This commemorative booklet was produced under the auspices of the Party’s Centenary Committee, chaired by Brendan Halligan. Centenary celebrations will be launch at our Conference in Galway in April 2012 and a range of events celebrating Labour’s history and achievements and looking forward to Labour’s role in the 21st century will be held throughout 2012 and 2013. www.labour.ie/centenary will contain regular updates. The Centenary Committee would like to acknowledge in particular the support and guidance offered by General Secretary Ita McAuliffe and staff member Mags Murphy and intern Noel Cullen in preparing our centenary programme.
!"#$%&'$(')*"+'$ ,-$%&'$.',./'0 The Party’s Centenary Committee before a meeting in Leinster House, March 2012. From left: Tony Brown, Jack O’Connor, Seamus Scally, Fionnuala Richardson, Tony Heffernan, Pat Magner, Paul Daly, Ita McAuliffe, Mags Murphy, Brendan Halligan (Chairperson), Ray Kavanagh, Denise Rogers, Noel Cullen and Deputy Joanna Tuffy. Not present in picture: Barry Desmond, John Walsh, Senator Susan O’Keeffe, David Leach and Senator Denis Landy. A particular word of thanks is due to Barry for his guidance and generosity with rare materials and Shauneen Armstrong for her photography and guidance throughout.
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Foundations As the second decade of the 20th century dawned Ireland was braced for profound political change. Parliamentary reform in Westminster removed the House of Lords veto on Home Rule for Ireland. Constitutional nationalist forces prepared for the new dispensation, while in the North East of the country those pledged to the union between Britain and Ireland mobilised to prevent, or at least restrict, the impending Home Rule legislation. This is the traditional narrative of an island divided over nationality, identity and loyalty. Following the events of 1916, the War of Independence and the Civil War, this view of 20th century Irish history would become established. Yet, at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century there was another theme that inspired Irish political activism - the struggle of workers and their families, urban and rural, to secure decent jobs, fair wages and the hope of a better future for their children. It was a struggle that was galvanising workers across Europe and beyond to form political parties and challenge the imperialist and capitalist forces of the establishment. That such a political force was needed in Ireland was not in doubt. The 1911 census reveals a country of stark opposites – grinding poverty sitting cheek by jowl with ostentatious wealth. For instance, Dublin had the worst housing conditions of any city in Britain or Ireland - in one house alone, 7 Henrietta Street, 104 people lived among squalor and disease. In rural and urban Ireland the census reveals workhouses were crammed with the poorest of the poor, while emigration continued apace. It was against this background that workers organised to fight for improved conditions, with the Irish Trade Union Congress founded in 1894 and the Irish Transport and General Workers Union founded in 1909. As the prospect of Home Rule loomed, trade unionists, gathered at their annual conference in Clonmel in May 1912, passed a motion to establish a political wing to contest elections and provide labour representation on local councils and any new Home Rule parliament. The motion, proposed by James Connolly and supported by James Larkin and William O’Brien, was passed 49 votes to 18, and so was born the Labour Party.
William O’Brien and James Larkin, two leading members of the Irish trade union movement who supported Connolly’s motion to establish the Labour Party. Both men would play a significant, if at times adversarial role, in the development of the Labour Party in future decades.
The years immediately after the Party’s foundation were overshadowed as the trade union movement became engaged in the Dublin Lockout of 1913, which saw organised labour in the city locked out of their employment in August 1913 by industry moguls intent on breaking the power of collective bargaining. The Irish Citizens Army was formed during the Lockout to protect workers from the police, who attacked their demonstrations.
On the political front, the prospect of Home Rule being granted was delayed with the outbreak of the First World War. At the urging of John Redmond, then leader of dominant Irish Party, thousands of Irishmen volunteered to serve, with many believing a speedy end to the conflict would hasten the passage of Home Rule, while others joined up to escape poverty and provide an income for their families. Thousands of Unionists also joined up to serve King and country. As the brutal conflict on the western front ground on, radical nationalists in Ireland planned an armed rebellion, with the aim of establishing an independent republic. James Connolly, frustrated at the pace of political reform and believing that Irish independence was critical to the advancement of the Irish working class, joined the small group of rebels, along with many members of the Irish Citizen’s Army. The Easter Rebellion lasted less than a week, Connolly, who sustained serious wounds during the fighting, was arrested and sentenced to death. He was executed, tied to a chair because of his wounds, in the stonebreaker’s yard in Kilmainham Jail on 12th May, 1916. The death of Connolly robbed the labour movement of its most prominent thinker and organiser. Larkin, who had founded the Labour Party with Connolly, had already departed for the US following the Lockout. Committed members like Tom Johnson and William O’Brien continued to build the Party. However, following the execution of Connolly and 15 other leaders of the Easter Rising the political mood in Ireland was changing rapidly. In the 26 counties especially a growing nationalist fervour overshadowed those arguing for social and economic reform.
Members of the trade union movement and the Labour Party with heads held high outside Liberty Hall. The building is still badly damaged after shelling by the British army during the Easter Rising.
A general election to the Westminster Parliament was held in December 1918. The end of the First World War heralded an international peace conference, where the fate of small nations in particular would be on the agenda. The argument that nationalists and socialists in Ireland should speak with one voice on the issue of independence was compelling and in advance of the election Labour decided not to contest. Sinn Féin, which won more than 70 seats at the election refused to attend Westminster and in January 1919 established Dáil Éireann at a meeting in the Mansion House in Dublin. However, Labour’s concern with social and economic progress found a voice in the new parliament, at its first meeting the Dáil adopted the Democratic Programme, a radical vision of an equal and just society which was largely drafted by Labour’s Tom Johnson. The ideals and ambitions in that remarkable document still inspire many Labour members today. James Connolly, who proposed the motion to establish the Labour Party at the Irish Trade Union Congress in Clonmel in 1912. This picture, by Joe Duffy, emphasises key themes in Connolly’s life - his work as a trade union official and political activist, his journalism and trenchant advocacy of workers’ rights and his substantial works on socialism.
Tom Johnson’s principles, eloquence and dedication steered the Party through the difficult years of the foundation of the state. His contribution to the Party was immense.
Building Democracy The foundation of Dáil Éireann and Britain’s opposition to any element of independence resulted in the War of Independence, which eventually led to the signing of the Treaty in December 1921. The Treaty between Ireland and Britain established an Irish Free State, with dominion status within the British empire. The Sinn Féin party split over the terms of the Treaty, which was passed by Dáil Éireann. As an election was held in June 1922 the prospect of Civil War loomed. Labour contested the June 1922 election, despite incidents of intimidation from elements of Sinn Féin. The result was remarkable, with 17 of Labour’s 18 candidates being elected, many of them topping the poll. While Sinn Féin was consumed with its own internal strife over the terms of the Treaty, it was clear that a substantial section of the Irish population wanted politics to focus on economic progress and social justice. Labour accepted the democratic mandate that the people had given to the Treaty and Tom Johnson became the leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party in Dáil Éireann. Anti-Treaty republicans boycotted the Dáil so Labour effectively became the parliamentary opposition to the Cumann na nGaedheal government. Under Johnson, Labour argued strongly for its own agenda of employment, pensions and welfare. It also opposed the reactionary public order laws the government introduced in the wake of the Civil War. In these early days of the state, democracy was fragile. Labour’s commitment to peaceful, democratic politics was crucial in ensuring that Ireland developed into a stable parliamentary democracy. Labour was also vital in securing the stability of politics by encouraging the majority of Anti-Treaty republicans, now organised under the Fianna Fáil banner, to accept the legitimacy of the state and enter the Dáil in 1927. This was a selfless act by Labour. Fianna Fáil was better organised, better funded and had shamelessly adopted many of Labour’s social and economic policies as their own. In facilitating Fianna Fáil’s entry into constitutional politics Labour was assisting an opponent that threatened its own electoral base. However, Johnson and his colleagues put country before party and played a crucial role in securing parliamentary democracy.
This poster from the 1930 Longford/Westmeath bye-election highlights Labour’s ambition to represent workers in both urban and rural Ireland. Labour’s rural vote, largely built on the organisation of farmer labourers, has been a bedrock of the Party throughout its 100 years.
By 1932 popular disillusionment with Cumann na nGaedheal and the powerful organisational ability of Fianna Fáil saw a change in government. Labour, under TJ O’Connell who had replaced Johnson as leader after he lost his seat in September 1927, had battled the increasingly authoritarian and right-wing policies of Cumann na n Gaedheal and Labour supported the election of Fianna Fáil as a minority government. The Party secured commitments on housing, welfare and job creation in exchange for its support.
Throughout the 1920s Labour played an essential role in supporting parliamentary democracy in the fledgling Irish Free State, and consistently opposed all forms of militarism and authoritarianism.
The New Republic
Bill Norton now took over the leadership of the Party, a position he would hold until 1960. Labour struggled during the 1930s to gain electoral support for its policies, no matter how progressive, as the two civil war parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (Cumann na nGaedheal had merged with two other parties to form this new right-of-centre formation) dominated politics.
The late 1960s in particular saw a younger generation of activists join the Party and the Party put forward a radical left-of-centre agenda, often in the face of smears and slurs from conservative elements in Irish society. Roddy Connolly, James Connolly’s son, took a prominent role in the Party, becoming Party Chairperson in 1971, a position he would hold for most of the decade. These years also saw the formation of the Labour Women’s National Council, which advised the Party on equality and gender issues and campaigned for a great role for women within the Party and in broader Irish society.
Its constructive role in the Dáil and Seanad continued however, and the public again turned to the Party in significant numbers in the 1943 election when Labour challenged the Fianna Fáil government over its economic and social policies adopted during the war years. In 1948, after 16 years in office, Fianna Fáil’s grip on power was finally broken and Labour prepared to enter its first coalition government. Despite that achievement all was not well within the labour movement. Larkin had returned from the USA in the 1920s, but was estranged from the Labour Party. William O’Brien, then a leading figure in the ITGWU, was particularly opposed to Larkin and these tensions affected both the trade union movement and the Labour Party. When Larkin was re-admitted to the Labour Party and contested the 1943 election O’Brien left the Party, the ITGWU disaffiliated from Labour and a breakaway National Labour Party was formed.
Fianna Fáil’s 16 year grip on power began in 1932. Throughout this time Labour continued to publish policies and advocate for progressive social reform in areas such as education, welfare and jobs.
The early 1970s also saw Northern Ireland descend into turmoil and Labour, under the calm direction of Corish, opposed all forms of violence and paramilitarism and consistently argued for negotiated settlement to the Troubles. 1973 saw the Party return to government again with Fine Gael. In the next four years Labour introduced radical reforms in the area of equal pay, employment legislation, welfare reform, expansion of public housing, a tenant purchase scheme and tackling disadvantage. The 1973-77 coalition also achieved significant progress in Northern Ireland, with the Sunningdale Agreement proposing a democratic framework for stability, including all-island institutions. Sadly the potential of that Agreement wasn’t grasped due to ongoing loyalist and republican violence. Despite these achievements the Party failed to return to power after the 1977 election. To this day the Party has never achieved two successive terms in power to pursue its agenda.
‘Big Jim’ Larkin campaigning in the 1943 general election in Dublin North East. Larkin’s return to the Labour Party was not universally popular and contributed to a split in the Party and the foundation of a National Labour Party. Both wings of the Party served in the 1948-1951 coalition government and the Party reunited in 1950.
Throughout the 1960s Labour, under new leader Brendan Corish, pursued an independent electoral strategy and it put forward an ambitious socialist agenda. His 1968 ‘New Republic’ speech, which declared “At the next general election (we) must face the electorate with a clear-cut alternative to the conservatism of the past and present; and emerge . . . . as the Party which will shape the seventies. What I offer now is the outline of a new society, a New Republic.” was a seminal moment in the development of the Party.
Government - Triumph and Trials Despite these tensions both Labour Parties served in the coalition government formed after the 1948 election. The government continued until 1951, a time when the split in the movement was healed. Labour’s contribution during its first period in government was impressive, it had a large influence on government policy and proved to be a stable coalition partner. The Party’s success in providing public housing during this time is one of its outstanding achievements. In 1947 just 744 social houses had been constructed, while in 1951 alone 7,000 local authority houses were completed.
Bill Norton, Labour leader from 1932 to 1960. Norton would lead the Party into two coalition governments – both of which introduced significant reform especially in the area of housing.
Labour would again participate in a coalition government between 1954 and 1957, however the dire economic problems facing the country then restricted that government’s ability to implement Labour’s agenda. That government did start the process of liberalisation of the Irish economy and established the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and amended the tax regime to promote exports and foster investment. After the 1957 election Fianna Fáil returned to power. The following years saw Norton replaced by Brendan Corish of Wexford as Labour leader and the Party pursued an independent line throughout the 1960s, focusing on policy and organisational development.
Tánaiste and Labour Leader Brendan Corish, and other ministers and politicians from Northern Ireland, attending a North South Council meeting introduced as part of the Sunningdale agreement.
Following the 1977 election Frank Cluskey, the Dublin South Central TD, became Party leader. The following year, a radical voice from Galway West, Michael D Higgins, was elected Party chairman. A new policy platform was launched, and the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979 saw the Party win four seats. Labour Youth’s first national conference was also held that year.
Spring Tide However, the 1981 election failed to deliver a breakthrough for the Party and members were shocked when Frank Cluskey lost his seat, to be replaced by Michael O’Leary. Irish politics now witnessed a period of unprecedented instability with three general elections in less than 18 months. O’Leary resigned from the leadership after a conference defeat on the issue of coalition in October 1982 and he was replaced by 32 year old Dick Spring, who was first elected to the Dáil in June 1981.
Spring led Labour into a coalition with Fine Gael following the 1982 election and again Labour was confronted with an economic catastrophe largely created by Fianna Fáil’s near exclusive grip on power since 1977. While battling these economic problems, Labour also managed to pursue its reform agenda appointing Ireland’s first Ombudsman, reforming family planning legislation – in the face of bitter opposition – child welfare legislation was enacted and a National Development Corporation, to stimulate the economy, was established. Labour continued its drive to liberalise Irish society, but the divorce referendum it had long fought for was defeated in 1986. Significantly, Tánaiste Dick Spring played a key role in the negotiations that resulted in the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed between London and Dublin in 1985. It was the first in a long series of initiatives that would finally bring an end to senseless violence in Northern Ireland. Labour returned to opposition after the 1987 election. Debates in the Party regarding the merits of coalition were a constant source of division during the 1980s but the following years would see Spring heal those rifts as an increasingly well organised and coherent Party put itself before the people. In 1990 the Party nominated Mary Robinson to contest the Presidency of Ireland. In a remarkable campaign Robinson was elected Ireland’s first female President that November. It was a stunning achievement by Labour and the other progressive elements in Irish society who supported her candidacy. The following year saw Labour achieve success in the local elections and Spring was widely recognised as the leader of the opposition as he challenged the economic and social policies of Fianna Fáil, firstly under Charles Haughey and then Albert Reynolds. Spring’s leadership and the Party’s modernisation bore benefits in the 1992 election which saw the Party win 33 seats, its best electoral performance up until then.
In 1990 Mary Robinson, who was nominated by the Labour Party, won the Presidential election. The victory signified the development of a more liberal, tolerant and reforming politics in Ireland.
Dick Spring, who became leader just weeks before the 1982 general election would modernise the Party and challenge the conservative consensus in Irish politics. In 1992 Spring would lead Labour to its then largest electoral success securing 33 seats.
After protracted negotiations, and having secured significant influence on the programme for government Labour entered a partnership government with Fianna Fáil, the only stable coalition option available. The following years would witness one of the Party’s most successful periods in government. Divorce was introduced following a successful referendum campaign, ethics in public office legislation and electoral reform was enacted, and freedom of information law was passed. Dick Spring, as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, was central to negotiations which resulted in the Downing Street Declaration in December 1993 and led to the IRA and loyalist ceasefires in 1994.
Fianna Fáil’s inability to live up to the principles of trust necessary for a partnership government led to the collapse of the coalition in November 1994 and the formation of the Rainbow government, with Fine Gael and Democratic Left joining Labour in government.
The change in government saw Ruairí Quinn, TD, become finance minister, the first time Labour held the post, and Labour’s dominant input into fiscal and economic policy in the coming years would herald a transformation in the Irish economy. Employment expanded rapidly, investment increased and Quinn delivered the first surplus in the 1997 budget. Quinn introduced Ireland’s 12.5% corporation tax regime, a catalyst for foreign direct investment and indigenous economic growth and also concluded the Stability and Growth Pact at European level which proposed a framework for sustained economic development. Social reform, building peace and economic transformation were the hallmarks of Labour’s period in government from 1993-1997. This record of achievement however didn’t secure a second term for Labour and the Party returned to the opposition benches in 1997.
Shaping The Modern Ireland Spring, Labour’s most successful leader to date, resigned from the leadership that autumn and was succeeded by Ruairí Quinn, with Brendan Howlin as his Deputy Leader.
Ruairi Quinn and Pat Rabbitte at the Irish Labour History Society in spring 2012. Both Quinn and Rabbitte challenged Fianna Fáil-led governments in the 2000s and argued for a different vision of Irish society, a more sustainable economy and ethics in public life.
The new Fianna Fáil coalition was immediately thrown into turmoil with the resignation of a senior minister and serious allegations of corruption being made. Quinn led Labour’s defence of high standards and integrity in public life as the scale of wrongdoing by politicians of other parties became apparent. Quinn also led negotiations with Democratic Left which resulted in the merger of the two parties in 1999. The merger saw Labour return to the principles contained in the Democratic Programme and recast that seminal document for the 21st century. In the 2002 election Labour focused on health reform, fair taxation and trust in politics. The election saw Fianna Fáil returned to office and Pat Rabbitte, TD won the first one-member-one-vote leadership contest held by the Party after Quinn resigned the leadership. Liz McManus, TD was elected Deputy Leader. Under Rabbitte, Labour criticised the mistakes of the Fianna Fáil government. Reform of the Gardaí was championed, Labour’s commitment to radical healthcare reform was advanced and reforming legislation on whistleblowers and lobbyists was proposed, a theme that built on Labour’s record of achievement in ethics in public office and freedom of information legislation. In advance of the election in 2007 Labour formed a pact with Fine Gael, but again Fianna Fáil returned to power. Following the election, Pat Rabbitte resigned and Eamon Gilmore, TD was unanimously elected Party leader and Joan Burton, TD elected Deputy Leader. Within months the folly of Fianna Fáil’s economic policies over the previous 10 years became clear. Labour was the only Party in the Dáil to oppose the government’s bank bailout and Gilmore and Burton
As Ireland faced unprecedented economic and social turmoil in recent years Eamon Gilmore provided the integrity and leadership that the country so badly needed. He led Labour to its greatest election victory in 2011.
pursued the coalition and put forward equitable, ambitious alternatives to a failed economic policy. Gilmore, like Spring before him, became widely recognised as the real leader of the opposition. Local and European elections in 2009 demonstrated that the public wanted real change and in the February 2011 election Labour won 37 seats, its highest seat tally ever. With the country facing unprecedented economic challenges the membership overwhelmingly supported the Party entering a National Government with Fine Gael following the election. Eamon Gilmore became Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in the new Government that saw Labour secure four other vital cabinet posts. The new Government has begun to restore Ireland’s reputation, get our people back to work and deliver a better deal from the EU/IMF/ECB troika.
Labour Leader, Eamon Gilmore and Deputy Leader, Joan Burton, on the plinth of Leinster House with Labour’s record 37 TDs following the February 2011 election.
Just months after the formation of the new government the Labour Party nominated Michael D Higgins to contest the Presidential election. In a remarkable campaign, driven by Michael D’s belief in citizenship, creativity, international solidarity and human rights, he was elected President in October 2011, securing more than 1 million votes during the count. He will be a President who will make us all proud. Speaking at an event in 2009 to mark the 90th anniversary of the publication of the Democratic Programme, Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore, TD, reflected on Labour’s contribution to politics in Ireland. He stated: Ninety years later, those same values were never more relevant. They can and must inspire and guide us. After decades of 'greed is good', we too can declare 'the right of every citizen to an adequate share of the produce of the Nation's labour.' We too can insist that 'we desire our country to be ruled in accordance with the principles of Liberty, Equality, and Justice for all'
In June 2011 Michael D Higgins began his campaign for the Presidency. In November he was inaugurated President of Ireland after energetic and inspiring campaign.
Labour can be proud, that our predecessors put country before party, and played such a key role in winning political independence for this State. And we can be proud too of Labour's work down the decades, modernising our country, improving the quality of life for our people, and pursuing the politics of the common good with integrity. Labour has always served the country……
Today the Labour Party steps forward, ready to provide the leadership, which our country needs in these troubled times. The Democratic Programme which we commemorate here today is still a valid and relevant blueprint. So let us leave Liberty Hall today, by recommitting ourselves to its noble objectives; let us organise and work even harder to make Labour the leading force in Irish politics; and above all let us provide the solutions and the hope that people all over this country so badly need today.