Communist Party of Ireland
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Communist Party of Ireland
Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann |
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| Chairperson | Lynda Walker |
| Secretary-General | Eugene McCartan |
| Founded | 3–4 June 1933 |
| Headquarters | 43 East Essex Street, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland |
| Newspaper |
Unity, Socialist Voice |
| Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism Socialism Anti-imperialism Irish republicanism Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | International Conference of Communist and Workers' Parties |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| www.communistpartyofireland.ie | |
The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; Irish: Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is an all-Ireland Marxist-Leninist party, founded in 1933.
The present-day CPI was founded in 1933 by the Revolutionary Workers' Groups. In 1941 the part of the party in the Republic of Ireland suspended its activities, while in Northern Ireland it continued to operate under the name Communist Party of Northern Ireland. The party was re-established in the South in 1948 under the name Irish Workers' League, which changed its name in 1962 to Irish Workers' Party. The two sections reunited as the Communist Party of Ireland in 1970.
In the first half of the 20th century the Communist Party failed to gain any traction. The party provided most of the Irish volunteers on the government side in the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War, losing a number of members who were killed in action. The Communist Party of Ireland was also one of the key components in establishing the Republican Congress in 1934, bringing communists, republicans, trade unionists and tenants' organisations together.
Historically, the party belonged to the wing of international communism that looked to the Soviet Union for inspiration. In the mid-1960s, the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 100. The party grew consistently through the 1960s and 1970s. In the late 1960s, some IWP members (notably Michael O'Riordan) became active in the Dublin Housing Action Committee. The IWP also condemned the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, although O'Riordan was opposed to this position. In March 1970, following the CPNI/IWP merger, the new Communist Party of Ireland issued a manifesto called For Unity and Socialism, advocating the election of left-wing governments in both parts of Ireland, and, eventually, the creation of a United Ireland.
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