Communist Party of Ireland

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Communist Party of Ireland
Leader	Eugene McCartan
Founded	1921/1933/1970
Headquarters	7 Bloom Lane, Dublin 1
Political Ideology	Marxist/Socialism
International Affiliation	World Communist Movement
European Affiliation	none
European Parliament Group	none
Colours	Red, Yellow
Website	www.communistpartyofireland.ie
See also: Politics of the Republic of Ireland Political parties in the Republic of Ireland Elections in Ireland

The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; Irish: Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is a small all-Ireland Marxist party. It was founded as the Socialist Party of Ireland, and was renamed the Communist Party in 1921 upon its affiliation to the Communist International. The party dissolved in 1924, but was refounded in 1933. In 1941 the party was separated into two, the Irish Workers' Party and the Communist Party of Northern Ireland. The two parties re-united into the present incarnation in 1970.

In the early half of the 20th Century the CPI suffered due to the authoritarian and Catholic political culture present in Ireland at that time; its premises were burned down on a number of occasions. (See the report by Eugene Downing who was present.) The Party provided the core of the Irish volunteers in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War, losing a lot of members who were killed in action.

The party, however, grew consistently through the 1960s and 1970s and early 1980s. In the late 1980s huge numbers of members left when the reality of Gorbachev's policies became apparent. It survived the 1990s and recently began rebuilding itself.

Historically the party belonged to the wing of international communism which looked to the Soviet Union for inspiration.

The party's aim is to win the support of the majority of the Irish people for ending the capitalist system and for building socialism. It is actively opposed to the European Constitution and privatisation.

The party is currently led by Eugene McCartan, its General Secretary. The Belfast branch produces a weekly newspaper called Unity, while the Dublin branch produces a monthly publication called Socialist Voice. The Party also has branches in Galway and Cork. A new branch was recently founded in Kildare.

While a registered party, it has rarely run candidates in elections, and has never had electoral success. Despite this, it has had influence in the trade union movement, the republican movement and was involved in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights campaign. In addition, a number of prominent Irish Labour Party members were former members of the CPI.

Internationally, it maintains fraternal meetings with the Communist Party of Britain and many other European socialist and communist parties.

The CPI operates a bookshop in Dublin known as Connolly Books. Its youth organisation is the Connolly Youth Movement. Both are named after the Irish socialist James Connolly.

[edit] External links

• Official site

• History of the Communist Movement in Ireland

• The storming of Connolly House (1933)

Political Parties in the Republic of Ireland
Represented in Dáil Éireann:	Fianna Fáil (80) | Fine Gael (32) | Labour Party (22) | Progressive Democrats (8) | Green Party (6) | Sinn Féin (5) | Socialist Party (1)
Represented in Seanad Éireann:	Fianna Fáil (29) | Fine Gael (15) | Labour Party (5) | Progressive Democrats (5)
Represented in the European Parliament:	Fine Gael (5) | Fianna Fáil (4) | Labour Party (1) | Sinn Féin (2)
	note:Sinn Féin's second European seat is held in Northern ireland
Minor parties:	Workers Party | Socialist Workers Party | Communist Party of Ireland | Christian Solidarity Party | Republican Sinn Féin

Political Parties in Northern Ireland
Democratic Unionist Party | Ulster Unionist Party | Sinn Féin | Social Democratic and Labour Party | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | Progressive Unionist Party | UK Unionist Party | Northern Ireland Women's Coalition | Northern Ireland Unionist Party | Conservative Party | Green Party in Northern Ireland | Socialist Environmental Alliance | Workers Party | Ulster Third Way | Socialist Party | Communist Party of Ireland