Political Parties in Ireland.

If you're confused by all of the party acronyms that I throw into my discussions here, you're in the right place. I'll give a quick overview of each party, what they stand for etc. I'll go through them all from left to right and give a little spiel.

People Before Profit/Solidarity

Considered Left-wing to far-left. Have 3 seats in the Dáil and 1 in the Assembly.

(As a disclaimer, I am a member of PBP so will have a bias here).

We're starting off strong with a party that is actually 2 different parties stuck together. As the name suggests, they are made up of People Before Profit (PBP) and Solidarity. However, luckily for us, the disagreements are relatively minor so we can treat them as a bloc for now.

Both parts of the party are openly socialist, emerging from the Trotskyist position (although with minor differences). Ultimately, the party fights for the overturning of capitalism and a system that puts "People Before Profit".

This marks them as clearly on the economic left as well as on the social left where they are unquestionably progressive on all areas of social policy. The most obvious distinction between the two member parties is their approach to a united Ireland, where PBP operates as an all-Ireland party and believes in immediate reunification as a step to building socialism across the island, whereas Solidarity tends to believe we need to build socialism on each side of the border and then reunify. (A minor difference but this also carries to their approaches on Palestine where Solidarity believe in the two-state solution while PBP are wholly in favour of a single united Palestinian state). Any other differences boil down to organisational differences and disagreements on theory so I'll spare you the details.

Officially the party is led by Dún Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barrett, although this is purely a symbolic role and the parties run under collective leadership.

Within each party there are also a series of networks and tendencies that I will save for another time.

Social Democrats

Centre-Left to Left Wing. Have 10 seats in the Dáil.

As spelled out by the name, the Social Democrats are a social democratic party, believing in a softer, more regulated form of capitalism. They were a breakaway from the Labour party in 2015 (who we'll get to later).

Econimically then they sit squarly on the centre-left while on social policy they are also quite consistently progressive. On international policy they are generally pro-EU though have balanced this with a relatively strong pro-Palestine stance. With regards to reunification, they are nominally in favour of reunification, having officially become an all-Ireland party recently, although they have yet to stand any candidates or establish any meaningful presence north of the border.

They are led by Cork South West TD Holly Cairns who has proven quite a personally popular figure nationwide.

Sinn Féin

Centre-Left to Left Wing. Have 39 seats in the Dáil and 27 in the Assembly.

Translating roughly to "We Ourselves", Sinn Féin draws its roots to the original Sinn Féin party founded in 1905 to advocate for independence from British rule. Although some would dispute their claim to the succession due to the civil war and their general inactivity until the 70s.

As you might expect, with this tradition, their main focus has always been achieving a united and independent Irish Republic and this remains the case, although with increased relevance they have had to dip into more different policy areas and electorates. The party is probably most famous as having been the politicl wing of the IRA which causes a lot of tension with the more establishment parties.

Their strongest areas electorally are in the 6 counties (where they get to represent the face of Irish Republicanism) as well as in the border regions plus Dublin.

While their ideological position has somewhat moved over the last while, they managed to explode into relevance in the South based on an "unashamedly populist" social democratic-ish programme with housing as one of their clearest strengths. This has allowed the party to settle on a broadly left-wing political programme, although there is a clear push within the party to moderate this to present a more paletable platform (especially in the North).

Socially, we see somewhat of a similar trend where they have generally settled on vaguely progressive stances, while having a more conservative faction still holding a lot of sway internally.

Internationally, they used to be more Eurosceptic, although following Brexit, they have adopted a more positive tone. They also have been relatively consistent in their support for Palestine (albeit in supporting a two-state solution).

They are led by Dublin Central TD Mary Lou McDonald with Mid Ulster MLA and First Minister Michelle O'Neill acting as deputy leader.

Labour

Centre-Left. Have 11 seats in the Dáil.

Acting as the traditional half of the "two and a half party system" in Ireland, the Labour party traces its roots to 1912 as a result of the Irish Labour movement. They represent the traditional European social democratic tradition in Ireland.

The Labour party has however, always played 3rd place in Irish politics and traditionally has always been known to go into coalition with Fine Gael against Fianna Fáil (as we'll cover later) to prop up the weaker party to win more concessions. This might seem counter-intuitive due to the more right-wing tradition that formed Fine Gael but their less republican positions helped align them.

The party still holds firm to its social democratic roots and advocates for greater state involvement and widely progressive social policies. However, as you would expect from a party that has only ever been in coalition with the right, these policies have been somewhat blunted. Most notably embodied by their last stint in government between 2011 and 2016 where they oversaw widespread austerity programmes.

Internationally, they also represent a squarely pro-EU position, although they pay lip service to the Palestinian cause. They are nominally in favour of reunification, although have no taken no steps to advance this or put it in their programme and only contest elections in the South (although their youth wing was formerly affiliated with the SDLP.

They are led by Dublin Bay South TD Ivana Bacik who was first elected in a by-election in 2021.

Green Party

Centre-Left. Have 1 seat in the Dáil.

Unsurprisingly, the Green party emerged from the green movements of the 1980s and are primarily an environmentalist party. However, compared to many of their European counterparts they attempt to present a more "moderate" version of green politics, having shed most of their more radical wing following their entry into government between 2020 and 2024.

Generally, they favour more market-oriented climate policies rather than emphasising state involvement directly (a weakness in my eyes). Socially, they are also quite progressive, although their time in government has resulted in less attention being paid to migrant rights within the party.

On international policy, they are staunchly pro-EU. They are one of the few parties with a presence on both sides of the border, with councillors elected from the 6 counties as well as the South.

They are led by Dublin West TD Roderic O'Gorman who was minister for Children, Equality, and Integration under the previous government.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)

Centre to Centre-left. Have 8 Seats on the Assembly.

Our first Northern-only party, the SDLP represents the moderate republican tradition in the North. Economically, they also come from a social democratic tradition, with an interventionist state being part of their economic approach. Meanwhile, on social issues the party has a more mixed bag with a noticable coalition existing between a younger, more liberal wing and the more socially conservative wing, although ultimately they rally around the same names.

Internationally, the party is strongly pro-EU having championed attempts to bring the UK back into the EU. They also generally support reunification, although they put less emphasis on an immediate border poll. They are affiliated somewhat unofficially with Fianna Fáil in the South, although this is mostly on paper only. In Westminster they sit on the Labour benches.

They are led by Belfast South and Mid Down MP Claire Hanna who has sat in Westminster since 2019.

Alliance Party

Centrist. Have 17 seats in the Assembly.

Another Northern exclusive party, the Alliance party presents itself as the compromise position between Republicanism and Unionism. They argue that they are focused on day to day issues rather than "sectarian divisions". This has meant that they've settled on a default position in favour of the status quo, although since Brexit there has been a growing tendency in parts of the party towards favouring a united Ireland.

Economically they are Liberals, generally promoting free-market policies and a shrinking of the NI public sector in favour of private sector growth. Socially they are also liberal, holding liberal positions on most questions.

In terms of international policy, they are distinctly pro-EU and align with the Liberal Democrats in the UK parliament.

The party is led by Belfast East MLA Naomi Long, who has been the Justice minister since 2020.

Fianna Fáil

Centre to Centre-Right. Have 48 seats in the Dáil.

Returning to the Republic here, we have the bigger of the two "Civil War Parties" who dominated Irish politics since the civil war (hence the title). Translating roughly to "Soldiers of Destiny", Fianna Fáil was founded in 1926 after the defeat of the anti-treaty faction in the civil war (I'll spare you the history).

The parties traditional bases have tended to be more working class and rural than their counterparts which gave them a leg up and led to them being the stronger of the two historically. Generally, they have averaged towards slightly more conservative social positions (significant portions of the party were opposed to abortion rights etc). Economically, however to keep this electorate, they have tilted a little bit more economically interventionist, favouring higher spending.

Internationally, they are enthusiastic europhiles and are pushing for increased ties to NATO alongside their Fine Gael coalition partners. The party was previously much more supportive of a united Ireland, although they have been led to a much less active position thanks to the general electoral arithmatic that would involve.

The party is led by Cork South Central TD and current Taoiseach Mícheal Martin who has led the party since 2011.

Fine Gael

Centre-Right. Have 38 seats in the Dáil.

Here we have the smaller of the two "Civil War Parties". Their name translates roughly to "Family of Gaels/of the Irish". Fine Gael was formed out of three seperate parties in 1933, those being the larger Cumann na nGaedheal, who had emerged from the pro-Treaty faction of the civil war; the National Centre Party, an agrarian conservative party; and the Blueshirts (the Army Comrades Association), a fascist paramilitary who took inspiration from Mussolini's Blackshirts & Hitler's Brownshirts.

Their largest support bases would have come from the Urban middle-class and larger landowners as well as many former unionists. This has led their primary issue to be a free-market oriented economic platform, although in the tradition of many Christian Democratic parties, they were never opposed to public spending as long as it did not upset the social order. This idea has persisted to today, although a somewhat more laissez-faire tendency emerged as the dominant faction following the financial crash and subsequent austerity policies by the party. They would also have had a more conservative outlook in the past, although their eternal need for a coalition partner to form governments required them to strike deals with Labour leading to the party growing much more liberal on social issues. Their remains however a clear split in the party between their more socially liberal members who would have campaigned in favour of repealing the 8th & marriage equality and their more conservative wing, many of whom jumped ship to Renua before rejoining.

Internationally, much like their coalition partners, they are enthusiastic europhiles and are pushing for greater involvement in NATO & closer EU ties. With regards to reunification, the party is nominally in favour, although in practice they remain the most anti-unity party in the Republic owing to their unionist traditions.

The party is led by Wicklow TD and current Tánaiste Simon Harris, who had led the party since 2024.

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)

Centre-right to Right. Have 9 seats in the Assembly.

The party was founded in 1905 & was the governing party of the northern statelet until 1972 and remained the largest party until 2003 when the more radical DUP overtook them.

Their support would have historically come from the full swath of the unionist electorate, although since the Good Friday Agreement, they became clearly defined as the party of 'moderate' unionism, positioning themselves to the centre from the DUP. Economically, they have tended more conservative, voting alongside the tories in Westminster. Socially, while they have made certain overtures to the left, the body of the party still holds to the unionist conservative social positions with only factions trying to move them in a more liberal direction (although this still leaves them as the most liberal unionist party).

Internationally they have defined themselves as the pro-Remain and pro-EU faction of the unionist movement, pushing for closer ties with the EU & maintaining the UK's position in NATO. They are staunchly opposed to reunification, though they are the most willing of the unionist parties to consider a reality containing a united Ireland.

The party is led by Strangford MLA and current Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt who has led the party since 2024.

Independent Ireland

Right to Centre-Right. Have 4 seats in the Dáil.

The newest party on the Irish political scene; Independent Ireland was founded in 2023 with several Independent TDs having come together to form a cohesive, largely agrarian bloc to the right of the coalition parties.

They have pulled most of their representatives from the ranks of Localist Independent candidates & ex-Fianna Fáil conservative figures. Economically they hold to the right wing traditional thinking while they occupy a strongly conservative social position being strongly anti-immigrant and anti-progressive more widely in what they describe as "common-sense" politics.

Internationally, they would generally be quite status quo, although they lean somewhat more Eurosceptic (although this is massively tempered by the importance of CAP payments to their local constituents). They would be nominally in favour of a united Ireland but do not put it front & centre in their politics.

The party is led by Cork South-West TD Michael Collins, who has led the party since its founding.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

Right to Far-Right. Have 25 seats in the Assembly.

The largest unionist party in the north, the DUP has been the main driver of unionism since it overtook the UUP in 2003. They take a significantly more hardline approach to unionism with significant ties to the UDA & UVF.

Economically they don't stand out from the neoliberal consensus with laissez-faire free-market approach. Socially however, they stand out as remarkably conservative with an aggressive opposition to marriage equality, abortion rights, and immigration. They have a strong rooting in fundamentalist protestant groups as well as wider Unionist institutions.

Internationally, they strongly backed Brexit and are strongly Eurosceptic, following a more independent geopolitical outlook, although they still support the UKs position in NATO etc & are strong supporters of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The party is led by Belfast East MP Gavin Robinson, who has led the party since 2024.

Aontú

Right to Far-Right. Have 2 seats in the Dáil.

The last of the all-island parties we'll discuss, Aontú was founded in 2019 as a breakaway from Sinn Féin in opposition to the latter's support for the repeal campaign. They have centred their socially conservative brand of republicanism as their main selling point since.

Economically, some have gone as far as to describe them as left-wing, however this is more due to their opportunistic support for Social Democratic policies in the face of the various crises facing the state and their level of commitment to these positions should be viewed with scepticism. Socially, they are fiercely conservative, opposing Abortion rights, LGBT rights, & immigration. After the Covid-19 pandemic, they also adopted a significant group of anti-vax supporters, leaving the party to offer them a lot of lip service.

In terms of foreign policy, the party leans more eurosceptic although in terms of broader issue there tends not to be as cohesive a stance within the party. The party is firmly in favour of reunification and styles itself as being part of the Republican tradition, fielding candidates on both sides of the border.

The party is led by Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín, who has led the party since its founding in 2019.

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV)

Far-Right. Have 1 seat in the Assembly.

The party was founded in 2007 in opposition to the St Andrews agreement and to Sinn Féin's participation in the power-sharing agreement. They position themselves to the right of the DUP and fervently oppose any compromises to the nationalist population and want an end to the system of power sharing that is currently in place.

Economically they are staunchly pro-free market and push for less government spending. Socially (being to the right of the DUP), they are the most conservative party in the country, opposing abortion rights, LGBT rights, immigration, and other progressive causes.

Internationally, they were staunch Brexiteers and align with Reform UK's foreign policy platform. They are fiercy opposed to reunification.

The party is led by North Antrim MP Jim Allister, who has led the party since its founding in 2007.