The Independent Socialist Party was a far left

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was founded in 1976 as a split from the

Irish Republican Socialist Party The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP ( ga, Páirtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na hÉireann) is a Marxist-Leninist and republican party in Ireland. It is often referred to as the "political wing" of the Irish National Liberation Army (I ...

named the Irish Committee for a Socialist Programme, calling for more prominent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politics and less emphasis on paramilitary activity. The following year, it renamed itself the "Independent Socialist Party" and was joined by former UK

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Bernadette McAliskey Josephine Bernadette McAliskey (née Devlin; born 23 April 1947), usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader, and former politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in North ...

. The party entered discussions with the Socialist Workers' Movement (SWM), with the aim of forming a joint organisation. A fusion was agreed but subsequently narrowly rejected by a membership conference. The SWM later, 1978, joined the Socialist Labour Party. As a result, the Independent Socialist Party decided to disband.

References

*Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'' 1976 establishments in Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in the Republic of Ireland Political parties established in 1976 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Socialist parties in Ireland {{Ireland-party-stub