Labour Party

Labour Party, main party of the left in the Republic of Ireland.

History

The forerunner of the Labour Party, the Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress, was organized in 1912 by union leaders James Connolly and James Larkin and formally established as an independent party in March 1930, when it was renamed the Labour Party. In 1922 it won more than 20 percent of the vote in elections to the Dáil (lower house of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament) in the newly established Irish Free State and served as the major opposition party from 1922 to 1927. Despite its small size, the Labour Party participated in broad coalition governments with Fine Gael and other parties in 1948–51 and 1954–57.

A cautious, conservative, and surprisingly rural party considering its origins in the trade union movement, the Labour Party moved leftward in the 1960s under a new leader, Brendan Corish, and attracted urban intellectuals. The party hoped to take advantage of the modernization of Irish society and outgrow its status as a minor party. Although it governed as a junior partner with Fine Gael in 1973–77 and 1981–87 (except for a period in 1982, when Fianna Fáil was in office), it made no electoral breakthroughs until 1990, when Mary Robinson, candidate of the Labour Party and the Workers’ Party, won the 1990 presidential election and became the first woman president of Ireland. In 1992, under the leadership of Dick Spring, the party enjoyed its greatest success in 70 years, winning nearly 20 percent of the vote and 33 seats in the Dáil in general elections that year. A majority coalition with the Fianna Fáil party collapsed after two years in 1994, and the party formed a new three-party coalition with Fine Gael and Democratic Left. The Labour Party’s electoral gains evaporated in 1997, when the party won only 17 seats in the Dáil. In 1999 the party formally merged with Democratic Left, and in 2002 the combined party secured only 21 seats. The Labour Party captured just 20 seats in the 2007 elections.

Shortly after its disappointing showing in 2007, the party elected Eamon Gilmore as its new leader. Gilmore, a charismatic former trade unionist, became one of the country’s most popular politicians in the wake of the banking crisis that hobbled Ireland’s economy in 2008. By 2010 Ireland had been compelled to accept a loan package amounting to more than $100 billion from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, and the ruling Fianna Fáil–Green Party coalition began to show signs of strain. With the promise of early elections in 2011, Gilmore emerged as a strong possibility for prime minister, but Labour support flagged as the election approached. Nevertheless, Labour still managed its strongest-ever showing at the polls in February 2011, capturing more than 35 seats and emerging as the second largest party in the Dáil. It entered into a coalition with Fine Gael in March 2011, and Gilmore was appointed tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and minister of foreign affairs and trade.

Policy and structure

From the 1960s, Labour Party policy reflected the mainstream of European social democracy. The party advocated liberalization of laws on divorce and contraception, an active role for the state in managing the economy, and a moderate position (between those of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael) on the question of eventual unification with Northern Ireland. Originally opposed to membership in the European Economic Community (now commonly referred to as the European Union), which Ireland joined in 1973, the party gradually modified its stance and advocated a “yes” vote in referendums endorsing integration in 1987, 1992, and 1998. At the beginning of the 21st century, the party’s support was primarily urban and disproportionately working class.

Although the basic unit of party organization is the local branch, the Labour Party also has the affiliation of unions representing about half the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Supreme authority is placed in its annual delegate conference, but administrative and general affairs are entrusted to a national executive, the General Council, which appoints the party’s general secretary, the deputy general secretary, the organization secretary, and the international secretary. The Council, which meets three or four times a year, includes persons elected by the party conference; parliamentarians; representatives of the Association of Labour Councillors, the party’s youth and women’s sections, and its trade union affiliates; and some co-opted members. Additional women members may be appointed to ensure that women hold at least 20 percent of Council seats. Day-to-day business is delegated to an executive subcommittee. Essentially, the parliamentary leadership dominates policy making. Beginning in the 1980s, however, the party has entered coalition governments only with the approval of a postelection special delegate conference, and the party leader is now subject to selection by a one-member-one-vote system.