Solidarity ( ga, Neart le Chéile), formerly known as the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA), is a socialist political party in Ireland, launched in 2014. It had been registered as a political party to contest local elections, and ran at least forty candidates in the

2014 Irish local elections The 2014 Irish local elections were held in all local government areas of the Republic of Ireland on Friday, 23 May 2014, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections ( Dublin West and Longford–Westmeath). The pol ...

. All Solidarity's elected representatives are members of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

History

Anti-Austerity Alliance

The party contested the 2014 local elections on a platform of job creation. On 8 April 2014, it launched a plan to create 150,000 jobs across Ireland by replacing the controversial JobBridge and Gateway initiatives with a "real jobs programme of public works, free education and genuine training schemes". Paul Murphy was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland reads: ...

for Dublin South-West under the Anti-Austerity Alliance banner at a by-election in October 2014. In September 2019 he resigned from the party.

Ruth Coppinger Ruth Coppinger (born 18 April 1967) is an Irish politician and member of the Socialist Party. She was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) in the Dublin West constituency in 2014. In the 2016 general election, she ran as a candidate for Anti-Aus ...

was elected for Dublin West as a TD at the

2014 Dublin West by-election A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin West constituency in Ireland on Friday, 23 May 2014, following the resignation of Independent Teachta Dála (TD) Patrick Nulty on 22 March 2014. It was held on the same day as the 2014 European ...

. Both were re-elected at the

2016 Irish general election The 2016 Irish general election took place on Friday 26 February to elect 158 Teachtaí Dála (TDs) across 40 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's parliament. The 31st Dáil was dissolved by Presiden ...

. Coppinger became the first woman to be nominated for the role of Taoiseach. Mick Barry was elected as TD for the Cork North–Central constituency in 2016. According to the Irish Examiner, Barry has been "a leading figure in the Cork and national campaigns" against household and water charges. On 7 August 2015, the party was removed from the Register of Political Parties. It held discussions in August 2015 with the

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 the ...

about forming a new political grouping. On 17 September 2015, the two parties announced that they had formally registered as a single political party for electoral purposes. The new organisation was called "Anti-Austerity Alliance–People Before Profit" and subsequently renamed as

Solidarity–People Before Profit People Before Profit/Solidarity ( ga, Pobal Roimh Bhrabús/Dlúthphairtíocht, PBPS, PBP/S, or S-PBP) is a left-wing electoral alliance in the Republic of Ireland. It was formed by members of two socialist political parties in the Republic ...

. In 2021, it was renamed again as People Before Profit/Solidarity.

Relaunch as Solidarity

On 10 March 2017, the Anti-Austerity Alliance called a press conference and announced that it would now be relaunched as Solidarity. This name change was made to reflect the "many movements emerging on workplace, economic and social issues" and that while "the AAA has played a key role in campaigns like the water charges and housing", that the organisation under the name of Solidarity "will continue to do so, but the name will now better reflect our campaigning work on Repeal, LGBTQ issues and equality generally." Cork City Councillor Lil O'Donnell left the party at the time of the rebranding as Solidarity. Rita Harrold unsuccessfully stood in Dublin 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 ...

. At the 2020 general election, Coppinger lost her seat, leaving Barry as the party's only TD. The party suffered a significant drop in its vote share.

Ideology and policies

The party intends to end "Ireland's status as a

tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...

", introduce a

financial transactions tax A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a levy on a specific type of financial transaction for a particular purpose. The tax has been most commonly associated with the financial sector for transactions involving intangible property rather than real ...

, abolish property tax, increase

corporation tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed a ...

, increase income tax on high earners, and introduce a ‘Millionaire's Tax’ on net personal wealth in excess of €1 million. Solidarity opposes a referendum on Irish reunification as a "border poll" on the grounds they believe it would further entrench sectarianism, and has stated it would campaign for a boycott of any such referendum if it were held. Solidarity believes that Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales should merge and form a socialist federation, which should aspire to be part of a Socialist Federation of Europe. '' The Phoenix'' has opined that this position is a "bizarre fusion of Trotskyism and

British Unionism Unionism in the United Kingdom, also referred to as British unionism, is a political ideology favouring the continued unity of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as one sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nort ...

" that "articulates a unionist outlook dressed in socialist rhetoric".

Criticism

All Solidarity's elected representatives are members of the

, which has led to criticism that Solidarity is a

front organisation A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

for the

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a r ...

Socialist Party.

Election results

General elections

Local elections

European elections

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solidarity 2014 establishments in Ireland Anti-austerity protests in the European Union Ecosocialist parties Left-wing politics in Ireland Political parties established in 2014 Political parties in the Republic of Ireland Post-2008 Irish economic downturn Socialist Party (Ireland) Socialist parties in Ireland