| Labour Youth Óige an Lucht Oibre |
|
|---|---|
| Chairperson | Conor Ryan |
| Vice-Chairperson | Luke Field |
| Secretary General | Noel Cullen |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
| Ideology | Social democracy, Democratic socialism |
| Mother party | Labour Party (Ireland) |
| International affiliation | International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) |
| European affiliation | Young European Socialists (ECOSY) |
| Newspaper | The Left Tribune |
| Website | www.labouryouth.ie |
Labour Youth (Irish: Óige an Lucht Oibre) is the youth wing of the Labour Party of Ireland. Anyone under the age of 27 is eligible to join Labour Youth.
It replaced an earlier organisation, the Young Labour League. The 1990s saw Labour Youth change and reestablished after the merger of the Labour Party and Democratic Left. In the 2007 General Election Labour Youth opposed a pre-election pact with Fine Gael. Labour Youth Delegates to the Labour Party Special Delegate Conference in March 2011 also opposed the entry into coalition government with Fine Gael.
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Labour Youth succeeded the Young Labour League as a full section of the Party in 1979, under Party Leader Frank Cluskey. The first annual conference took place on 13 May 1979, in which John Kelleher was elected as the first Chair of Labour Youth. The first campaign undertaken by Labour Youth was on combating unemployment.
During the 1980s, Labour Youth proudly stood with the Dunnes Stores employees in their long strike against the apartheid regime in South Africa. They raised and donated £1900 to support the striking workers, and regularly joined them on the picket-lines. The 1980s also marked a high-point in terms of youth participation, whereby Labour Youth had over 1200 members and could call demonstrations of over 1000 people in Dublin alone.
From the early 1980s Militant Tendency wielded significant control over the group, with Clare Daly, (now a ULA TD) being elected a youth representative for the Labour Administrative Committee. 1988 a broad left coalition led by Joanna Tuffy, (now a Labour Party TD) won control over the group. The following year the leaders of Militant were expelled from the party.[1]
Members were extremely active in the election of presidential candidate Mary Robinson, forming a base of membership during the campaign that would provide the backbone of leadership within the organisation for years to come. They provided leadership to the National Youth Council of Ireland and in 1992 were among the founding members of the European Council of Socialist Youth. The #Tom Johnson Summer School, which is still a major date on Labour Youth’s calendar, was first initiated in 1994. In 1999, along with the main party, Labour Youth merged with Democratic Left Youth.
The group recently undertook an extremely active and visible role in the 2011 Irish General Election in support of Labour Party candidates. They later called on the Party to abandon talks on forming a coalition government with Fine Gael, describing the proposal as inherently undemocratic.[2]
Recent campaigns have included:
Youth Conference is held every year in November. At Youth Conference, motions are debated and voted upon, setting Labour Youth policy. The National Youth Executive is also elected at Youth Conference. Youth Conference is the supreme decision-making body of Labour Youth
National meetings are held several times a year to hold the National Youth Executive to account and to discuss campaigns, recruitment and ongoing issues.
Day-to-Day management of Labour Youth nationally, along with the implementation of Conference and National Meeting mandates is handled by the National Youth Executive. Individual National Officers also hold working groups relating to their portfolios to make policies and to plan campaigns and recruitment.
The basic operating unit of Labour Youth is the Branch. Branches are organized in most Universities and Institutes of Technology, where meetings are held, policies are debated and campaigns are organized and embarked upon. Branches retain their own leadership and administrative structures, the positions generally somewhat mirroring those of the National Youth Executive. Branches send delegates to Youth Conference to vote on Labour Youth Policy for the year and the composition of the National Youth Executive, and many Youth Branches are recognized as full Branches of the Labour Party in their own right, thereby having the ability to send delegates to vote at the Labour Party National Conference.
Labour Youth is also active on a central council, senior branch, constituency and local level.
The Tom Johnson Summer School is held annually in July. It is named after Tom Johnson, the first leader of the Labour Party and the only leader to date to serve as the leader of the opposition in Dáil Éireann. At Tom Johnson, panel discussions are held on a number of topics, with speakers from within and outside of the Party. The Jim Kemmy "Thirst for Justice" Award is awarded at Tom Johnson.
The National Youth Executive (NYE) is responsible for the day to day running of Labour Youth. Officers are elected to the NYE at Youth Conference, held in November each year. The Labour Party Youth & Development Officer is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the NYE.
The current National Youth Executive are:
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| National Chairperson | Conor Ryan |
| Vice-Chair/Campaigns | Luke Field |
| National Secretary | Noel Cullen |
| Education and Policy Officer | Deirdre Hosford |
| Communications Officer | Colm Maguire |
| Recruitment Officer | Aideen Carberry |
| International Officer | Cian Moran |
The Youth & Development Officer, employed by the Labour Party of Ireland, is currently Rory Geraghty. The Y&DO facilitates and advises the Executive in the course of their functions and decisions.
| Former National Chairs | Years |
|---|---|
| Colm Lawless | 2010-2011 |
| Rory Geraghty | 2009-2010 |
| Gary Honer | 2008-2009 |
| Enda Duffy | 2007-2008 |
| 2006-2007 | |
| Graham Ó Maonaigh | 2005-2006 |
| Donal Lyons | 2004-2005 |
| Rebecca Moynihan | 2002-2004 |
Labour Youth publishes The Left Tribune on a regular basis.
Official Links
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