Labour Party (Ireland)

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Labour Party
Páirtí an Lucht Oibre
Leader Eamon Gilmore, TD
Founder James Connolly,
James Larkin,
William O'Brien
Deputy Leader Joan Burton, TD
Chairperson Loraine Mulligan
Founded 1912 (1912)
Headquarters 17 Ely Place, Dublin 2,
Ireland
Youth wing Labour Youth
Women's wing Labour Women
Ideology Social democracy[1]
Political position Centre-left
International affiliation Progressive Alliance,
Socialist International
European affiliation Party of European Socialists
European Parliament group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours Red
Dáil Éireann
34 / 166
Seanad Éireann
11 / 60
European Parliament
2 / 12
Local government
230 / 1,627
Website
www.labour.ie
Politics of the Republic of Ireland
Political parties
Elections
Part of a series on
Organized labour
Labour parties

The Labour Party (Irish: Páirtí an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic[1][2][3][4] political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress.[5] Unlike the other main Irish political parties, Labour does not trace its origins to the original Sinn Féin. At the 2011 general election it gained 37 of the 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, almost double its total of 20 at the 2007 general election, making it the second largest political party in the 31st Dáil. The Labour Party has served in government for a total of nineteen years, six times in coalition either with Fine Gael alone or with Fine Gael and other smaller parties, and once with Fianna Fáil, giving it the second-longest time in government of Irish parties, next to Fianna Fáil. As of 9 March 2011 it is the junior partner in a coalition with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil.[6] The current party leader is Eamon Gilmore, elected in October 2007 alongside Joan Burton as deputy leader. Gilmore is the current Tánaiste (deputy prime minister).

The Labour Party is a member of the Progressive Alliance, Socialist International and Party of European Socialists (PES), while the party's MEPs sit in the European Parliament group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Through these organisations, the Labour Party is linked with the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland.

History

Main article: History of the Labour Party (Ireland)

Foundation

In 1912, James Connolly, James Larkin and William O'Brien established the Irish Labour Party as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress.[7] This party would represent the workers in the expected Dublin Parliament under the Third Home Rule Act 1914. However, after the defeat of the trade unions in the Dublin Lockout of 1913 the labour movement was weakened, and the emigration of James Larkin in 1914 and the execution of James Connolly following the Easter Rising in 1916 further damaged it.

The Irish Citizen Army (ICA) formed during the 1913 Lockout,[8] was informally the military wing of the Labour Movement. The ICA took part in the 1916 Rising.[9] The ICA was revived during Peadar O'Donnell's Republican Congress but after the 1935 split in the Congress most ICA members joined the Labour Party.

The British Labour Party had previously organised in Ireland, but in 1913 the Labour NEC agreed that the Irish Labour Party would have organising rights over the entirety of Ireland. A group of trade unionists in Belfast objected and the Belfast Labour Party, which later became the nucleus of the Northern Ireland Labour Party, remained outside the new Irish party.

Early history

In Larkin's absence, William O'Brien became the dominant figure in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and wielded considerable influence in the Labour Party. O'Brien also dominated the Irish Trade Union Congress. The Labour Party, led by Thomas Johnson from 1917,[10] as successor to such organisations as D. D. Sheehan's (independent Labour MPs) Irish Land and Labour Association, declined to contest the 1918 general election, in order to allow the election to take the form of a plebiscite on Ireland's constitutional status (although some candidates did run in Belfast constituencies under the Labour banner against Unionist candidates).[11] It also refrained from contesting the 1921 elections. As a result the party was left out of the Dáil Éireann during the vital years of the independence struggle, though Johnson sat in the First Dáil.

In the Irish Free State

The Anglo-Irish Treaty divided the Labour Party. Some members sided with the Irregulars in the Irish Civil War that quickly followed. O'Brien and Johnson encouraged its members to support the Treaty. In the 1922 general election the party won 17 seats.[10] However there were a number of strikes during the first year and a loss in support for the party. In the 1923 general election the Labour Party only won 14 seats. From 1922 until Fianna Fáil TDs took their seats in 1927, the Labour Party was the major opposition party in the Dáil. Labour attacked the lack of social reform by the Cumann na nGaedheal government.

In 1923 Larkin returned to Ireland. He hoped to take over the leadership role he had left, but O'Brien resisted him. Larkin sided with the more radical elements of the party and in September that year he established the Irish Worker League.

In 1932 the Labour Party supported Éamon de Valera's first Fianna Fáil government, which had proposed a programme of social reform with which the party was in sympathy. In the 1940s it looked for a while as if the Labour Party would replace Fine Gael as the main opposition party. In the 1943 general election the party won 17 seats, its best result since 1927.

The party was socially conservative, compared to similar European parties, and its leaders from 1932 to 1977 (William Norton and Brendan Corish) were members of the Knights of Saint Columbanus.[12]

1940–1960

The split with National Labour and the first coalition governments

The Larkin-O'Brien feud still continued, and worsened over time. In the 1940s the hatred caused a split in the Labour Party and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. In 1944 O'Brien left with 6 TDs and founded the National Labour Party. James Everett was the leader of National Labour Party. O'Brien also withdrew the ITGWU (Irish Transport and General Workers Union) ( from the Irish Trade Unions Congress and set up his own congress. The split damaged the Labour movement in the 1944 general election. It was only after Larkin's death in 1947 that an attempt at unity could be made.

After the 1948 election National Labour had 5 TDs - James Everett, Dan Spring, James Pattison, James Hickey and John O'Leary. National Labour and Labour (with 14 TDs) both entered the first inter-party government, the leader of National Labour became Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. In 1950, the National Labour TDs rejoined the Labour Party.

From 1948–1951 and from 1954–1957 the Labour Party was the second-largest partner in the two inter-party governments. William Norton, the Labour Party leader, became Tánaiste on both occasions. During the first inter-party government he served as Minister for Social Welfare, while during the second inter-party government he served as Minister for Industry and Commerce. See First Inter-Party Government and Second Inter-Party Government.

In 1960 the Labour leader Brendan Corish described the party's programme as 'a form of Christian socialism'.[13]

Re-establishment in Northern Ireland

During this period the party stood for elections in Northern Ireland, after a split in the Northern Ireland Labour Party when Paddy Devlin helped re-establish the party in Belfast, the party did win seats in the Westminster Parliament (Jack Beattie[14][15] MP for West Belfast 1951)[16] and Stormont Parliament in the Belfast area as well as in district council elections (Falls, Belfast City Council by election 1956, Gerry Fitt 1958 Council Elections). Activity declined greatly after Gerry Fitt, then the party's sole Stormont MP, left the party to form the Republican Labour Party in 1964, with the party's last known contest being two seats on Newry and Mourne District Council at the 1973 local elections.[17]

Under Brendan Corish, 1960–1977

In 1960 Brendan Corish became the new Labour Party leader. As leader he advocated and introduced more socialist policies to the party. In 1972, the party campaigned against membership to the European Economic Community (EEC).[18] Between 1973 and 1977, the Labour Party formed a coalition government with Fine Gael. The coalition partners lost the subsequent 1977 general election. Corish resigned immediately after the defeat.

Late 1970s and 1980s: Coalition, internal feuding, electoral decline and regrowth

In 1977 shortly after the election defeat members grouped around the Liaison Committee for the Labour Left split and formed the short-lived Socialist Labour Party. From 1981 to 1982 and from 1982 to 1987, the Labour Party participated in coalition governments with Fine Gael. In the later part of the second of these coalition terms, the country's poor economic and fiscal situation required strict curtailing of government spending, and the Labour Party bore much of the blame for unpopular cutbacks in health and other public services. The nadir for the Labour party was the 1987 general election where it received only 6.4% of the vote. Its vote was increasingly threatened by the growth of the Marxist and more radical Workers' Party particularly in Dublin. Fianna Fáil formed a minority government from 1987 to 1989 and then a coalition with the Progressive Democrats.

The 1980s saw fierce disagreements between left and right wings of the party. The more radical elements, led by figures including Emmet Stagg and Joe Higgins, opposed the idea of Labour entering into coalition government with either of the major centre-right parties (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael). At the 1989 Labour Party conference in Tralee a number of socialist and Trotskyist activists, organised around the Militant Tendency and their internal newspaper, were expelled. These expulsions continued during the early 1990s and those expelled, including Joe Higgins, went on to found the Socialist Party.

1990s: Growing political influence and involvement

In 1990 Mary Robinson became the first President of Ireland to have been proposed by the Labour Party, although she contested the election as an independent candidate, she had resigned from the party over her opposition to the Anglo Irish Agreement. Not only was it the first time a woman held the office but it was the first time, apart from Douglas Hyde, that a non-Fianna Fáil candidate was elected. In 1990, Limerick East TD Jim Kemmy's Democratic Socialist Party merged into the Labour party and in 1992 Sligo–Leitrim TD Declan Bree's Independent Socialist Party also joined the Labour Party (in May 2007 Declan Bree resigned from the Labour Party over differences with the Leadership[19]).

At the 1992 general election the Labour Party won a record 19.3% of the first preference votes, more than twice its share in the 1989 general election. The party's representation in the Dáil doubled to 33 seats and, after a period of negotiations, the Labour Party formed a coalition with Fianna Fáil, taking office in January 1993 as the 23rd government of Ireland. Fianna Fáil leader Albert Reynolds remained as Taoiseach, and Labour Party leader Dick Spring became Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

After less than two years the government fell in a controversy over the appointment of Attorney General, Harry Whelehan, as president of the High Court. The parliamentary arithmetic had changed as a result of Fianna Fáil's loss of two seats in by-elections in June, where the Labour Party itself had performed disastrously. On the pretext that the Labour Party voters were not happy with involvement with Fianna Fáil, Dick Spring withdrew his support for Reynolds as Taoiseach. The Labour Party negotiated a new coalition, the first time in Irish political history that one coalition replaced another without a general election. Between 1994 and 1997 Fine Gael, the Labour Party, and Democratic Left governed in the Rainbow Coalition. Dick Spring of the Labour Party became Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs again.

Merger with Democratic Left and recent electoral performance

The Labour Party presented the 1997 general election, held just weeks after spectacular electoral victories for the French Socialist Party and British Labour Party, as the first ever choice between a government of the left and one of the right, but the party, as had often been the case following its participation in coalitions, lost support and failed to retain some of its Dáil seats. A poor performance by Labour Party candidate Adi Roche in the subsequent election for President of Ireland led to Spring's resignation as party leader.

In 1997 Ruairi Quinn became the new Labour Party leader. Following negotiations in 1999 the Labour Party merged with Democratic Left, keeping the name of the larger partner. This had been previously opposed by the former leader Dick Spring. Members of Democratic Left in Northern Ireland were invited to join the Irish Labour Party but not permitted to organise.[20] This left Gerry Cullen their councillor in Dungannon Borough Council in a state of limbo elected for a party he could no longer seek election for. [21]

The launch was held in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.[22]

Quinn resigned as leader in 2002 following the poor results for the Labour Party in the 2002 general election. Former Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte became the new leader, the first to be elected directly by the members of the party.

In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, Proinsias De Rossa retained his seat for the Labour Party in the Dublin constituency. This was the Labour Party's only success in the election. In the local elections held the same day, the Labour Party won over 100 county council seats, the first time ever in its history, and emerged as the largest party in Dublin City and Galway city.

2007 general election and aftermath

Social democracy

Prior to the 2004 local elections, Party Leader Pat Rabbitte had endorsed a mutual transfer pact with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny. Rabbitte proposed the extension of this strategy, named "the Mullingar Accord" after a meeting between Rabbitte and Kenny in the County Westmeath town, at the 2005 Labour Party National Conference.

Rabbitte's strategy was favoured by most TDs, notably Deputy Leader Liz McManus, Eamon Gilmore, who had proposed a different electoral strategy in the 2002 leadership election, and former opponent of coalition Emmet Stagg. Opposition to the strategy came from Brendan Howlin, Kathleen Lynch and Tommy Broughan (who is regarded as being on the party's left wing and who advocated closer co-operation with the Green Party and Sinn Féin),[23] who opposed the boost that would be given to Fine Gael in such a strategy and stated their preference for an independent campaign. Outside the PLP, organised opposition to the pact came from Labour Youth and the ATGWU, who opposed the pact on political and tactical grounds. Nevertheless, the strategy proposed by Rabbitte was supported by approximately 80% of conference delegates.

In the 2007 general election the Labour Party failed to increase its seat total and had a net loss of 1 seat, returning with 20 seats. Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the Green Party and independents did not have enough seats to form a government. Pat Rabbitte resisted calls to enter negotiations with Fianna Fáil on forming a government. Eventually, Fianna Fáil entered government with the Progressive Democrats and the Green Party with the support of independents.

On 23 August 2007, Pat Rabbitte resigned as Labour Party leader. He stated that he took responsibility for the outcome of the recent general election, in which his party failed to gain new seats and failed to replace the outgoing government.

On 6 September 2007, Eamon Gilmore was unanimously elected leader of the Labour Party, being the only nominee after Pat Rabbitte's resignation.

2009 Local and European elections

At the local elections of 5 June 2009, the Labour Party added to its total of council seats, with 132 seats won (+31) and gained an additional two seats from councillors joining the party since the election. On Dublin City Council, the party was again the largest party, but now with more seats than the two other main parties combined. The Labour Party's status as the largest party on both Fingal and South Dublin councils was also improved by seat gains.

At the 2009 European Parliament election held on the same day, the Labour Party increased its number of seats from 1 to 3, retaining the seat of Proinsias De Rossa in the Dublin constituency, while gaining seats in the East constituency with Nessa Childers, and in the South constituency with Alan Kelly. This was the first time in history that Labour equalled the amount of seats held in Europe by either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.

2011 general election and aftermath

The current Labour Party leader and Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore

On 11 June 2010, a poll by MRBI was published in The Irish Times which, for the first time in the history of the state, showed the Labour Party as the most popular, at 32%, ahead of Fine Gael at 28% and Fianna Fáil at 17%. Eamon Gilmore's approval ratings were also the highest of any Dáil leader, standing at 46%.[24]

At the 2011 general election, Labour received 19.4% of first preference votes, and 37 seats.[25] Since 9 March 2011, it is the junior partner in a coalition government with Fine Gael for the period of the 31st Dáil.[6] Party leader, Eamon Gilmore is the current Tánaiste (deputy prime minister).

In October 2011 the Labour Party's candidate, Michael D. Higgins was elected as the 9th President of Ireland. On the same day, Labour's Patrick Nulty won the Dublin West by-election, making the Labour Party the first government party in Ireland to win a by-election since 1982.

Labour has lost seven members of the parliamentary party since the 2011 general election. On 15 November 2011 Willie Penrose resigned over the closure of an army barracks in his constituency.[26] On 1 December 2011 Tommy Broughan lost the party whip after voting against the government in relation to the Bank Guarantee Scheme.[27] On 6 December 2011 Patrick Nulty lost the party whip after voting against the VAT increase in the 2012 budget.[28] On 26 September 2012 Róisín Shortall resigned as Minister of State for Primary Care and lost the party whip after conflict with the Minister for Health James Reilly.[29] On 13 December 2012 Colm Keaveney lost the party whip after voting against the cut to the respite care grant in the 2013 budget.[30] Senator James Heffernan lost the party whip in December 2012 after voting against the government on the Social Welfare Bill.[31] MEP Nessa Childers resigned from the parliamentary party on 5 April 2013, saying that she "no longer want to support a Government that is actually hurting people",[32] and she resigned from the party in July 2013. In June 2013, Patrick Nulty and Colm Keaveney resigned from the Labour Party.[33]

General election results and governments

Election Dáil Share of votes Seats Government Total seats[34]
1922 3rd 21.4% 17 Cumann na nGaedheal 128
1923 4th 10.6% 14 Cumann na nGaedheal 153
1927 (Jun) 5th 12.6% 22 Cumann na nGaedheal 153
1927 (Sep) 6th 9.1% 13 Cumann na nGaedheal 153
1932 7th 7.7% 7 Fianna Fáil (with Labour Party support) 153
1933 8th 5.7% 8 Fianna Fáil 153
1937 9th 10.3% 13 Fianna Fáil 138
1938 10th 10.0% 9 Fianna Fáil 138
1943 11th 15.3% 17 Fianna Fáil 138
1944 12th 8.7% 8 Fianna Fáil 138
1948 13th 11.3% 14 Fine Gael–Labour Party–Clann na Poblachta–Clann na Talmhan–National Labour 147
1951 14th 11.4% 16 Fianna Fáil 147
1954 15th 12.1% 19 Fine Gael–Labour Party–Clann na Talmhan 147
1957 16th 9.1% 13 Fianna Fáil 147
1961 17th 11.7% 16 Fianna Fáil 144
1965 18th 15.4% 22 Fianna Fáil 144
1969 19th 16.6% 18 Fianna Fáil 144
1973 20th 13.7% 19 Fine Gael–Labour Party 144
1977 21st 11.6% 17 Fianna Fáil 148
1981 22nd 9.9% 15 Fine Gael–Labour Party 166
1982 (Feb) 23rd 9.1% 15 Fianna Fáil 166
1982 (Nov) 24th 9.4% 16 Fine Gael–Labour Party 166
1987 25th 6.5% 12 Fianna Fáil 166
1989 26th 9.5% 15 Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats 166
1992 27th 19.3% 33 Fianna Fáil–Labour Party (1993–94)
Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left (1994–97)[A]		 166
1997 28th 10.4% 17 Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats 166
2002 29th 10.8% 21 Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats 166
2007 30th 10.1% 20 Fianna Fáil–Green Party-Progressive Democrats 166
2011 31st 19.4% 37 Fine Gael–Labour Party 166

A In December 1994, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left entered into government without a general election being called.

Structure

The Labour Party is a membership organisation consisting of Labour (Dáil) constituency councils, affiliated trade unions and socialist societies. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions (Dáil, Seanad, European Parliament) form the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). The party's decision-making bodies on a national level formally include the Executive Board (formerly known as the National Executive Committee), Labour Party Conference and Central Council. The Executive Board has responsibility for organisation and finance, with the Central Council being responsible for policy formation - although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say on policy. The Labour Party Conference debates motions put forward by branches, constituency councils, party members sections and affiliates. Motions set principles of policy and organisation but are not generally detailed policy statements.

For many years Labour held to a policy of not allowing residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership, instead supporting the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The National Conference approved the establishment of a Northern Ireland Members Forum but it has not agreed to contest elections there.

As a party with a constitutional commitment to democratic socialism[2] founded by trade unions to represent the interests of working class people, Labour's link with unions has always been a defining characteristic of the party. Over time this link has come under increasing strain, with most craft based unions based in the public sector and Irish Congress of Trades Unions having disaffiliated since the 1950s. The remaining affiliated unions are primarily private sector general unions. Currently affiliated unions still send delegates to the National Conference in proportion to the size of their membership. Recent constitutional changes mean that in future, affiliated unions will send delegations based on the number of party members in their organisation.

Sections

Within the Labour Party there are different sections:

Affiliates

The Irish Labour Party constitution makes provision for both Trade Unions and Socialist Societies to affiliate to the party. There are currently eleven Trade Unions affiliated to the Party:

Socialist Societies Affiliated to the Party:

  • Labour Party Lawyers Group
  • Association of Labour Teachers
  • Labour Social Services Group

Leadership

Deputy Leader

Front Bench

Further information: Labour Party (Ireland) Front Bench

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Party Constitution". Labour.ie. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  3. ↑ Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013. 
  4. ↑ Richard Collin; Pamela L. Martin (2012). An Introduction to World Politics: Conflict and Consensus on a Small Planet. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-1-4422-1803-1. Retrieved 18 July 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Labour's proud history". labour.ie. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "FG and Labour discuss programme for government". RTE. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
  7. ↑ Lyons, F.S.L. (1973). Ireland since the famine. Suffolk: Collins/Fontana. p. 281. ISBN 0-00-633200-5. 
  8. ↑ The Irish Citizens Army - Labour Clenches its Fist by Cieran Perry
  9. ↑ "History - 1916 Easter Rising - Profiles - Irish Citizen Army". BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 O'Leary, Cornelius (1979). Irish elections 1918-77: parties, voters and proportional representation. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 0-7171-0898-8. 
  11. ↑ "Election Results of 14 December 1918". Electionsireland.org. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  12. ↑ Michael O'Leary Interview (6 December 2009). "The age of our craven deference is finally over". Independent.ie. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  13. ↑ Paul Bew, Ellen Hazelkorn and Henry Patterson, The Dynamics of Irish Politics (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1989), p. 85
  14. ↑ Bardon, Jonathan (1992). A History of Ulster. Belfast: The Black Staff Press. p. 523. ISBN 0-85640-466-7. 
  15. ↑ "Election History of John (Jack) Beattie". www.electionsireland.org. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  16. ↑ Dr Nicholas Whyte. "A brief history of Northern Ireland Westminster Elections". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  17. ↑ The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Newry and Mourne, Northern Ireland Elections
  18. ↑ "Death of a Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy.". Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2012. 
  19. ↑ "Declan Bree resigns from Labour". Indymedia.ie. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2011. ; Bree, Declan. "DECLAN BREE RESIGNS FROM LABOUR PARTY". Declanbree.com. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  20. ↑ Steven King on Thursday, Steven King, Belfast Telegraph, 17 December 1998
  21. ↑ "The 1993 Local Government Elections in Northern Ireland". Ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  22. ↑ Lanson Kelly (25 January 1999). "Red rose shapes up to future by Liam O'Neill". Archives.tcm.ie. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  23. ↑ "Labour rift ahead of leader vote". Irish Independent. 26 August 2007. 
  24. ↑ "Labour and Gilmore enjoy significant gains in popularity". The Irish Times. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
  25. ↑ Doyle, Kilian (2 February 2011). "Kenny leads Fine Gael to win as Fianna Fail vote collapses". The Irish Times. 
  26. ↑ "Minister's resignation increases fears over budget cuts". The Irish Times. 16 November 2011. 
  27. ↑ "Strike three: Broughan finds himself back outside the tent". Irish Independent. 3 December 2011. 
  28. ↑ "Labour TD votes against Vat measure". The Irish Times. 6 December 2011. 
  29. ↑ "Roisin Shortall resigns as junior health minister". RTÉ News. 26 September 2012. 
  30. ↑ "Labour chairman Keaveney votes against Government". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 December 2012. 
  31. ↑ "Heffernan defies Labour whip on Bill". The Irish Times. 20 December 2012. 
  32. ↑ "MEP Nessa Childers resigns from Parliamentary Labour Party". RTÉ News. 5 April 2013. 
  33. ↑ "Patrick Nulty resigns from Labour Party". RTÉ News. 21 June 2013. 
  34. ↑ http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/gdala.htm

Further reading

  • Paul Daly, Ronan O'Brien and Paul Rouse, ed. (2012). Making the Difference? The Irish Labour Party 1912–2012. Cork: The Collins Press. ISBN 978-1-84889-142-5. 

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