Workers Party of Ireland

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The Workers Party of Ireland
Leader Seán Garland
Founded 1982
Headquarters 23 Hill Street,
Dublin 1
Political Ideology Marxism
International Affiliation International Communist & Workers Parties
European Affiliation none
European Parliament Group none
Colours Red, Green
Website www.workerspartyireland.net

See also:
Politics of the Republic of Ireland
Political parties in the Republic of Ireland
Elections in Ireland

The Workers Party of Ireland (in Irish Páirtí na nOibri,) is an Irish left wing political party that developed from Official Sinn Féin and the Official IRA.

They have had limited electoral success, more so in the Republic of Ireland than in Northern Ireland.

The modern origins of the party can be traced clearly to the early 1960s. After the failure of the IRA's 1956-62 "border campaign" the republican movement, with a new and progressive military and political leadership undertook a complete reappraisal of its raison d'être. The movement concentrated on political, social and civil rights activities and moved away from the military elitism of the previous 30 years. This led to the organisation becoming much more politically relevant but was not accepted by a small section of its membership who clung to the Irish nationalism of the past.

In 1970 Sinn Féin split with the majority "Officials" focusing on Marxist principles, with the minority "Provisionals" focusing on achieving a united Ireland by force. In 1977 the Officials, renamed themselves Sinn Féin The Workers Party, under which title it won its first seats in Dáil Éireann in 1981 and 1982. In Northern Ireland they were organised under the name Republican Clubs until 1981 when they renamed themselves The Workers Party Republican Clubs. In 1982 both Northern and Southern branches became simply The Workers Party.

The Workers Party became a significant political force in the Republic in the 1980s, benefiting from disillusionment with poor public services and high taxes and unemployment. They built on their first seat in Dáil Éireann by adding a second seat in 1982, increasing this to 4 seats in 1987 and 7 seats in 1989. They reached their highest share of the vote in the European Parliament election of 1989, with over 70000 votes in the Dublin constituency being sufficient to have the party president, Proinsias De Rossa, elected to the parliament, where he took a seat with the communist Left Unity group.

The political party Democratic Left, which merged with the Labour Party in 1999, evolved from a split in the Workers Party in 1992, which occurred after alleged Official IRA fundraising robberies in the south of Ireland. Consequently many in the party sought to distance themselves from the Official IRA at a special Ard Fheis (delegate conference) in February 1992. This is strongly contested by those who remained with the Workers' Party who regard those who broke away as careerists and social democrats who had taken flight after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The motion achieved the support of 61% of delegates however this was short of the two thirds majority needed to change the party constitution. As a result De Rossa along with all but one of the party's Dáil deputies and the bulk of the membership (disputed) left the party establishing a new party which was temporarily known as New Agenda before the permanent name of Democratic Left was adopted.

The remainder of the Workers Party lost its only Dáil seat in the 1992 general election and from then on the party has gone into serious decline, losing all but three of its local authority seats in 1999, and losing a further one of these in 2004. Outside of Waterford City Council, there is now no local authority in Ireland with Workers' Party representation.

In Northern Ireland the party was always a minor force, with its strongest showings being in the Craigavon and Belfast areas. The party polled 19% in the 1986 Upper Bann by-election however this was mainly due to the other Nationalist parties declining to stand. On local councils they won 10 seats in 1973 however this had declined to four council seats by the time of the split. Two of these joined Democratic Left including its Northern chairman Seamus Lynch with one becoming a 'Progressive Socialist' leaving them with a solitary council seat. They held this in the 1993 council elections albeit purely as a result of there being 5 nationalist quotas and only 4 SDLP / Sinn Féin candidates. It was lost in 1997 leaving them without elected representation in Northern Ireland.

On June 20, 2004, the BBC documentary program Panorama alleged that party president Seán Garland was involved in counterfeiting of U.S. dollars. On October 7, 2005, Garland was arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland at the party's annual conference in Belfast. He was released on bail pending an extradition hearing to the United States. The U.S. government alleges that Garland conspired with the North Korean government to import counterfeit $100 notes into the US. Garland has since jumped bail and returned to his home to the Republic of Ireland, and "placed himself under the protection of the Irish constitution and court system". He had sought bail successfully on medical grounds and assured the court that he would reattend to face his extradition hearing. Up until now neither the US or UK authorities have sought his extradition from the Republic.

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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 (1 †)
Minor parties:

Workers Party | Socialist Workers Party | Communist Party of Ireland | Christian Solidarity Party | Republican Sinn Féin
† Sinn Féin holds a second European seat in Northern Ireland
Political parties in the United Kingdom
Represented in the House of Commons (646) :

Labour (354) | Conservatives (198) | Liberal Democrats (63) | DUP (9) | SNP (6) | Sinn Féin (5#) | Plaid Cymru (3) | SDLP (3) | Ind KHHC (1) | Independent (1) | Independent Labour (1) | Respect (1) | UUP (1)
Represented in the House of Lords (741) :

Labour (213) | Conservatives (210) | Cross-bencher (196) | Liberal Democrats (79) | Greens (E&W) (1) | Bishops (26) | Non affiliated (13) | Conservative Independent (1) | Independent Labour (1) | Independent (1)
Represented in the Scottish Parliament (129):

Labour (50) | SNP (27) | Conservative and Unionists (17) | Liberal Democrats (17) | Scottish Greens (7) | SSP (4) | Solidarity (2) | SSCUP (1) | Independent (5)
Represented in the National Assembly for Wales (60):

Labour (29) | Plaid Cymru (12) | Conservatives (11) | Liberal Democrats (6) | Forward Wales (1) | Independent (1)
Represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly (108) [Suspended]

DUP (32) | UUP (24) | Sinn Féin (24) | SDLP (18) | Alliance (6) | PUP (1) | UKUP (1) | Independent (2)
Represented in the London Assembly (25):

Conservatives (9) | Labour (7) | Liberal Democrats (5) | Greens (E&W) (2) | One London (2)
Represented in the European Parliament (72 out of 732):

Conservatives (ED, 26) | Labour (PES, 19) | Liberal Democrats (ELDR, 12) | UKIP (ID, 10) | Greens (E&W) (EGP, 2) | SNP (EFA, 2) | DUP (ED, 1) | Plaid Cymru (EFA, 1) | Sinn Féin (EUL, 1†) | UUP (ED, 1) | Independent (NA, 2)
Notes #Although Sinn Féin have five elected members and have offices at Westminster, are abstentionist and therefore do not take their seats
† Sinn Féin has a second MEP from the Republic of Ireland
Minor parties:

BNP | Socialist Labour | Liberal | English Democrats
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