Democratic Left () was a left-wing political party in Ireland between 1992 and 1999. It came into being after a split in the Workers' Party, and after seven years in existence it was incorporated into the Labour Party in 1999. Democratic Left served in a three-party coalition government with
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...
and the Labour Party, termed the Rainbow Coalition, from December 1994 to June 1997.
Origins
Democratic Left was formed after a split in the Workers' Party, which in turn had its origins in the 1970 split in Sinn Féin. Although never formally styled as a communist party, the Workers' Party had an internal organisation based on
democratic centralism
Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revol ...
, strong links with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, and campaigned for socialist policies. The party gained support during the 1980s - a decade of cutbacks and hardship in Ireland - winning 7 TDs in the 1989 general election and 24 councillors in the 1991 local elections.
However between 1989 and 1992 the Workers' Party was beset by a number of problems. The collapse of communism in eastern Europe had put many Soviet-aligned parties on the defensive and had caused a number of them to reconsider their core ideological beliefs. A faction led by Proinsias De Rossa wanted to move the party towards an acceptance of free-market economics, viewing the party's Marxist stance as an obstacle to further electoral success. The party was languishing in opinion polls and there was increasing tension between the party's elected representatives such as De Rossa, Pat Rabbitte and
Eamon Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to:
* Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name
* Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist
* ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II
*" Éa ...
and another grouping involving activists and organisers on the party's Central Executive Committee, led by Sean Garland. Finally the broadcast of a BBC Spotlight programme in June 1991 had raised questions on the party's links to the
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "socialist state, workers' republic" en ...
. The Official IRA had been on ceasefire since 1972 but was frequently accused of being involved in fund-raising robberies, money-laundering and other forms of criminality.Three more Northern Ireland terrorist groups lay down their arms ''The Times''
On 15 February 1992, a special conference was held in
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown.
The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...
to reconstitute the party. Over the preceding two weeks there were clashes at a number of party meetings between supporters of De Rossa and Garland. A motion proposed by De Rossa and general secretary Des Geraghty sought to stand down the existing membership, elect an 11-member provisional executive council and make several other significant changes in party structures. Initially supporters believed that the motion would pass but it was defeated by 9 votes. After the announcement of the results, De Rossa told the delegates "You have your decision. I honestly believe it is a bad decision, but you have made it,".
Both sides accused each other "packing votes".
Formation
After the conference it was clear a split was inevitable. At an Ard Chomhairle meeting held on 22 February in Wynns Hotel in Dublin City, six of the party's TDs resigned from the party along with more than half of the Ard Chomhairle. The members who left included the party leader Proinsias De Rossa and five more of the party's seven members of
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland r ...
Eamon Gilmore Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to:
* Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name
* Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist
* ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II
*" Éa ...
,
Eric Byrne
Eric Byrne (born 21 April 1947) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 1989 to 1992, 1994 to 1997 and 2011 to 2016.
He was formerly a member of Official Sin ...
,
Pat McCartan
Patrick John McCartan (born 5 May 1953) is an Irish lawyer who was a Circuit Court judge and a former politician.
A native of Wexford, he first practiced as a solicitor working in criminal defence. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a ...
and
Joe Sherlock
Joe Sherlock (26 September 1930 – 10 September 2007) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 2002 to 2007, 1987 to 1992 and 1981 to 1982. He was a Senator for the Labour Panel from 1993 to 1997.
Sherlock ...
). The party's President for most of the previous 30 years,
Tomás Mac Giolla
Tomás Mac Giolla (; born Thomas Gill; 25 January 1924 – 4 February 2010) was an Irish Workers' Party politician who served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1993 to 1994, Leader of the Workers' Party from 1962 to 1988 and President of Sinn Fé ...
refused to join the breakaway and remained with the Workers' Party although he had reluctantly supported the constitutional amendments and had considered departing the party after the conference. The new party was provisionally named New Agenda with De Rossa becoming leader of the new party.
There was speculation that the Labour TD Emmet Stagg would join the new grouping. Stagg, who was on the left of the Labour Party, had resigned the party whip before the Workers' Party split and it was indicated that he might join the new group. However Stagg eventually opted not to join. The party was hampered by the fact that it immediately lost Dáil privileges such as speaking rights, the ability to table priority questions and the allocation of private members time it had enjoyed as the Workers' Party as it did not meet the minimum requirement of 7 TDs. The new party did not qualify for the party leader's allowance scheme depriving it of a vital source of funding.
The party was renamed Democratic Left at its founding conference held on 28 March 1992. The new party was defined as a:
Electoral history and participation in government
The party's first contest was the
1992 UK general election
The 1992 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons. The election resulted in the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party since 1979 and would be the last time ...
, in which it stood in two constituencies in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
and polled 2,133 votes. The election was fought under the "New Agenda" label.
In the North the party contested elections in 1996 for the Northern Ireland Forum but with less than 1% of the vote they failed to have any members elected. The party inherited two councillors at its foundation:
Seamus Lynch
Seamus Lynch (born 1945) is a former Irish republican and socialist politician.
Born in North Belfast,Belfast City Council seat in 1993, Gerry Cullen had been elected for the Workers' Party in 1989 in Dungannon Town and was re-elected in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
1992 Irish general election
The 1992 Irish general election was held on Wednesday, 25 November, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. The 27th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 14 December 1992, but a new Taoiseach was not elected. A n ...
the party lost two of its six Dáil seats (
Eric Byrne
Eric Byrne (born 21 April 1947) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 1989 to 1992, 1994 to 1997 and 2011 to 2016.
He was formerly a member of Official Sin ...
narrowly following a week of counting and recounting,
Pat McCartan
Patrick John McCartan (born 5 May 1953) is an Irish lawyer who was a Circuit Court judge and a former politician.
A native of Wexford, he first practiced as a solicitor working in criminal defence. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a ...
and
Joe Sherlock
Joe Sherlock (26 September 1930 – 10 September 2007) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 2002 to 2007, 1987 to 1992 and 1981 to 1982. He was a Senator for the Labour Panel from 1993 to 1997.
Sherlock ...
losing their seats, and
Liz McManus
Liz McManus (born 23 March 1947) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment from 1994 to 1997. She served as a Teachta ...
winning a seat in Wicklow), gaining 2.8% of the vote compared to 5% for the pre-split Workers' Party in the preceding general election.
Joe Sherlock was elected on the Labour Panel to
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann (, ; " Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house).
It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its ...
as part of an election pact with their politically polar opposites Progressive Democrats.
The party subsequently won two seats in by-elections, Eric Byrne regaining his seat in Dublin South Central and Kathleen Lynch in Cork North Central.
After the collapse of the
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...
- Labour Party coalition government in 1994, Democratic Left joined the new coalition government with
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...
and the Labour Party. Proinsias De Rossa served as Minister for Social Welfare, initiating Ireland's first national anti-poverty strategy.
Election results
Dáil Éireann
House of Commons
Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue
Local elections (Republic of Ireland)
Local elections (Northern Ireland)
European Parliament (Republic of Ireland)
Merger with Labour
In the 1997 general election Democratic Left lost two of its six seats, both of its by-election victors being unseated. The party won 2.5% of the vote. The party also was in significant financial debt because of a lack of access to public funds, due to its size. Between 1998 and 1999 the party entered discussions with the Labour Party which culminated in the parties' merger in 1999, keeping the name of the larger partner but excluding members in Northern Ireland from organising. This left Gerry Cullen, their councillor in
Dungannon Borough Council
Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council ( ga, Comhairle Buirge Dhún Geanainn agus Thír Eoghain Theas, Ulster Scots: ''Rathgannon an Sooth Owenslanngh Cooncil'') was a local council in Northern Ireland from 1973 until 2015. It was originally ...
, in a state of limbo, representing a party for whom he could no longer seek election. The launch of the merged party was in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin on 24 January 1999. Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn remained leader of the unified party, while De Rossa took up the largely titular position of party president. Only 10% of Democratic Left delegates at the special conference had voted against the merger. In 1999 De Rossa successfully contested the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...
election in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
Liz McManus
Liz McManus (born 23 March 1947) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment from 1994 to 1997. She served as a Teachta ...
were elected as Labour Party leader and deputy leader respectively. When Rabbite stepped down as Labour leader after the 2007 general election, Gilmore was elected unopposed as his successor.
Historical archives
The party archives were donated to the
National Library of Ireland
The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland i ...
by the Labour Party in 2014. The records can be accessed by means of the call number: MS 49,807.