Independents 4 Change ( ga, Neamhspleáigh ar son an Athraithe) is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Irish

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 political ideology ...

History

The political grouping registered as a political party since 2014. It was previously known as Independents for Equality Movement. The party adopted its current name in September 2015, after the establishment of the

Right2Change Right2Change is a political campaign that arose from the Right2Water campaign in Ireland, built around a document called "Policy Principles for a Progressive Irish Government". The principles centre on areas like health, housing, jobs education an ...

electoral alliance, which its candidates in the 2016 general election subscribed. Within the

32nd Dáil 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, I4C took advantage of revised Dáil standing orders to form their own

technical group In politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogenous parliamentary group composed of elected officials from political parties of differing ideologies (or independent of any party) who are not numerous enough to form groups on their own. ...

, which also included three Independent TDs who were not members of the party itself:

Catherine Connolly Catherine Connolly (born 12 July 1957) is an Irish Independent politician who has served as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency since 2016. She previo ...

Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...

, and

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...

Tommy Broughan Thomas Broughan (born 1 August 1947) is a former Irish Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2020. He sat as a TD for the Labour Party until late 2011, representing the Dublin North-East constituency from 1992 ...

left the party on 26 July 2016. In 2016 Ruth Nolan, a member of

South Dublin County Council South Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) Act ...

for Lucan who had been elected for

People Before Profit People Before Profit ( ga, Pobal Roimh Bhrabús, PBP) is a left-wing to far-left Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History PBP was established in 2005 as t ...

, joined Independents 4 Change. In May 2020, Joan Collins left I4C to found a new party called

Right to Change Right to Change (also written Right2Change) is a minor political party in Ireland. It was founded in May 2020 by Joan Collins TD. Collins was elected as an Independents 4 Change TD in the 2020 general election. A left-wing party, Collins has ...

, leaving the party with no TDs.

Electoral history

Four candidates contested the 2014 local elections for the group in each of the

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average po ...

s in

Wexford County Council Wexford County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Loch Garman) is the authority responsible for local government in County Wexford, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hous ...

. None of them were elected.

Mick Wallace Michael Wallace (born 9 November 1955) is an Irish politician and former property developer who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency since July 2019. He is a member of Independents 4 Change, ...

Clare Daly Clare Daly (born 16 April 1968) is an Irish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency since July 2019. She is a member of Independents 4 Change, part of The Left in the European P ...

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...

, and

, and councillor Barry Martin contested the 2016 general election for Independents 4 Change, with Broughan, Collins, Daly and Wallace being elected. At the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

and

were elected as MEPs. Three councilors were elected for Independents 4 Change in the

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

held on the same day, including former Labour TD from Sligo, and longtime Independent Socialist councillor

Declan Bree Declan Bree (born 1 July 1951) is an Irish independent politician. He was a founder of the Sligo/Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation in 1974, and was a member of that group until joining the Labour Party in 1991. He served in Dáil Éi ...

. In the 2020 general election, Independents 4 Change returned one TD,

in Dublin South-Central.

General elections

Local elections

European elections

References

2014 establishments in Ireland Left-wing politics in Ireland Political parties established in 2014 Political parties in the Republic of Ireland Socialist parties in Ireland {{Republic-of-Ireland-party-stub