The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) was the name of two distinct political parties in Northern Ireland, the first formed in 1985 by a group around

Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph "Paddy" Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a former Stormont MP, and a member ...

, a former

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

councillor and

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

member, and

Billy Blease William John Blease, Baron Blease Justice of Peace, JP (28 May 1914 – 16 May 2008) was a trade unionist and politician from Northern Ireland. Blease, the son of William John Blease and Sarah Watts, was educated at McClure Public Elementary Scho ...

, a member of the British

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, and the second formed by

Malachi Curran Malachi Curran is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish politician. He was elected to Down District Council in 1981 Northern Ireland local elections, 1981 as a Labour candidate. He did not stand in 1985 Northern Ireland local elections, 1985 but wa ...

in 1998.

History

The initial organisation stood several candidates in the 1985 local government elections, none of whom were successful. In 1987, the group merged with the

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

Ulster Liberal Party The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal and non-sectarian political party in Northern Ireland linked to the British Liberal Party. The party was officially neutral on the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. Members expressed different vi ...

and the United Labour Party to form a party known as Labour '87 or Labour Party 1987 with the aim of campaigning for a united Labour Party. This group also gained the support of the

Newtownabbey Labour Party The Newtownabbey Labour Party is a minor political party based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. The party originated as the Newtownabbey branch of the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP). It left its parent organisation in 1974, in opposition ...

. It hoped to build links with the

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

, but this came to nothing. The group ran unsuccessful candidates in the 1989 local elections and the

1989 European Parliament election The 1989 European Parliament election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was the third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other m ...

, after which the Labour '87 coalition seems to have been dropped. The LPNI survived a little longer, but appears to have dissolved in 1990.

Labour coalition and new LPNI

The next attempt to form a labour organisation in Northern Ireland was the

Labour coalition The Labour Coalition was an electoral coalition in Northern Ireland of socialist and labour movement, labour groups, formed to stand in the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum elections.Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

in 1996. This split in 1998, and a group around Malachi Curran founded a new "Labour Party of Northern Ireland". This group ran candidates in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, including

David Bleakley David Wylie Bleakley CBE (11 January 1925 26 June 2017) was a politician and peace campaigner in Northern Ireland. Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the Harland and Wolff dockyards while becomi ...

. Curran stood unsuccessfully in the 2007 Assembly election, coming last. The party was deregistered with the Electoral Commission in 2016.

References

{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Political parties established in 1985 Political parties disestablished in 1987 Labour parties in Northern Ireland Social democratic parties in Ireland Social democratic parties in the United Kingdom 1985 establishments in Northern Ireland