Independents 4 Change is an Irish political alliance, with registration as a political party, comprising several independent politicians. It had two
MEPs
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...
in the
Ninth European Parliament
The ninth European Parliament was elected during the 2019 European Parliament election, 2019 elections and sat until the tenth European Parliament was sworn in on 16 July 2024.
Major events
*23–26 May 2019
**2019 European Parliament elec ...
:
Clare Daly
Clare Daly (born 16 April 1968) is an Irish politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency from July 2019 to July 2024. She is a member of Independents 4 Change, affiliated to The Left in ...
and
Mick Wallace
Michael Wallace (born 9 November 1955) is an Irish politician, former property developer and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Republic of Ireland, Ireland for the South (European Parliament constituency), South constituency f ...
.
History

The political grouping registered as a political party in 2014. It was previously known as the "Independents for Equality" Movement.
Four candidates contested the
2014 local elections for the group in each of the
local electoral area
A local electoral area (LEA; ) is an electoral area for elections to Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authorities in Ireland. All elections in the Republic of Ireland, elections use the single transferable vote. Republic of Ir ...
s in
Wexford County Council. None of them were elected.
The party adopted its current name in September 2015, after the establishment of the
Right2Change electoral alliance, which its candidates in the 2016 general election subscribed.
Mick Wallace
Michael Wallace (born 9 November 1955) is an Irish politician, former property developer and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Republic of Ireland, Ireland for the South (European Parliament constituency), South constituency f ...
,
Clare Daly
Clare Daly (born 16 April 1968) is an Irish politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency from July 2019 to July 2024. She is a member of Independents 4 Change, affiliated to The Left in ...
,
Joan Collins
Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...
, and
Tommy Broughan, and councillor Barry Martin
contested the
2016 general election for Independents 4 Change, with Broughan, Collins, Daly and Wallace being elected.
Within the
32nd Dáil
The 32nd Dáil was elected at the 2016 Irish general election, 2016 general election on 26 February and first met at 10.30 a.m. on 10 March 2016. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of ...
, I4C took advantage of revised Dáil standing orders to form their own
technical group
In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be ...
, which also included three Independent
TDs who were not members of the party itself:
Catherine Connolly
Catherine Connolly (born 12 July 1957) is an Irish independent politician who served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle of the 33rd Dáil from July 2020 to November 2024. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency since 2016. ...
,
Thomas Pringle, and
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish actress who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a ...
.
Tommy Broughan left the party on 26 July 2016. In 2016 Ruth Nolan, a member of
South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council () is the local authority of the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993 to succeed the former Dublin County Council before its abolitio ...
for Lucan who had been elected for
People Before Profit
People Before Profit (, PBP) is a Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. The party is active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
History As Socialist Environmental Alliance
People Before Profit was established in 200 ...
, joined Independents 4 Change.
At the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...
, Clare Daly and Mick Wallace were elected as MEPs; they became part of
The Left group in the European Parliament. Three councilors were elected for Independents 4 Change in the
local elections
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
held on the same day, including former Labour TD from Sligo, and longtime
Independent Socialist councillor
Declan Bree.
In the
February 2020 general election, Independents 4 Change returned one TD,
Joan Collins
Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...
in
Dublin South-Central. However, she soon left I4C to found a new party called
Right to Change, leaving I4C with no TDs.
Neither Daly nor Wallace were re-elected in the
2024 European elections. Dean Mulligan was
re-elected as a councillor for the
Swords
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
electoral area on
Fingal County Council
Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...
.
In addition to Mulligan, Wallace and Daly contested the
2024 Irish general election
The 2024 Irish general election to elect the 34th Dáil took place on Friday, 29 November 2024, following the dissolution of parliament, dissolution of the 33rd Dáil on 8 November by president of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins at the re ...
; None were elected.
Election results
General elections
Local elections
European Parliament
References
{{Political parties in the Republic of Ireland, state=collapsed
2014 establishments in Ireland
Political parties established in 2014
Political parties in the Republic of Ireland
Socialist parties in Ireland
Opposition to neoliberalism