John Caden is an Irish independent television producer. He began his media career in RTÉ in the 1970s. In 1985 he won a Jacob's Award for producing The Gay Byrne Show .
62-649: For most of his time in RTÉ, Caden was a member of the Workers' Party . He, along with his friend Eoghan Harris , strongly supported the operation of Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act 1960, which prevented members of Sinn Féin from being interviewed on RTÉ. In 1987, Caden took charge of the investigation into the "Lambo incident", involving the RTÉ DJ Gerry Ryan . In the 1990s, John Caden left his employment with RTÉ. He
124-653: A united Ireland , and finally a socialist society would be created in Ireland. In 1974, the Official Republican Movement split over the ceasefire and the direction of the organisation. This led to the formation of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) with Seamus Costello (whom the Official IRA had expelled) as its chairperson. Also formed on the same day was IRSP's paramilitary wing,
186-601: A TD in the Dublin West constituency and president of the party for most of the previous 30 years, was the only member of the Dáil parliamentary party not to side with the new Democratic Left . Mac Giolla lost his seat in the general election later that year , and no TD has been elected for the party since then. However, at local authority level, the Workers' Party maintained elected representation on Dublin, Cork and Waterford corporations in
248-644: A minor split left the party after the 2004 local elections , with only two councillors, both in Waterford . The party fielded twelve candidates in the 2009 local elections . The party ran Malachy Steenson in the Dublin Central by-election on the same date. Ted Tynan was elected to Cork City Council in the Cork City North East ward. Davy Walsh retained his seat in Waterford City Council . In
310-524: A number of members left and established a group called Republican Left; many of these went on to join the Irish Socialist Network. Another split occurred in 1998, after a number of former OIRA members in Newry and Belfast, who had been expelled, formed a group called the Official Republican Movement, which announced in 2010 that it had decommissioned its weapons. The Workers' Party has struggled since
372-571: A permanent ceasefire in May 1972. Following this, the movement's political development increased rapidly throughout the 1970s. On the national question, the Officials saw the struggle against religious sectarianism and bigotry as their primary task. The party's strategy stemmed from the "stages theory": firstly, working-class unity within Northern Ireland had to be achieved, followed by the establishment of
434-536: A response to the ongoing housing crisis in Ireland. In 2016, the party published Solidarity Housing, a public housing policy that proposed a cost-rental housing model for Ireland. Later that year, a Workers' Party motion for 100% mixed-income public housing on the publicly owned O'Devaney Gardens site in the north inner city was passed by Dublin City Councillors, but was later overturned after an intervention by Minister for Housing Simon Coveney . The party retains
496-570: A seat in Cork East . It increased this to three seats in 1982 and to four seats in 1987 . The Workers' Party had its best performance at the polls in 1989 when it won seven seats in the general election and party president Proinsias De Rossa won a seat in Dublin in the European election held on the same day, sitting with the communist Left Unity group. Following the split of 1992 , Tomás Mac Giolla ,
558-460: A significant minority of its membership broke off to form Democratic Left , a party which later merged with the Labour Party in 1999. The reasons for the split were twofold. Firstly, a faction led by Proinsias De Rossa wanted to move the party towards an acceptance of free-market economics. Following the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, they felt that the Workers' Party's Marxist stance
620-611: A symbol of remembrance for their members who died on "active service". With the decline in the Official IRA, the Easter Lily became more and more associated with the Provos. In the 1990s, metal versions of the Lily became popular and are worn by some at any time of the year. Their sales and usage has increased with the rise in electoral support of Sinn Féin. Cumann na mBan continue the sale of
682-519: A tradition of secularism. In April 2017, Councillor Éilis Ryan organised a demonstration against the proposed control of the new National Maternity Hospital by the Religious Sisters of Charity . The Workers' Party campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum to repeal the Eighth amendment in May 2018, having been the only party in the Dáil to oppose the introduction of the Eighth amendment in 1983. At
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#1733092874095744-523: Is an Irish republican , Marxist–Leninist communist party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland . The party formerly asserted a claim of direct descent from the original Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith . It took its current form in 1970 following a division within Sinn Féin, in which the majority faction followed the leadership in a Marxist direction. It
806-515: Is the father-in-law of Sunday Independent journalist Brendan O'Connor . He was briefly associated with the campaign of Derek Nally to become President of Ireland in the 1997 Irish presidential election before disassociating himself with the campaign over disagreements with the candidate. This Irish biographical article related to television is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Workers%27 Party (Ireland) The Workers' Party ( Irish : Páirtí na nOibrithe )
868-512: The 1993 local elections with Peter Smyth retaining the seat that had been held by Tom French in Loughside, Craigavon . This was lost in 1997 , leaving them without elected representation in Northern Ireland. The party performed poorly in the 2007 Assembly election ; it won no seats, and in its best result in Belfast West , it gained 1.26% of the vote. The party did not field any candidates at
930-596: The 2010 Westminster general election . In the 2011 Assembly election the Workers' Party ran in four constituencies, securing 586 first-preference votes (1.7%) in Belfast West and 332 (1%) in Belfast North . Easter Lily (badge) The Easter Lily ( Irish : Lile na Cásca ) is a badge in the shape of a calla lily flower, worn during Easter by Irish republicans as a symbol of remembrance for Irish republican combatants who died during or were executed after
992-503: The 2014 local elections Tynan retained his seat; however Walsh lost his, following major boundary changes resulting from the merging of Waterford City and County councils. In January 2015, Independent councillor Éilis Ryan on Dublin City Council joined the party. In the 2011 general election the Workers' Party ran six candidates, without success. In the 2016 general election , the party ran five candidates, again without success. At
1054-456: The 2019 Irish local elections , the party dropped to one remaining councillor, with Éilís Ryan losing her seat on Dublin City Council. The party gained ten seats at the 1973 Northern Ireland local elections . At the 1977 Northern Ireland local elections , this fell to six council seats and 2.6% of the vote. One of their best results was when Tom French polled 19% in the 1986 Upper Bann by-election , although no other candidates stood against
1116-556: The 2019 local elections , Éilís Ryan lost her seat on Dublin City Council, leaving Ted Tynan as the party's only elected representative in Ireland. In November 2020, the Standards in Public Office Commission announced that the Workers' Party were one of five political parties who failed to provide them with a set of audited accounts for 2019, in breach of statutory obligations. In April 2021, The Phoenix reported that at
1178-583: The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). A number of tit-for-tat killings occurred in a subsequent feud until a truce was agreed in 1977. In 1977, the party published and accepted as policy a document called the Irish Industrial Revolution . Written by Eoghan Harris and Eamon Smullen, it outlined the party's economic stance and declared that the ongoing violence in Northern Ireland was "distracting working class attention from
1240-677: The Official Irish Republican Army . By the late 1980s, the party had broken through electorally in the Republic of Ireland and at its peak it elected 7 TDs at the 1989 general election and 21 councillors at the 1991 local elections . However, following the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, almost all the party's elected members broke away and formed Democratic Left in 1992. Since 1992
1302-527: The "Provisional Army Council" and its party and military wing as Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA, while those remaining became known as Official Sinn Féin and the Official IRA . Official Sinn Féin, under the leadership of Tomás Mac Giolla , remained aligned to Goulding's Official IRA. A key factor in the split was the desire of those who became the Provisionals to make military action the key object of
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#17330928740951364-505: The "Sticks" or "Stickies" because in the 1970s it used adhesive stickers for the Easter Lily emblem in its 1916 commemorations, whereas Provisional Sinn Féin used a pin for theirs. The modern origins of the party date from the early 1960s. After the failure of the then IRA's 1956–1962 border campaign , the republican movement, with a new military and political leadership, undertook a complete reappraisal of its raison d'être . Through
1426-481: The 1916 Easter Rising . Depending on the political affiliations of the bearer, it can also commemorate members of the pre- Treaty Irish Republican Army , both post-Treaty Irish Republican Armies , and either the Provisional IRA or the Official IRA . It may also be used to commemorate members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). The Easter Lily was introduced in 1926 by Cumann na mBan . Proceeds from
1488-624: The 1930s, relations between Fianna Fáil and the IRA deteriorated considerably. Following the murder by the IRA of Richard More O'Ferrall in February 1935, the Fianna Fáil leadership instructed party members to stop selling the lily as it was "the symbol of an organisation of whose methods we disapprove". For its Easter commemorations that same year, Fianna Fáil introduced a new symbol called the Easter Torch. This
1550-459: The 1960s, some leading figures in the movement, such as Cathal Goulding , Seán Garland , Billy McMillen , Tomás Mac Giolla , moved steadily to the left, even to Marxism , as a result of their own reading and thinking and contacts with the Irish and international left. This angered more traditional republicans, who wanted to stick to the national question and armed struggle. Also involved in this debate
1612-411: The 2004 European elections in Northern Ireland. Waterford City remained a holdout for the party in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the 1997 general election , Martin O'Regan narrowly failed to secure a seat in Waterford . However, in February 2008, John Halligan of Waterford resigned from the party when it refused to drop its opposition to service charges. He was later elected a TD for Waterford in
1674-562: The 2011 general election. The party's sole remaining councillor in Waterford lost his seat in the 2014 local elections . Michael Donnelly, a Galway-based university lecturer, was elected as the party President at the party's Ard Fheis on 27 September 2014 on the retirement of Mick Finnegan . The Workers' Party called for a No vote against the Treaty of Lisbon in both the June 2008 referendum , in which
1736-463: The Cumann members ensured that SFWP members regularly appeared on the programme without having to acknowledge their membership. The Cumann was also able to influence one of RTÉ's flagship shows The Late Late Show , and placed SFWP activists into the show's studio audience, a studio audience who often took part in discussions on the show. During 1981 Irish hunger strike , the Cumann was deeply annoyed by
1798-594: The De Rossa motion. As a result of the conference's failure to adopt the motion, De Rossa and his supporters split from the organisation and established a new party which was temporarily known as "New Agenda" before the permanent name of "Democratic Left" was adopted. In the South the rump of the party was left with seven councillors and one TD . In the North, before the 1992 split, the party had four councillors – Tom French stayed with
1860-569: The Donnelly faction, with Tynan president of the breakaway faction. The Belfast Telegraph also reported upon the story in April 2021, and suggested one faction had tried to expel Tynan on the stated basis that he had not paid his membership fee for that year. However, Tynan told the Belfast Telegraph that he believed the actual basis for his expulsion was that a new guard of members who wished to move
1922-468: The Easter Lily with a self-adhesive backing while the Provisional's reverted to the traditional paper and pin Easter Lily. This led to the members of the Official IRA and Official Sinn Féin being referred to pejoratively as the "Stickies". On the other hand, the Provisionals became known as the "Pinheads", a nickname which has not lasted. Both the Officials and the Provisionals also saw the Easter Lily as
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1984-561: The Northern conflict was typified by the slogan it would adopt: "Peace, Democracy, Class Politics". It aimed to replace sectarian politics with a class struggle which would unite Catholic and Protestant workers. The slogan's echo of Vladimir Lenin 's "Peace, Bread, Land" was indicative of the party's new source of inspiration. Official Sinn Féin also built up fraternal relations with the USSR and with socialist, workers' and communist parties around
2046-508: The aftermath of the split, and Mac Giolla was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1993. Outside of the south-east, the Workers' Party retains active branches in various areas of the Republic, including Dublin , Cork and County Meath. In the 1999 local elections , it lost all of its seats in Dublin and Cork and only managed to retain three seats in Waterford City. Further electoral setbacks and
2108-609: The background of the violent beginning of what would be termed the Troubles ). A growing minority within the rank-and-file wanted to maintain traditional militarist policies aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland . An equally contentious issue involved whether to or not to continue with the policy of abstentionism , that is, the refusal of elected representatives to take their seats in British or Irish legislatures. A majority of
2170-496: The class struggle to a mythical national question". The policy document used Marxist terminology: it identified US imperialism as the now-dominant political and economic force in the southern state and attacked the failure of the national bourgeoisie to develop Ireland as a modern economic power. Official Sinn Féin gravitated towards Marxism-Leninism and became fiercely critical of the physical force Irish republicanism still espoused by Provisional Sinn Féin. Its new approach to
2232-493: The collapse of the Soviet Union and labelled them "liquidators". Marian Donnelly replaced De Rossa as president from 1992 to 1994. Tom French became president in 1994, and served for four years until Sean Garland was elected president in 1998. Garland retired as president in May 2008, and was replaced by Mick Finnegan who served until September 2014, being replaced by Michael Donnelly A further minor split occurred when
2294-565: The early 1970s and continued to operate in secrecy until the Worker's Party broke apart in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed (1991) and likewise the Workers' Party saw a major split with the formation of the Democratic Left (1992). Remaining undetected was fundamental to the existence of the Cumann, as officially RTÉ reporters were not allowed to have party-political affiliations, in order to appear objective as journalists. The Cumann
2356-448: The early 1990s to rejuvenate its fortunes in both Irish jurisdictions. The Workers' Party maintains a youth wing, Workers' Party Youth, and a Women's Committee. It also had offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Waterford. Apart from its political work at home in Ireland, it has sent party delegations to international gatherings of communist and socialist parties. The party supported an independent anti-sectarian candidate, John Gilliland, in
2418-414: The existing membership, elect an 11-member provisional executive council and make several other significant changes in party structures was defeated. The motion to "reconstitute" the party achieved the support of 61% of delegates. However, this was short of the two-thirds majority needed to change the Workers' Party constitution. The Workers' Party later claimed that there was vote rigging by the supporters of
2480-572: The headquarters of Sinn Féin for decades before the 1970 split. At its Ardfheis in January 1977, Official Sinn Féin renamed itself Sinn Féin – The Workers' Party . Its first seats in Dáil Éireann were won under this new name. A motion at the 1979 Ardfheis to remove the Sinn Féin prefix from the party name was narrowly defeated. This change would come about three years later. In Northern Ireland , Sinn Féin
2542-494: The leadership favoured abandoning this policy. A group consisting of Seán Mac Stiofáin , Dáithí Ó Conaill , Seamus Twomey , and others, established themselves as a "Provisional Army Council" in 1969 in anticipation of a contentious 1970 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (delegate conference). At the Ard Fheis, the leadership of Sinn Féin failed to attain the required two-thirds majority to change the party's position on abstentionism. The debate
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2604-415: The old position. In 2023, the Workers' Party launched its policy document "Lets Get Real", stating that nuclear power is the only energy option for Ireland which is reliable, affordable and low carbon. The party advocates Ireland building 6 conventional nuclear plants at 2 or 3 sites for an estimated cost of €50 billion. The Workers' Party made its electoral breakthrough in 1981 when Joe Sherlock won
2666-438: The organisation, rather than a simple rejection of leftism. The pre-split leadership, they stated, had attempted to replace the programme of Wolfe Tone and James Connolly with "the foreign socialism of Marx and Mao". If this had gone unchecked, their argument went, the "traditional" IRA would have been replaced by the “so-called National Liberation Movement, including Communist Party members. In 1977, Official Sinn Féin ratified
2728-495: The party has existed as a microparty . A 2021 split in the party left the party's status disputed. In 1971, it registered to contest Dáil and local elections in the Republic of Ireland under the name Sinn Féin . From the early to mid-1970s, it was known as Official Sinn Féin or Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) to distinguish it from the rival offshoot Provisional Sinn Féin, or Sinn Féin (Kevin Street) . Gardiner Place had symbolic power as
2790-468: The party towards more Irish Republican positions, such as being in favour of a referendum on Irish reunification , sought to push him out of the organisation. Historically the Workers' Party opposed a border poll on the basis it would be "sectarian" and pit Nationalists against Unionists, and argued instead that the solution to Northern Ireland would be to unite both groups under the banner of Internationalist Socialism. Tynan and his supporters seek to retain
2852-401: The party's annual Ardfheis the party voted to expel their only elected representative Ted Tynan. This is disputed by the party themselves. In response, a faction of the party called an emergency general meeting in which they backed a vote of no confidence in party president Michael Donnelly and voted Tynan as his successor. Micheal McCorry, who had been General Secretary, became president of
2914-560: The party's new name: Sinn Féin The Workers' Party without dissension. According to Richard Sinnott, this "symbolism" was completed in April 1982 when the party became simply the Workers' Party. Although the Official IRA became drawn into the spiralling violence of the early period of conflict in Northern Ireland , it almost immediately reduced its military campaign against the United Kingdom 's armed presence in Northern Ireland, declaring
2976-474: The party, Gerry Cullen (Dungannon) and Seamus Lynch (Belfast) joined New Agenda/Democratic Left, and David Kettyles ran in subsequent elections in Fermanagh as an Independent or Progressive Socialist. While the majority of public representatives left with De Rossa, many members remained in the Workers' Party. Sean Garland condemned those who broke away as "careerists" and social democrats who had taken flight after
3038-403: The positive coverage that the hunger strikers (such as Bobby Sands ) began to receive, as they were aligned with the Provisionals. In response, they produced pieces which focused on the victims of violence by the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland. In early 1992, following a failed attempt to change the organisation's constitution, six of the party's seven TDs, its MEP, numerous councillors and
3100-467: The proposal was rejected, and the October 2009 referendum , in which the proposal was approved. It was the only left-wing party to campaign for a No vote in the 2013 Seanad abolition referendum . It called for a Yes vote in the marriage equality referendum in 2015. The party supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum . The party has been involved in campaigning for public housing and renters' rights as
3162-599: The sale of the badge went to the Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependants Fund . Traditionally, they were sold outside church gates on Easter Sunday and worn at republican commemorations. In the early years of their existence, people from a broad political spectrum – from Fianna Fáil to Sinn Féin – wore lilies, which were sold by members of those political parties as well as the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Fianna Éireann , and Conradh na Gaeilge . In
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#17330928740953224-508: The sitting MP and a year later, when other parties contested the constituency, he only polled 4.7% of the vote. Three councillors left the party during the split in 1992. Davy Kettyles became an independent 'Progressive Socialist' while Gerry Cullen in Dungannon and the Workers' Party northern chairman, Seamus Lynch in Belfast, joined Democratic Left. The party held on to its one council seat in
3286-407: The working classes could be united in class struggle to overthrow their common rulers, with a 32-county socialist republic being the inevitable outcome. However, this Marxist outlook became unpopular with many of the more traditionalist republicans, and the party/army leadership was criticised for failing to defend northern Catholic enclaves from loyalist attacks (these debates took place against
3348-638: The world. Throughout the 1980s, the party came to staunchly oppose republican political violence , controversially to the point of recommending cooperating with British security forces. They were one of the few organisations on the left of Irish politics to oppose the INLA/Provisional IRA 1981 Irish hunger strike . The Workers' Party (especially the faction around Harris) strongly criticised traditional Irish republicanism , causing some of its critics such as Vincent Browne and Paddy Prendeville to accuse it of having an attitude to Northern Ireland that
3410-494: Was charged with allegations of vote-rigging and expulsions. When the Ard Fheis went on to pass a vote of confidence in the official Army Council (which had already approved an end to the abstentionist policy), Ruairí Ó Brádaigh led the minority in a walk-out, and went to a prearranged meeting in Parnell Square where they announced the establishment of a "caretaker" executive of Sinn Féin. The dissident council became known as
3472-519: Was close to Ulster unionism . Part of the party's plan to gain influence in the Republic of Ireland was the formation and maintenance of a secret branch ( cumann ), the Ned Stapleton Cumann , inside Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ . Centred around the leadership of Eoghan Harris, the members were all employees of RTÉ and many of them were journalists. Members included Charlie Bird , John Caden and Marian Finucane . The branch started in
3534-400: Was influential within RTÉ, and used its position to shape the output of RTÉ programming; they pushed for narratives which reflected the official Sinn Féin/Workers' Party outlook, particularly in relation to the Provisional IRA . One programme impacted by the Cumann, Today Tonight , aired 4 nights a week and focused on investigative journalism. Although not directly involved with the show,
3596-455: Was known as Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) or Official Sinn Féin , to distinguish it from the minority faction of "Sinn Féin (Kevin Street)" or "Provisional Sinn Féin". It changed its name from Sinn Féin to Sinn Féin The Workers' Party in 1977 and then to the Workers' Party in 1982. In that time, Provisional Sinn Féin came to be known simply as Sinn Féin . Both groups were tied to corresponding paramilitary groups, with Official Sinn Féin tied to
3658-537: Was now an obstacle to winning support at the polls. Secondly, media accusations had once again surfaced regarding the continued existence of the Official IRA which, it was alleged, remained armed and involved in fund-raising robberies, money laundering and other forms of criminality. De Rossa and his supporters sought to distance themselves from alleged paramilitary activity at a special Árd Fheis held at Dún Laoghaire on 15 February 1992. A motion proposed by De Rossa and General Secretary Des Geraghty sought to stand down
3720-408: Was organised under the name Republican Clubs to avoid a ban on Sinn Féin candidates (introduced in 1964 under Northern Ireland's Emergency Powers Act ). The Officials continued to use this name after 1970, and later used the name Workers' Party Republican Clubs . In 1982, both the northern and southern sections of the party became The Workers' Party. The Workers' Party is sometimes referred to as
3782-504: Was sold for a number of years but was discontinued as the badge proved unpopular with the party grass roots, many of whom continued to wear the Easter Lily. At the 1967 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis a motion from the Tipperary Cummain calling for the Easter Lily to be supplied with a self-adhesive backing was passed. After the 1969/70 IRA split, which led to the emergence of the Provisional IRA , the Official IRA and Official Sinn Féin kept
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#17330928740953844-579: Was the Connolly Association . This group's analysis saw the primary obstacle to Irish unity as the continuing division between the Protestant and Catholic working classes. This it attributed to the " divide and rule " policies of capitalism , whose interests were served by the working classes remaining divided. Military activity was seen as counterproductive, because its effect was to further entrench sectarian divisions. The left-wing faction believed
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