Labour Coalition
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The Labour Coalition was an
electoral coalition An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. Ea ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
of
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 ...
and labour groups, formed to stand in the 1996
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 ...
elections.''Left Unity in Ireland''
Socialist Democracy Socialist democracy is a political system that aligns with principles of both socialism and democracy. It includes ideologies such as council communism, democratic socialism, and Soviet democracy, as well as Marxist democracy like the dictatorsh ...
It was listed in the enabling legislation simply as "Labour". The coalition gained only 6,425 votes (0.85% of the total), winning no seats, but as the tenth most successful grouping in the election, it was entitled to two "top-up" seats on the Forum.The 1996 Forum Elections and the Peace Process
ARK
The seats were taken by the first two named on the Regional List of Candidates,
Malachi Curran Malachi Curran is a Northern Irish politician. He was elected to Down District Council in 1981 as a Labour candidate. He did not stand in 1985 but was elected to the same council in 1989 for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). He ...
and Hugh Casey. Both were 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 ...
(SDLP) councillors. The coalition split shortly after the election.
Mark Langhammer Mark Langhammer is a Northern Irish trade unionist, employed as Director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and elected onto the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in 2008, being re-elected in 2010. A forme ...
of the Newtownabbey Labour Party, originally the leader of the group, severed his connection with it, and Malachi Curran replaced him as nominating representative for Labour, notice being posted in the ''
Belfast Gazette ''The Belfast Gazette'' is a newspaper of record ( Government gazette) of the Government of the United Kingdom, along with '' The London Gazette'' and '' The Edinburgh Gazette''. It is published by The Stationery Office (TSO), on behalf of His ...
'' of 16 August 1996.Commons debates, 6 December 1996
Curran represented Labour in the talks that led to the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
in 1998.


References

{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct political party alliances in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1996 Defunct social democratic parties in the United Kingdom Labour parties in Northern Ireland Political party alliances in Ireland 1996 establishments in Northern Ireland