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WITH AUSTERITY THE dominant economic idea across Europe, there has been a sharp rise in support for parties on the left particularly in countries where the right has dominated in recent years.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the left’s rise has manifested itself in electoral success in France and huge electoral gains, if not victory, in troubled Greece. In Ireland, the rise of the left has been less obvious but nonetheless significant when you consider that at the last election, five truly left wing TDs were returned along with a smattering of independents who are at various points across the political spectrum.
Prior to last year’s election the Socialist Party, People Before Profit (PBP) and the Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG) came together under the banner of the United Left Alliance (ULA) with the intention of addressing a “crisis of representation”, as the veteran socialist Joe Higgins put it.
“We have a unique and historic opportunity to make a significant step forward in the construction of a new movement that will represent working class people from unemployed, from public sector, from private sector, from pensioners,” he told a meeting of the ULA in February 2011.
Broadly, the movement is against household and water taxes, believes Ireland’s bank debt should be repudiated and wants higher taxes on the thei higher paid. Over a year on from the election, and buoyed by the household charge boycott campaign, there is an appetite within the ULA to form a mass political movement of the left, a political party.
But there is a difference of opinion as to just how quickly it should happen among members of the alliance itself.
While the Socialist Party are keen to retain their status as a political party under the banner of the ULA, there are some in PBP who feel that the matter is more urgent, that the sooner there is a proper, united political party of the left, the sooner it can really compete at an electoral level in the way Syriza has in Greece.
“It’s imperative that the left unites in Ireland given the current pressures from the Troika,” People Before Profit TD Joan Collins told TheJournal.ie this week.
It is difficult with three different organisations but we also have a broader group of independents that are not aligned to any party who are undoubtedly working in the ULA, trying to pull together. It should be sooner rather than later and we should come out publicly and we should register ULA as a political party. That’s my strong feeling.
It’s a feeling which is noticeably different to that of the Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy: “It’s not something that’s happening overnight,” he told TheJournal.ie recently, appearing reluctant to give up the idea of the Socialist Party in Ireland no longer existing, being subsumed into the ULA.
“It’s certainly the Socialist Party’s vision that we would want to be part of a broader left party. We wouldn’t give up our existence but would be part of something broad, a broader party, like a political party,” he said.
The steps involved in making this happen are incremental ones in the eyes of Murphy. They involve opening up the alliance to membership, as it has already done, whereby anyone can now sign up to be a member of the ULA as opposed to having to become a member of one of its constituent groups.
There is also now a delegate council of the ULA involving different branches of the United Left Alliance from across the country meeting on a regular basis and acting in an advisory role to the party’s representatives on councils and in the Dáil.
Inevitably there will be comparisons made with a movement like Syriza in Greece, a coalition of the radical left that finished second in the country’s recent general election but opted to go into opposition rather than to form a coalition with the pro-bailout New Democracy and PASOK.
The decision to go into opposition was largely driven by a reluctance to honour the terms of Greece’s current bailout programme under any circumstances. Syriza wanted to renegotiate the deal unlike the two main establishment parties – New Democracy and Pasok – who broadly plan only to tinker with the deal.
It’s not hard to draw parallels in Ireland where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are both supportive of the bailout programme. A key founding principle of the ULA is that it will not enter into a coalition with the “capitalist parties” as Murphy refers to them.
That could block off a route for Sinn Féin entering the ULA if it were ever to consider doing so. “I think Sinn Féin will have big questions to answer to itself and its membership whenever there is a question of forming a government,” Murphy said.
In any case, the likelihood of a party with nearly three times the representation of the ULA in the Dáil - as Sinn Féin has – wanting to join with it is highly unlikely. So too is the likelihood of the Labour Party joining forces with the ULA given it is in coalition with one of the aforementioned “capitalist parties”.
But more pressing than all of those hypotheticals is the current economic climate and the reluctance of many in this country to put up with the current austerity policies of the government, enforced by the Troika agreement.
“I think we have a situation in Greece when Syriza stood in a really important election. That situation could develop in Ireland,” Collins said and cited the recent campaign against the household charge as something that was co-ordinated across the country.
Murphy agreed: “It’s (household charge boycott) the biggest civil disobedience movement in the history of the State,” but added that the ULA “isn’t about people giving up their politics”.
Collins says that in the interests of advancing the left movement in Ireland she would be prepared to sacrifice her tag as a People Before Profit TD and become a ULA one. For her the extent of the level of austerity being imposed in Ireland makes the situation more urgent particularly ahead of the local elections in 2014:
It will become more imperative that we do (merge). It would be shame in the upcoming local elections that we would not be running as ULA because that would be a real progressive movement.
History tells us that movements on the left often become splintered as was the case in Ireland in 1992 when the Workers Party split to form Democratic Left which itself later merged with the modern day Labour Party, itself still a centre-left party but far away from the policies of the ULA.
For those who feel that a merging of organisations within the ULA is urgent, such as People Before Profit, there is a catch-22: If they walk away from the Socialist Party and the ULA because they are dragging their heels, the movement of the left in Ireland becomes splintered once more.
“It would be irresponsible of organised groups not to move forward in that direction,” Collins said, citing the confusion that could be created by the appearance of Socialist Party/United Left Alliance or People Before Profit/United Left Alliance on ballot papers.
In the last election, the ULA failed to get itself added to the names of its constituent parties on the ballot paper because of timing. It’s almost certain the ULA will appear in some shape or form on the next election ballot papers but whether or not this will be as it stands in its current form as an alliance or as a fully-fledged political party is not yet clear.
For some within the movement that is a more urgent matter than for others.
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God forbid he would put Ireland or the Irish first.
@Jb Walshe: and the EU which we are part of
@eoin fitzpatrick: the EU that made Ireland what it is. The planks on this site seem to forget that.
@Dave Connolly: You mean made it a transet camp for passport flushers?
@Jb Walshe: both policy at home and abroad are equally important.
@Dave Connolly: Eaten bread is soon forgotten by the anti-everything trolls, anything apart from Trump ruling the entire planet is Marxist to them.
@Jb Walshe:
Where exactly do you think we would be without EU money over the decades? Poorer than Moldova, that’s where.
@Jb Walshe: Lovely hurling
@Jb Walshe: Ukraine needs help. We were “invaded ” … so, you should have some empathy
@eoin fitzpatrick: which a lot of Irish people did not vote for at the time .
One dictatorship to another
@Jb Walshe: 100% and on one hand wants Ireland to stay close to the USA and on the other he says this
@Dave Connolly: no it didn’t Irish people made Ireland not the EU. We got the exact same as every other member
Another bill for the Irish taxpayer
Why would anyone care what this plank has to say?
@Chop Chop: enough to comment ?
@Chop Chop: he’s an EU head of state, just like the 25 others that will be on this call. Just because you consider him a plank, doesn’t mean that his peers do also
@Kevin Kerr: his peers have no choice but to deal with him because the irish people voted for him to be our prime minister. I don’t pretend to know how that could have happened but I’m fairly sure he is not on the call because of any input he may have. We are and have been for a long time the whipping boys of Europe.
@Kevin Kerr: Nah, I’d say they all think he’s a w-anchor.
@Kevin Kerr: Although, most of them are w-anchors too, so maybe you’re right.
@Gavin Smartr:
Whipping boys of Europe?
Give us some examples.
Why?. So the EU can spend billions rebuilding a country it had no interest in before it was invaded?. The country was corrupt as the come pre the war so no it doesn’t deserve EU membership.
@Joe Willis: Weird, ain’t it? Azov battalion, openly displaying Nazi symbols, while their president is a Jew. What a confused bunch of lads!
@Joe Willis: Clowns like you are just emboldened by Dumps compulsion to lie and spread misinformation.. Trying to normalise BS . The financial things you cite about him and his parents have been debunked several times now.. but I would challenge you to produce your sources, or stop peddling lies. As for your sad attempt at a history lesson..more crap you licked off your screen while down some rabbit hole on X no doubt..
@Ger Whelan: well said this is a fantastic comment
@Brian: They have a property in Israel, and one on the coast of Egypt in the wealthy area of El Gouna. Egyptian journalist Mohammed Al-Alawi has the documents shown that the villa worth 4.8 million was purchased in Zelenskyys mothers name. He also reported that Many top Ukrainian officials have purchased property in El Gouna since 2022. Mohammed was very critical of Zelenskyy and claimed that Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian bureaucrats were engaging in corruption with Ukraines humanitarian aid money. Mohammed was found dead in 2023 after being beaten to death in Hurghada. His brother, Ahmed, is convinced it was Ukrainian operatives who organised the killing.
@Chop Chop: yes they are very confused. Most of them grew up in the Soviet Union so I’m not surprised they are completely brainwashed by the communists. Even the holodomor was kept out of official public discourse until 1992.
@Joe Willis: Like yourself, it’s very simple Joe.. you need to cite sources for your claims. Foreign concept to you I’m sure.. but it’s easy enough to copy and paste a link to where you get your information from.
@Joe Willis:
Are you a jew hater?
@Chop Chop:
We have a party in our parlament who hold a rally each year at a statue of a Nazi collaborater situated in Fairview Park in Dublin.
@H Woo: im a noticer
He should apply for a position in the Ukraine or Palestine government as well as the rest of them , they seem to know more about their issues, than their own country.
@BRENDAN O’CONNELL: completely true
We have clueless politicians running the country off a cliff edge. For what benefit?
@tiobraiddroicead: Reality check today from Trump as he proposes a 25% tarrif (and rising) on cars and pharmaceutical products, with the expressed intention of forcing them back to the USA. Another flagship chips company is tethering on bankruptcy and being split up.
Our clőwns are so drunk on USA company taxes and their own personal property wealth that they have absolutely lost touch with the reality facing us.
@Thomas Sheridan:
I’m sure the 100,000 plus Irish workers employed by the same company’s are taking an interest in events state side.
This is a huge mistake, and will only endanger Europe.
Let them join when they meet all the conditions, also freedom of movement should not be allowed for any EU person with a serious criminal record, this can be held in the chip on your passport. One more idea Begging, Pickpocketing, Shoplifting is not looking for work
He very worried about the Ukraine and Ukraines pity he doesn’t worry about his own people like that especially the homeless
Oh look mehole Martin putting others that aren’t Irish first. Imagine my suprise when I read this
@Kevin Daly:
We Tryed the isolation thingy before, Didn’t end well.
Horrific idea, Ukraine should be let nowhere near the EU
Heres an idea tea-sock puppet Martin
And I know its a strange concept for a FF leader cos you never shut the aul pie holes but seriously, just keep quiet and worry about things on the home front like a good leader. Also Langer if ya dont want the junket to america cancelled where u will have to puker up and kiss the orange rear end of the donald, maybe dont go against his mate vlad
@Patrick Newell: yawn
He’s an embarrassment. He really thinks that he is some sort of international statesman, he’s a no mark political pygmy that’s how Martin is perceived in Brussels.
@Declan Young: He’s an EU head of state.
@Brendan O’Brien: Or head of government, rather.
@Brendan O’Brien: A tiny peripheral EU state the size of postage stamp. If you think that the EU is an alliance of equals you are deluded.
@Declan Young: The main thing is that it’s an alliance committed to democratic principles, and we do have equal representation in the Commission and Council.
@Declan Young:
You are dead right.
The man lacks an Irish inferiority complex. How did he ever get elected with such a flawed character.
Absolutely nuts, economic disaster if ukraine joined the eu, if the shoe was on the other foot ukraine would not help or fund ireland, absolute jokestop
@burrito girl: for 100% we wouldn’t get a cent of the Ukraine if it was the other way around we would be all sent packing good luck deal with your own problems
@burrito girl:
How do you know that.?
Micheál is correct.
President Zelenskyy is demonstrating incredible courage fighting a war where a second front, in the form of American disinformation spearheaded by Donald Trump, is opening up.
There is no argument against who started the war in Ukraine. You can argue NATO expansion as a root cause of heightened tensions but annexing Crimea in 2014 and sending tanks over the border to Kyiv thereafter are simply the start of the war.
@Argus Romsworth: President Zelenskyy official approval ratings are 57%. Donald Trump has claimed they are 4%. Even his supporters are head scratching now.
Has his age caught up with him?
He’s spending an awful lot of time hiding away in Florida. Maybe he’s receiving treatment for a condition?
@Argus Romsworth: you literally typed the very reason for this war, and then next sentence dismissed it.
NATO expansion is the sole reason for this war.
Annexing Crimea is the result of it not the reason for it.
@Shane Kinsella (Kinsey): Ukraine is not a nato member
@Shane Kinsella (Kinsey): Putin’s invasion has caused NATO expansion (Sweden + Finland).
NATO expansion did not cause Putin’s invasion.
@Shane Kinsella (Kinsey): if you apply similar reasoning to USA expansion in the pacific do you believe the USA was to blame for the attack on pearl harbour?
Consider the fact the USA actually expanded in the pacific. While nato didn’t expand into Ukraine.
@Argus Romsworth: zelensky has nearly no support so ya it’s 4%. Who would support a nut job dragging young men off the streets and throwing them into the meat grinder with minimal training. It’s all on video recorded by other Ukrainians from their apartments and other buildings, because if they were caught doing it you know what would happen to them.
@brendan C5: his official ratings are at 57%
The Journal would not allow any comments with regards to the Ukraine/Russia war for the past 3 year’s until Trump got into power and all of a sudden the comment section was open.
Their Reporters/Journalists and Editors have passed a lot of misinformation and utter bull ever since.
Time to delete this app.
I wouldn’t mind,you are not even good at it.
@martin lawlor: Eh wrong. The journal allowed comments on Ukraine/Russia for over a year and a half. It was only after the October 7th attacks and comments were closed on all articles about Israel invading Gaza did the journal start closing comments on Ukraine/ Russia..
@Ger Whelan: Ger,or whoever you are,your talking b..l.x
@Ger Whelan:
Jew hating is a different matter.
There are strict entry rules around a country’s finances etc. Ukraine needs to go through those loops before being considered. Is Martin asking for these to be waived?
@Aidan Collins: of course she is he’s probably getting a brown envelope out of that money he’s sending over there taxpayers money being blown up literally
Who does this guy think he is in the world? He comes from a country of 5 million people, and it takes two of them to make decisions and eight of them to ho to America, for jes sake. Every other country with multiple million population has one strong leader
Absolutely ridiculous idea, it’s very sad what’s happening in Ukraine but EU membership is supposed to meet certain criteria. The war doesn’t change the fact that Ukraine is a deeply corrupt country with a questionable justice system, not to mention the economic situation. What benefit would Ukraine in the EU have for any existing members? We already have 100k of them here already, imagine how many we’d have with free movement. Ukraine should be nowhere near EU membership just because there’s a war shouldn’t change that.
They’ll never pass the stringent anti corruption laws not to mention the problem with the Nazi Asov battalion.
@Dave Grant: I wish we had those “stringent anti-corruption laws” in Ireland, our lot could teach the Ukrainians a thing or two about conning the electorate.
@Mr Inbetween:
Ireland in the top twenty of LEAST corrupt counties in the world.
The EU bureaucrats are continually scoring own goals. Free trade markets and freedom to travel are what Europeans wanted. Europeans wanted more freedom over their lives, less hurdles in everyday living, what we wanted is not what is being sold to us today. If our leaders can’t see, what looks like, the majority, don’t want or buy their new vision and turn the ship around, the EU experiment could unfortunately be another failed attempt at a once good idea. This could be the last sting of a dying wasp.
Ukraine will suck all the EU finances of the next 30 years. Zero left for investment in Ireland.
Did the weapons manufacturers make you do it Michael
@Kevin O Brien:
As long as those weapons manufactures continue to produce superior weapons then the Kremlins weapons manufacturers.
A good idea. Putin is deliberately engineering a situation in which huge swathes of people are being displaced, leading to trouble with immigration. If Ukraine join the Eu and Putin is stopped so will the flow of refugees. This should please both left and right sections of the public. if Putin is appeased and Ukraine barred then the movement of people will continue.
@Alan: appeasement doesn’t work.
Neville Chamberlain defining moment was ultimately his undoing. Well educated leaders, like those in the eu and now in the U.K. are aware of this. Unfortunately coolock says no types didn’t listen in school
@Argus Romsworth: A useful factcheck of Trump’s claims re Ukraine:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/19/factchecking-donald-trump-claims-war-ukraine
@Alan: the “movement” of people can be easily stopped if the EU enforced its own border laws. Do you think if Ukraine gets EU membership tomorrow then war stops tomorrow? Because if you do you are very much mistaken.
@Argus Romsworth: what was chamberlain meant to do? Please enlighten us as to what you would have done in Chamberlain’s position?
@Ger Whelan: you can see how us and europes cooperation has halted russias aggression in its tracks. There was no appeasement. Britain was more of a force then as it is now. Similar strategies could’ve been adopted through the League of Nations to halt German aggression.
@Argus Romsworth: So sanctions would have been your solution to stopping German aggression?. Yeah because sanctions are working now aren’t they. There was no EU or NATO in 1938 to apply any of the tactics used to slow Russia against Germany.
@Ger Whelan: sanctions are not the only thing that have stopped Russia progressing in Ukraine. Ukraine defense has been bolstered with equipment, training and cold hard cash to support their military. If you digest the above you will see the league of nations mentioned. The league of nations failed due to a lack of support. Had it have been supported and then leveraged against German aggression, as Ukraine is today by us and European nations, then Germany would might not have progressed so readily. Just like the Russian war machine is today. Lessons were well learned from the mistakes of the past and are adopted successfully today to stop russias advance.
@Ger Whelan: “ There was no EU or NATO in 1938 to apply any of the tactics used to slow Russia against Germany”, I think that’s a very confused statement?
@Argus Romsworth: Ukraines defence was bolstered by equipment and training supplied by NATO. NATO didn’t exist in 1938, nor did the EU. The league of nations was a diet United nations and the United nation couldn’t stop Russia so no the league of nations couldn’t have stopped Germany. But you keep dreaming lad. The fact is less than a year later Germany steam rolled both the British and French militaries on main land Europe forcing the British into an embarrassing retreat across the channel and the surrounder of the french. Nothing chamberlain did or could have done in 1938 was going to stop Germany.
So long as we stay out of the Schengen zone and they’re not allowed join it either, and not for a good while.
Good. This is what Ukraine wants, and they should be fully supported in realising this aim. All the naysayers are braying from a position where only geography affords them such a cynical view.. Ukraine will do far better among our European community than by being tied to the paranoid mafia dons neo Soviet Union. Slava Ukraini!
Meanwhile, US President Musk is starting his plan destabilise and ultimately end the EU. Luckily we had EU elections last year so it’ll be 4 years before he can interfere in the next EU parliament.
Computer says no.
Ukraine has more resources than any other country in the EU…it makes perfect sense.
This should have happened a long time ago and I welcome any attempt to bring Ukraine into the European Union. After the Maidan Revolution, it was clear that the Ukrainian people would not stand for any attempts by Russia to place puppets in their government to block attempts at brokering EU aspirations and free trade deals. Mark Rutte also needs to step up to the plate and invite Ukraine into NATO in a swift manner, ideally no later than six months after they are approved for EU membership. The pro-Putin trolls on this site can’t seem to get their heads around the simple fact that Ukraine is a sovereign country. They have every right to choose their own destiny in relation to foreign affairs. We need to stop fearing Russia. They are a paper tiger and would be crushed by NATO if required.
Yep, let them join the EU, and confiscate the $300Bn of Russia’s sanctioned dough to pay for Putins damage.. they won’t need funding from the US and Orange Julius
Ukriane was actually fine without eu and us interference,it’s doomed now
@Darran Macken: At first I didn’t understand why it took so long for the bots to comment in bulk on the Ukraine related articles today (mostly already several hours old to even the previous evening). First I suspected it had taken that long to come up with a co-ordinated scripted response. Then I realised that things were going badly for ‘your side’ in the international and online discussion and commentary. So cue a flood of attempts to disinform in the crudest and least polished way.
The world is changing before our eyes. We are living through history being made. While it may be laudable, Ireland cannot continue to live by its old values when they are being dumped by those in power. We need new radical solutions to new radical problems.
What might have been unacceptable before — such as infringing our neutrality or admitting Ukraine to the EU — must now be reconsidered by what offers the best security for our collective future.
And time is not available to appoint committees and to dither. Unexpected events are unfolding daily while EU decision-makers react like rabbits caught in a headlight. It is now time for them to get ahead of the game, stop being caught off guard and to exert some degree of control.
So we can go to war against Russia. Brilliant idea Michael. Sure where would we be without you. And if you want more trouble just throw the bowl of weeds at The Don.
As a small silver lining, at least we don’t have Wallace and Daly echoing Kremlin talking points as MEP’s.
@Numinous20111:
You can sing that, two rich kids one a Gererals daughter with an army man servant on call and private fee paying schooling for young ladies. The other a thick trust fund type of hippy who’s company when folded cost the ordinary workers millions to clean up the damage.
Must have hurt Daly to have being shafted by the lefty left in the inner city in order to settle old scores with her.
Ukraine should become a member of the EU. And Russia and its allies America will hopefully sink.
@AnthonyK: No it shouldn’t. Ukraine wasn’t eligible to join the EU before it was invaded. Being invaded doesn’t mean Ukraine is suddenly eligible for EU membership. It should only get EU membership if it ever meets the requirement to join the EU.
@AnthonyK: you don’t realise how the world works huh….its all about resources, US and Russia have lots, Europe got none.
Why no comments allowed on the savages with their spears in the article above?
Imbecile
That’s really not a good idea at this point. It doesn’t help at all.
have your say