Solidarity (), formerly known as the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA), is a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

political party in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, launched in 2014. It had been registered as a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

to contest local elections, and ran at least forty candidates in the

2014 Irish local elections The 2014 Irish local elections were held in all local government areas of Ireland on Friday, 23 May 2014, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections ( Dublin West and Longford–Westmeath). The poll in the Ballyb ...

. All of Solidarity's elected representatives are members of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. It is part of the People Before Profit–Solidarity electoral alliance.

History

Anti-Austerity Alliance

The party contested the 2014 local elections on a platform of job creation. On 8 April 2014, it launched a plan to create 150,000 jobs across Ireland by replacing the controversial JobBridge and Gateway initiatives with a "real jobs programme of public works, free education and genuine training schemes". As the party's elected representatives were members of the

, its rebranding as AAA was criticised by ''The Journal'' columnist Aaron McKenna as a front organisation for the

Socialist Party. Paul Murphy was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

for Dublin South-West under the Anti-Austerity Alliance banner at a by-election in October 2014. In September 2019 he resigned from the party. Ruth Coppinger was elected for Dublin West as a TD at the 2014 Dublin West by-election. Both were re-elected at the

2016 Irish general election The 2016 Irish general election to the 32nd Dáil was held on Friday 26 February, following the dissolution of the 31st Dáil by President of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February, at the request of Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The genera ...

. Coppinger became the first woman to be nominated for the role of Taoiseach. Mick Barry was elected as TD for the Cork North–Central constituency in 2016. According to the ''Irish Examiner'', Barry had been "a leading figure in the Cork and national campaigns" against household and water charges. On 7 August 2015, the party was removed from the Register of Political Parties. It held discussions in August 2015 with the

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 ...

about forming a new political grouping. On 17 September 2015, the two parties announced that they had formally registered as a single political party for electoral purposes. The new organisation was called "Anti-Austerity Alliance–People Before Profit" and subsequently renamed as Solidarity–People Before Profit. In 2021, it was renamed again as People Before Profit–Solidarity.

Relaunch as Solidarity

On 10 March 2017, the Anti-Austerity Alliance called a press conference and announced that it would now be relaunched as Solidarity. This name change was made to reflect the "many movements emerging on workplace, economic and social issues" and that while "the AAA has played a key role in campaigns like the water charges and housing", that the organisation under the name of Solidarity "will continue to do so, but the name will now better reflect our campaigning work on Repeal, LGBTQ issues and equality generally." Cork City Councillor Lil O'Donnell left the party at the time of the rebranding as Solidarity. Rita Harrold unsuccessfully stood in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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 ...

. At the 2020 general election, Coppinger lost her seat, leaving Barry as the party's only TD. The party suffered a significant drop in its vote share.

Ideology and policies

Solidarity is a front for the Socialist Party, which is ideologically a Trotskyist group. The party intends to end "Ireland's status as a

tax haven A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for Domicile (law), non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher. In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers Bank secrecy, ...

", introduce a financial transactions tax, abolish

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

, increase

corporation tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax or corporate income tax, is a type of direct tax levied on the income or capital of corporations and other similar legal entities. The tax is usually imposed at the national level, but i ...

, increase

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

on high earners, and introduce a ‘Millionaire's Tax’ on net personal wealth in excess of €1 million. Solidarity opposes a referendum on

Irish reunification United Ireland (), also referred to as Irish reunification or a ''New Ireland'', is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically: the sovereign state of Ireland (legally ...

as a "border poll" on the grounds they believe it would further entrench

sectarianism Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or Religious violence, religious conflicts between groups. Others conceiv ...

, and has stated it would campaign for a boycott of any such referendum if it were held. Solidarity believes that Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales should merge and form a socialist federation, which should aspire to be part of a Socialist Federation of Europe. '' The Phoenix'' has opined that this position is a "bizarre fusion of Trotskyism and

British Unionism In the United Kingdom, unionism is a political stance favouring the continued unity of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as one sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Those who support the union ...

" that "articulates a unionist outlook dressed in socialist rhetoric".

Election results

General elections

Local elections

European Parliament

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solidarity 2014 establishments in Ireland Anti-austerity protests in the European Union Eco-socialist parties Left-wing politics in Ireland Political parties established in 2014 Political parties in the Republic of Ireland Post-2008 Irish economic downturn Socialist Party (Ireland) Socialist parties in Ireland