The Labour Party's Failure in Ireland

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how, during the first half of the twentieth century, the Labour party did not manage to establish itself as a powerful party either in Northern Ireland or in Southern Ireland. The paper attributes this to their absent stand on the national questions in politics and a lack of a strong internal union. The paper also explains that the Labour Parties on both sides were not helped by other elements, such as the modification of the electoral system in Northern Ireland, or the fact that Southern Ireland lacked industrial workers and was peopled mainly by Catholics, hostile to the socialist doctrine.

From the Paper:

"In Southern Ireland, the Labour Party traces its birth to the 1912 conference of the Irish Trade Union Congress (ITUC). Its first leader was Jim Larkin. Its aim was to be a "trade-unionists political party" in which membership and leadership were restrained to card-carrying unionists up to 1930 when it opted for a formal break with the unions. Therefore, it was clear from the beginning that it was set up to be a minority party since this kind policy, even though protecting them from being taking over by existing politicians, definitely narrowed its appeal and cut off some sections which may have been sympathetic. Nonetheless, if there is a point on which the Labour Party cannot be the object of criticism, it is certainly the fact that it always remained faithful to its primary goal, which was to be the political arm of the Trade Union, and not to win a majority of votes from the Irish electorate. With such a policy, no wonder the Labour Party never managed to win a lot of seats, given the fact that Ireland was not an industrial nation."

Sample of Sources Used:

• R. Dunphy, The Making of Fianna Fail Power in Ireland, 1923-1948 (1995). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• D. Fitzpatrick, The Two Irelands, 1912-1939 (1998). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• B. Girvin, From Union to Union, Nationalism, Democracy and Religion in Ireland-Act of Union to EU (2002). Dublin: Gill and Macmillan.
• M. Gallagher, Political Parties in the Republic of Ireland (1985). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• M. Manning, Irish Political Parties, an Introduction (1972). Dublin: Gill and Macmillan.

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