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Socialist Labour Party (SLP)

Socialist Labour Party
Years Active:1977–1982
Groups & Sections: InfoIrish Workers Group Tendency  … Sub-group/Section/Tendency
Socialist Workers' Tendency  (1977–1980) … Sub-group/Section/Tendency
Workers Alliance for Action  (1977–1979) … Sub-group/Section/Tendency
Republican Socialist Tendency  (1977–1979) … Sub-group/Section/Tendency
  Documents in Archive:7
  Publications:Socialist Worker Review
  Related Organisations: Movement for a Socialist Republic, Irish Workers' Group [1976], Socialist Workers' Movement, League for a Workers Republic
Timeline:View in the timeline of the Irish left
Discuss:Comments on this organisation

About

The Socialist Labour Party (SLP) was formed in 1977 and led by Matt Merrigan (Dublin Secretary of the ATGWU) and Noël Browne (then an independent TD).

A number of left groups joined the party as tendencies. These included:

  • Workers Alliance for Action - formed by members of Irish Workers’ Group, who left in 1979 (note, documents are also attributed to Irish Workers Group Tendency);
  • Republican Socialist Tendency - formed by members of Movement for a Socialist Republic, who left in 1979;
  • Socialist Workers’ Tendency - formed by members of Socialist Workers’ Movement, who left in 1980.

The party ran in the 1981 general election, with Noël Browne re-elected as a TD. However, with many members having left at this stage, it was dissolved in 1982.

Other names, groups or sections

  • Socialist Workers' Tendency

    The Socialist Workers’ Tendency was the part of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) formed by Socialist Workers’ Movement (SWM) members when they dissolved into the SLP. The group became the SWM again on leaving the SLP in 1980.

  • Workers Alliance for Action

    Workers Alliance for Action was the tendency created by the Irish Workers’ Group within the Socialist Labour Party.

    From existing documents, it was also referred to as Irish Workers Group Tendency.

  • Republican Socialist Tendency

    Republican Socialist Tendency was the tendency formed in the Socialist Labour Party by the Movement for a Socialist Republic. They left the SLP in 1979.

Identifiers

VIAFInfo155024251 
WikipediaSocialist Labour Party (Ireland) 

Documents

Show: By publication | Chronological list

Related Material

Items about Socialist Labour Party.

Publications

A list of known publications from Socialist Labour Party, including those not represented in the Irish Left Archive collection.

NameYearsOrganisation(s)
Bulletin of the Republican Socialist Tendency1979Republican Socialist Tendency
Dun Laoghaire Newsletter1978 c.Socialist Labour Party
Grass Roots1978–1979Socialist Labour Party
SLP Bulletin1979Socialist Workers' Tendency
Socialist Labour1978–1979 c.Socialist Labour Party
Socialist Worker Review1978–1979 c.Socialist Workers' Tendency
Spark1978–1979Workers Alliance for Action

External Resources

Election Literature & Leaflets

Irish Election Literature

Election leaflets and documents from the party and individual candidates.

Comments 1

  • Greg T

    My 1st party

    By: Greg T | 18th May 2020, 9:31am

    My 1st party, I wore the party badge to school and got called 'silly little p**' by some wit and a warning from the headmaster . Pity about the infighting which wore it down , ironically the DSA in the states has taken the same idea of a multi-tendency organisation and thrived . Isnt it about time for a new SLP for the non-Leninists among us ?

    Reply to this comment

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