View source for Irish Workers' Party

{{about|the party founded in 1948|the party founded in 1923|Irish Worker League|the party founded in 1926|Irish Workers' Party (1926)|the current Workers' Party|Workers' Party (Ireland)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Irish Workers' Party
| logo = 
| logo_alt =
| colorcode =     <!-- HTML color code (e.g. "red", "#FF0000" or Party metadata color template) otherwise "transparent" -->
| leader =
| president = 
| chairperson = 
| secretary = 
| general_secretary = [[Michael O'Riordan]]
| first_secretary = 
| secretary_general = 
| presidium = 
| governing_body =
| standing_committee =
| spokesperson = 
| founder = 
| founded =  {{start date|1948|11|08}}
| dissolved = 1970
| merged = [[Communist Party of Ireland]]
| headquarters = 
| ideology = [[Communism]]
| newspaper = {{ubl|''[[The Irish Workers' Voice]]''|''[[The Irish Socialist]]''}}
| international = 
| website = 
| country = Ireland
| elections_dab1 = Elections in the Republic of Ireland
}}
The '''Irish Workers' League''' (1948–1962), later the '''Irish Workers' Party''' (1962–1970) was a communist party in the [[Republic of Ireland]].<ref>[http://www.communistpartyofireland.ie/pairti.html A history of the communist movement in Ireland] - Communist Party Website</ref>

==Background==
The Southern section of the Communist Party of Ireland had suspended its activities from 1941 onwards, because of police interference in its activities and the difficulties imposed by the emigration of many members to find work in England. Members were encouraged instead to join the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] (although many were subsequently expelled).

The influx of communists to the Labour Party and the union movement, from both [[James Larkin]]'s party and the Communist Party of Ireland, caused a split in Labour, with the formation in 1944 of the [[National Labour Party (Ireland)|National Labour Party]]. During this time, the communists still ran a revolutionary book-shop called ''New Books'' and produced a publication, ''Irish Review''.

==Irish Workers' League==
After the [[Second World War]], former internees from the Curragh Camp, including members of the "Connolly Group," along with individuals expelled from the Labour Party, established a party in Republic of Ireland on 8 November 1948 under the name '''Irish Workers' League'''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Ann |date=2003 |title=The archive of the Communist Party of Ireland |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23199784?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents |journal=Saothar |volume=28 |issue= |pages= |doi= |access-date=30 October 2024}}</ref> [[Michael O'Riordan]] became its secretary, and others involved in early meetings of the party included [[Dominic Behan]], [[Sam Nolan]], Joe O'Connor and Sean Mulready.<ref>'The Communist Party of Ireland 1921 - 2011' By [[Matt Treacy]], Dublin 2012.</ref> The IWL resumed publication of ''[[The Irish Workers' Voice]]'' which had been a publication of the Communist Party. The IWL ran candidates unsuccessfully in the [[1951 Irish general election|1951]], [[1954 Irish general election|1954]], and [[1961 Irish general election|1961 general election]]s.

==Change of name to Irish Workers' Party==
The group's name was changed to the Irish Workers' Party in 1962, but this organisation did not register itself as a political party. Thus, it did not select candidates until the [[1954 Irish general election|1965 general election]], when it fielded some candidates unsuccessfully, and again in the [[1969 Irish general election|general election of 1969]]. In December 1965 the IWP began publishing a monthly newspaper, ''[[The Irish Socialist]]'', from its ''New Books'' bookshop.

In 1970, the Irish Workers' Party merged with the [[Communist Party of Northern Ireland]] to reconstitute the all-Ireland [[Communist Party of Ireland]].

==General Secretary==
* 1948–1970: [[Michael O'Riordan]]

==External links==
* [http://www.communistpartyofireland.ie Communist Party of Ireland website]

==References==
<references/>
{{Historic Irish parties}}

Coakley, John. “http://Ljournal.ru/Wp-Content/Uploads/2017/03/a-2017-023.Pdf.”{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Minor Parties in Irish Political Life, 1922–1989, vol. 21, no. 3, 2017. The Economic and Social Review, doi:10.18411/a-2017-023.

[[Category:Communist Party of Ireland]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1948]]
[[Category:Communist parties in Ireland]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:1970 disestablishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1970]]


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