Democratic Left: The Life and Death of an Irish Political Party

by Kevin Rafter

Democratic Left was a small political party which was organized primarily in the Irish Republic, but also in Northern Ireland, for just short of seven years in the 1990s. Formed out of a split in the Workers' Party in early 1992, Democratic Left was formally disbanded in January 1999, following a merger agreement with the Labour Party. The party - which was led by Proinsais De Rossa, Pat Rabbitte, Eamon Gilmore, and Liz McManus - participated in the 1994-1997 Rainbow coalition involving Fine Gael and Labour. This book explores the emergence of Democratic Left out of the crisis in communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as continued allegations about their involvement in official IRA criminality. Issues of ideology and identity, party organization, and political funding are examined, which offer a unique and revealing insight in how politics operates in Ireland today. The book is based on access to internal Democratic Left documentation and papers, as well as interviews with

378 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2011

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive look at the origins and short life of the rather enigmatic party, one that answered every question i had about the leaders could move from the radical left of Irish politics to the right of the Labour party (which they ended up leading). Rafter's main theses - that Democratic Left was merely a stopgap measure for many between leaving the Workers' Party and joining Labour, and that the party failed to develop a coherent identity in the eyes of itself or the Irish political sphere are well argued and supported with extensive interviews and media reporting from the time.