Democratic Left
| Years Active: | 1992–1999 |
|---|---|
| Other Names: | New Agenda (1992) |
| Documents in Archive: | 10 |
| Publications: | Times Change, The Free Press |
| Emerged/Split from: | The Workers' Party |
| Merged with: | Labour |
| Timeline: | View in the timeline of the Irish left |
| Discuss: | Comments on this organisation |
About
Democratic Left was a democratic socialist party which was formed following a split in the Workers’ Party in 1992, which saw six of the Workers’ Party’s seven TDs and half the Ard Comhairle depart, under the leadership of Proinsias de Rossa.
It was initially named New Agenda, under which title it contested the 1992 Westminster elections. The party also supported a ‘Peace Coalition’ candidate, June Campion, in the 1994 European Parliament elections in Northern Ireland, along with the Green Party in Northern Ireland and some Labour groups.
Democratic Left participated in the 1994-1997 ‘rainbow coalition’ government with Fine Gael and Labour, in which de Rossa was Minister for Social Welfare. Following the loss of two of its six seats at the 1997 general election, the party entered talks with Labour and merged with the latter in 1999.
Identifiers
| VIAFInfo | 148002605 |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Democratic Left (Ireland) |
Documents
Show: By publication | Chronological list
Times Change
Times Change, No. 1
1994
Spring 1994
Times Change, No. 5
1995
Summer/Autumn 1995
Times Change, No. 9
1996
Winter 1996/97
Times Change, No. 10
1997
Spring 1997
The Free Press
The Free Press, No. 20
1995
April/May 1995
Others
- 1994 - Times Change, No. 1
- 1995 - The Free Press, No. 20
- 1995 - Times Change, No. 5
- 1996 - Times Change, No. 9
- 1997 - Times Change, No. 10
- 1998 - The Coffee Circle Papers: Contents, Foreword and Paper 1
- 1998 - The Coffee Circle Papers: Paper 3 - Beyond the Parish Pump: Internationalism Today
- 1998 - The Coffee Circle Papers: Paper 6 - Whither Irish Politics After the Referendum?
- 1998 - The Coffee Circle Papers: Paper 2 – New Century Socialism: Fighting for Justice in the Jungle
- 1998 - The Coffee Circle Papers: Paper 4 - Equality and Difference
Publications
A list of known publications from Democratic Left, including those not represented in the Irish Left Archive collection.
| Name | Years | Organisation(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting Edge | 1995 c. | Democratic Left |
| Democratic Left | 1996 c. | Democratic Left |
| Free Press, The: Newspaper of the Dublin North Central Branch Democratic Left | 1993 c.–1996 c. | Democratic Left |
| Kildare North Bulletin | 1996 c. | Democratic Left |
| New Agenda | 1992–1996 c. | Democratic Left |
| Times Change: Quarterly Political and Cultural Review | 1994–2000 c. | Democratic Left, Labour |
| Work in Progress | 1993 c. | Democratic Left |
External Resources
- Assorted Documents
TU Dublin Special Collections
Documents relating to Democratic Left annual delegate conferences.
- Election Literature
Irish Election Literature
A number of election leaflets from the party and individual candidates.
- Election Manifestos
Irish Election Manifesto Archive
Includes election manifestos from 1992 and 1997.
- Programme for Government
Irish Election Manifesto Archive
Archive of programmes for government, which includes the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ of Democratic Left, Labour and Fine Gael.
Comments
No Comments yet.
Add a Comment
Comments can be formatted in Markdown format . Use the toolbar to apply the correct syntax to your comment. The basic formats are:
**Bold text**
Bold text
_Italic text_
Italic text
[A link](http://www.example.com)
A link