Solidarity (Ireland) Explained

Solidarity
Native Name:Neart le Chéile[1]
Leader:Collective leadership
Country:Republic of Ireland
Position:Left-wing[2] to far-left[3]
Affiliation1 Title:Affiliate party
Affiliation1:Socialist Party
Seats4 Title:Dáil Éireann
Seats5 Title:Local government in the Republic of Ireland

Solidarity (Irish: Neart le Chéile), formerly known as the Anti-Austerity Alliance[4] (AAA), is a socialist political party in Ireland, launched in 2014.[5] [6] It had been registered as a political party to contest local elections,[7] and ran at least forty candidates in the 2014 Irish local elections.[8] All Solidarity's elected representatives are members of the Socialist Party.

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".[9]

Paul Murphy was elected to Dáil Éireann 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.[10]

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. 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 has 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.[11] It held discussions in August 2015 with the People Before Profit about forming a new political grouping.[12] On 17 September 2015, the two parties announced that they had formally registered as a single political party for electoral purposes.[13] 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."[14]

Cork City Councillor Lil O'Donnell left the party at the time of the rebranding as Solidarity.[15]

Rita Harrold unsuccessfully stood in Dublin at the 2019 European Parliament election.[16]

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

The party intends to end "Ireland's status as a tax haven", introduce a financial transactions tax, abolish property tax, increase corporation tax, increase income tax on high earners, and introduce a ‘Millionaire's Tax’ on net personal wealth in excess of €1 million.[17]

Solidarity opposes a referendum on Irish reunification as a "border poll" on the grounds they believe it would further entrench sectarianism, and has stated it would campaign for a boycott of any such referendum if it were held.[18] [19] 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.[19] The Phoenix has opined that this position is a "bizarre fusion of Trotskyism and British Unionism" that "articulates a unionist outlook dressed in socialist rhetoric".[20]

Criticism

All Solidarity's elected representatives are members of the Socialist Party, which has led to criticism that Solidarity is a front organisation for the Trotskyist Socialist Party.[21]

Election results

General elections

ElectionDáilFirst preference voteVote %Seatsalign=center Government
201632nd41,9941.9%
with Fianna Fáil confidence & supply
202033rd12,7230.6%

Local elections

ElectionFirst preference voteVote %Seats
201421,097 1.2%
201910,9110.64%

European Parliament

ElectionLeader1st pref
Votes		%Seats+/−EP Group
2019Collective leadership38,7712.31 (#7)New−
202431,8021.82 (#11) 0

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Clár nua Gaeilge 'Solidarity' le seoladh ag Oireachtas na Samhna inniu. Tuairisc.ie. November 2019 . 2020-02-10. 2020-02-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20200212175246/https://tuairisc.ie/clar-nua-gaeilge-solidarity-le-seoladh-ag-oireachtas-na-samhna-inniu/. live.
  2. News: Gannon . Colin . 23 January 2019 . Parties 'out of step' with Ireland on birthright citizenship . The Irish World . 6 August 2021 . 6 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210806181646/https://www.theirishworld.com/parties-out-of-step-with-ireland-on-birthright-citizenship/ . live .
  3. Book: Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021 . 23 March 2021 . Tom Lansford . 802 . CQ Press . 978-1-5443-8472-6 . The Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA) was launched in 2014 as a far-left, anti-capitalism grouping..
  4. Web site: AAA to rebrand as Solidarity . Businesspost.ie . 2017-03-08 . 2017-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170312031953/https://www.businesspost.ie/politics/aaa-rebrand-solidarity-381325 . live .
  5. News: Anti-Austerity Alliance launches election campaign. RTÉ News. 20 February 2014. 19 March 2014. 5 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200205191031/https://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0220/505598-anti-austerity-alliance/. live.
  6. News: 'We are the Triple A': New party says it will target Labour in local elections. The Journal. 20 February 2014. 19 March 2014. 5 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200205191033/https://www.thejournal.ie/anti-austerity-alliance-local-elections-1324938-Feb2014/. live.
  7. Web site: Iris Oifigiúil, 14 February 2014. 19 March 2014. 13 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413124635/http://www.irisoifigiuil.ie/currentissues/Ir140214.pdf. live.
  8. Web site: Anti-Austerity Alliance launches as new party. 20 February 2014. 10 April 2014. 13 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413073439/http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/anti-austerity-alliance-launches-as-new-party-623127.html. live.
  9. Web site: Anti Austerity Alliance seeks 'real jobs' action for Limerick. 10 April 2014. 11 April 2014. 13 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413000115/http://www.limerickpost.ie/2014/04/10/anti-austerity-alliance-seeks-real-jobs-action-for-limerick/. live.
  10. Web site: Paul Murphy leaves Socialist Party to set up new group. 26 September 2019. 26 September 2019. RTÉ News. Mícheál. Lehane. 26 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190926162727/https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/0926/1078425-politics/. live.
  11. Web site: Iris Oifigiúil. Iris Oifigiúil. 7 August 2015. 7 August 2015. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201110934/http://www.irisoifigiuil.ie/currentissues/IR070815.pdf. live.
  12. News: Could we be about to get another new political group?. TheJournal.ie. 8 August 2015. 8 August 2015. 20 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150920121242/http://www.thejournal.ie/anti-austerity-alliance-people-before-profit-2259896-Aug2015/. live.
  13. News: Anti Austerity Alliance and People before Profit to launch new party. The Irish Times. 17 September 2015. 19 September 2015. 10 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151010201110/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/anti-austerity-alliance-and-people-before-profit-to-launch-new-party-1.2353674. live.
  14. News: Anti-Austerity Alliance rebrands as Solidarity. RTÉ. 10 March 2017. 12 March 2017. 7 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170807020223/https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0310/858695-anti-austerity-alliance-name-change-solidarity/. live.
  15. Web site: City Councillor Lil O'Donnell opts to leave newly named Solidarity party. Irish Examiner. 13 March 2017. 23 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170323233035/https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/city-councillor-lil-odonnell-opts-to-leave-newly-named-solidarity-party-782449.html. live.
  16. Web site: European Election Candidate - Rita Harrold. 9 May 2019. 16 May 2019. Spunout.it. 30 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190530141347/https://spunout.ie/news/article/ee19-rita-harrold. live.
  17. Web site: Ireland's rigged economy for the 1% and Solidarity's socialist alternative . 2018-06-28 . 2018-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180628233434/https://www.solidarity.ie/socialist . live .
  18. News: Ryan . Órla . 17 December 2016 . We asked every TD if they want a vote on a united Ireland, here's what they said . TheJournal.ie . 11 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210411035632/https://www.thejournal.ie/united-ireland-border-poll-3136932-Dec2016/ . live .
  19. Web site: Border Poll would only heighten sectarianism . Waldron . Daniel . 2016 . The Socialist (Magazine) . 10 . 2021-05-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210512135000/https://issuu.com/socialistpartyireland/docs/ts_south_july_-_august_2016 . live .
  20. News: . 2 May 2019 . PROFILE: CLARE DALY TD . . 25 February 2022 . subscription.
  21. Web site: Column: Is the Socialist Party cloaking itself as 'Anti-Austerity Alliance'?. 22 February 2014. 10 April 2014. 13 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210313163713/https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/is-the-socialist-party-cloaking-itself-as-%E2%80%98anti-austerity-alliance%E2%80%99-1326767-Feb2014/. live. McKenna. Aaron. The Journal.

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