party was given its current name in 1996, many of its members belonged to the Irish Militant Tendency and Irish Militant Labor (both supporters of the above-mentioned committee). Like many of these organizations, the first of the two practiced the principle of entryism within the Labor Party until the 1980s . As a result, many members were expelled from the Labor Party in the early 1990s and founded an independent organization called Militant Labor .
The Socialist Party is represented in both the Republic and Northern Ireland and publishes a monthly newspaper called The Socialist (formerly Socialist Voice , The Voice and Militant ) and the irregular journal Socialist View (formerly Socialism 2000 ). There is also the Internet magazine International Socialist Voice and the occasional Dublin newsletter, Fingal Socialist .
Through campaigning, the party created a certain electoral base, so that Joe Higgins could achieve a seat in the House of Commons in the 1997 election and four other members in working-class Dublin and Cork seats at the local level. The party found it harder to gain a foothold in Northern Ireland, but it did manage to build a certain presence within the unions.
The lower house won by Joe Higgins was also defended by the Socialist Party in the 2002 election, Clare Daly barely missed another seat. In the local elections in 2004, the party managed to get two more seats: Mick Murphy in one District in Tallaght and Mick Barry in a Cork district. In the European elections in the same year Joe Higgins received 23,200 votes (5.5%), doubling his previous result, but could not get a seat. In the European elections in 2009, Joe Higgins won the European Parliament with 50,500 votes (12.4%). In the elections of 2011 you managed to move into the Dáil Éireann with two seats .
The elected officials of the Socialist Party now ran Solidarity for the newly founded Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA) in the local elections in 2014 , which gave it the reputation of being a leading organization of the SP. After the union of the AAA with the People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA) to the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit now Solidarity-People Before Profit , its members in Dáil Éireann joined this newly founded group.
Member of the Dáil Éireann
In the elections for the Dáil Éireann 2020 , 1 member of the electoral alliance Solidarity – People Before Profit was elected:
- Solidarity
- Mick Barry (member of the Socialist Party, Cork North-Central constituency)
Extra-parliamentary activities
The Socialist Party is very active in the trade union movement and advocates more militant actions to improve and protect workers' rights. Members of the party are represented in various high-ranking positions within the trade unions - within the CPSU ( Civil and Public Service Union ) and NIPSA ( Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance ) the party even provides the president.
The party is also involved in various campaigns - e.g. B. against the controversial sewage charge in Dublin in the mid-1990s, a waste charge and in Northern Ireland another sewage charge. At the international level, the party fought against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the occupation of Palestine ; domestically against fascism , racism , low wages and religious discrimination. Furthermore, the party is seen as an “advocate” and supporter of workers, women, ethnic minorities and homosexuals .
In the fall of 2003, the Socialist Party was in all the Irish media when both Joe Higgins and Clare Daly were sentenced to one month in prison and spent in Mountjoy Prison for failing to comply with a High Court injunction against obstruction of garbage trucks . These actions were part of the campaign against garbage charges. Other party members (along with members of other parties and other activists) were convicted of similar offenses in this context.
In 2005, the Socialist Party (and Joe Higgins in particular) was primarily responsible for exposing the fact that Turkish immigrant construction workers were working for a Turkish (multinational) company on Irish state construction projects. Workers were paid just € 3 an hour (less than half the minimum wage in Ireland) and were forced to work up to 80 hours a week. This exposure by the Socialist Party led to the first major strike by foreign migrant workers in Ireland and the discovery of Dutch bank accounts with millions in the names of the workers. The strike ended in an absolute victory and workers received tens of thousands of euros in arrears. For the party, this development and the large press presence for months meant a great deal of support, for the trade union SIPTU ( Services, Industrial Professional Technical Union ), of which the workers were a member, a bitter loss.
With the Socialist Youth , the party also has its own youth wing, which is represented in most of the cities in which the Socialist Party also has branches.
Both Socialist Youth and the Socialist Party seek to have economic power taken from the hands of the banks, shareholders and economic bosses and given to the working class. The party stands for state property as well as for a socialist planned economy in key economic issues. With regard to Northern Ireland , the party takes a more radical approach than the current status quo. Across the borders the working classes should unite and form a united socialist Ireland, which should be part of an international socialist federation.
See also
Web links
- The Socialist Party website (English)
- Socialist Party in Northern Ireland website (English)
- The Socialist Youth website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Irish Times, June 8, 2009
- ↑ electionsireland.org
- ^ Election 2011 - National Summary , Raidió Teilifís Éireann
† Sinn Féin's MPs do not take their seats in Westminster