Democratic Left (Ireland)
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Democratic Left
Daonlathas Clé |
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|---|---|
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| Leader | Proinsias De Rossa |
| Founded | March 1992 |
| Dissolved | 1999 |
| Split from | Workers' Party |
| Merged into | Labour Party |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| European Parliament group | European United Left |
Democratic Left (Irish: Daonlathas Clé) 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 merged into the Irish Labour Party in 1999. The Democratic Left served in a three-party coalition government with Fine Gael and the Labour Party from December 1994 to June 1997.
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, strong links with the USSR, 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 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 'Sticking to their guns' in June 1991 had raised questions on the party's links to the Official IRA. 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.
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