The Irish Labour Party, 1922-73 / Niamh Puirséil.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Puirséil, Niamh.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Irish Labour Party--History.

Irish Labour Party.

Political parties--Ireland--History--20th century.

Political parties.

History.

Ireland--Politics and government--1922-.

Ireland.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xv, 400 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Dublin, Ireland : University College Dublin Press, 2007.

Summary:

Can a party of the left succeed in a society where economic issues take second place to nationalism and where the dominant church is profoundly hostile to socialism? From the outset, the Irish Labour Party found itself opposed by potent interests which militated against its success. From its perceived role as the 'political wing of the St Vincent de Paul' to its promise that the 1970s would be socialist, Labour was often too cautious for radicals and too radical for conservatives, its progress apparently bearing out Nye Bevan's assertion that the party which stands in the middle of the road is destined merely to be run down. Yet if it has never achieved electoral success to match her sister parties outside Ireland, Labour's influence has always far exceeded its size. Whether as a member of three governments or kingmaker or breaker of many others, the Irish Labour Party has played a key role in the course of politics in independent Ireland.

The Irish Labour Party, 1922-1973 is an outstanding contribution to the political history of twentieth-century Ireland. Over the course of the book, Puirseil charts the fortunes of the Labour Party, providing a penetrating analysis of the myriad personalities and structures, and showing a new picture of a party that seemed throughout the period to be hell bent on pressing the self-destruct button. This book offers a fresh and insightful look at a party riven by factions throughout its existence, and one that never reached its potential for a variety of reasons all outlined here. This book marks a major contribution to our understanding, not simply of the Labour Party, but of twentieth-century Ireland itself.

Contents:

1 A Very Constitutional Party 6

2 Could Labour Become Socialist?: Labour in the Hungry Thirties 39

3 Labour's Rise and Fall: 1938-44 71

4 Picking Up the Pieces: 1944-8 110

5 In Office or Power?: Labour and the First Inter-Party Government 133

6 Return to the Sidelines: 1951-4 163

7 Never Had It So Bad: The Second Inter-Party Government 179

8 Labour's Way 202

9 'The Seventies Will Be Socialist' 236

10 Smoky Misdirection: 1969-73 272

Conclusion: Labour's Proud History? 308.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-383) and index.

ISBN:

1904558682

9781904558682

1904558674

9781904558675

OCLC:

71542822