Éirígí

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Éirígí For A New Republic
ChairmanBrian Leeson
Founded24 April 2006 (2006-04-24)
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
IdeologySocialism
Irish republicanism
Left-wing nationalism
Anti-imperialism
Euroscepticism[1]
Environmentalism[2]
Political positionLeft-wing
ColoursGreen, White, Orange, Red, Yellow
Website
eirigi.org Edit this at Wikidata

Éirígí (Irish pronunciation: [ˈeːɾʲiːɟiː]), officially Éirígí For A New Republic, is a socialist republican political party in Ireland.[3] The party name, Éirígí, means "Arise" or "Rise Up" in Irish, a reference to a famous speech by trade union leader James Larkin.[4] Éirígí was formed in 2006 by a group of community and political activists.

History[]

Éirígí was formed by a small group of group of community and political activists who had left Sinn Féin in Dublin on 24 April 2006, shortly before the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, as a political campaigns group. On 12 May 2007, at the party's first Ardfheis (conference), its members voted to become a full-fledged political party,[5][6] and at its 2009 conference passed a motion to register as a political party in the Republic of Ireland.[7]

It gained its first local councillors in 2009, when two former Sinn Féin councillors, Dungannon councillor Barry Monteith and Dublin City Councillor Louise Minihan, joined the organisation.[8] Former Wexford county councillor for Sinn Féin and New Ross town councillor John Dwyer also joined Éirígí. It registered with the Electoral Commission (United Kingdom) in 2011, standing for election in Northern Ireland for the first time in the 2011 local elections, citing dissatisfaction with Sinn Féin's involvement in the Northern Ireland Executive, and claiming there was "a real appetite for a radical voice" in Northern Irish politics.[9] The party ran candidates for the first time in the Republic of Ireland during the 2014 local elections in Ireland,[10] simultaneously running two candidates in the 2011 Northern Irish local elections.[11] The party didn't succeed in getting any of its eight candidates elected in the 2014 local elections, leaving it without elected representation.[12] Three candidates ran for the party in the 2019 local elections in Ireland, none were successful.[13]

The party has become known for the use of nonviolent direct action and regular protests in Belfast,[14] Dublin,[15][16] and elsewhere.[17] It has launched a mobile app aimed at telling people their rights when they are stopped by the police.[18] Éirígí has organised protests against the visits of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne to Ireland.[19]

In 2012, Ursula Ní Shionnain, a member of Éirígí,[20] was among four people charged under the Offences against the State Act with possessing weapons at Tullybeg, County Offaly, following an investigation by the Garda Special Detective Unit. The party's press officer, Stephen Murney, was also taken into custody in November 2012 by the PSNI on terrorism charges for owning and publishing historical photographs of police officers on duty,[21] though he was later acquitted and cleared of all charges.[22]

Ideology[]

The party seeks the removal of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom,[23] and the establishment of a 32-county republic based on socialist principles. Éirígí has participated in a range of campaigns, including Shell to Sea and Reclaim the Republic (which involved the organisation distributing 60,000 1916 Proclamations nationwide),[24] the Right2Water Campaign, the campaign to Repeal The 8th Amendment, and their Public Housing For all campaign, which calls for the state to introduce a housing system where all citizens have the legal right to rent a high-quality, affordable home regardless of their income. They also actively promote the restoration of An Teanga (Irish language) to widespread everyday use across Ireland

The party opposes the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.[25]

The twentieth Independent Monitoring Commission report said the group is "a small political grouping based on revolutionary socialist principles". While it continues to be a political association, albeit, with aggressive protest activities, it was not seen as paramilitary in nature.[26]

Éirígí campaigned for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, describing the EU as "very much anchored in Neo-Liberal policies such as privatisation and austerity and programmes that have been enforced on countries such as Greece and Spain".[27] It previously campaigned for a No vote in Ireland's Lisbon Treaty referendum in 2009.[28]

Emblem[]

For its emblem, the party uses a green star as it incorporates both the national colour of Ireland and an international symbol of socialist struggle. The full national colours of the Irish Republic are achieved when the green star is combined with the word Éirígí in the colour orange (signifying the cultural identity of some of Ireland's Protestants) set on to a white background, it sometimes also uses the same emblem but with a yellow logo on a red background surrounded by the words 'Equality', 'Liberty', 'Community'.

Red and yellow star logo with the words Liberty, Equality and Community.
Members of Éirígí march in Derry, January 2013

Leadership[]

Éirígí's National Executive is responsible for the day-to-day running of the party between meetings of the Ardfheis (Party conference). It is elected by the membership annually on a 'one member – one vote' basis. The chairpersons of each local branch are also members of the National Executive.

Electoral results[]

Éirigí election results
Election Candidates Elected ± First Pref votes % Rank Leader
2011 Northern Irish Local 2 0 Steady 2,062 0.03 12th Brian Leeson
2014 Northern Irish Local 2 0 Steady 1,756 0.03 13th Brian Leeson
2014 Irish Local 5 0 Steady 3,120 0.18 14th Brian Leeson
2019 Irish Local 3 0 Steady 1,547 0.09 16th Brian Leeson

References[]

  1. ^ "Éirígí backs Brexit with Northern Ireland poster campaign". The Irish Times.
  2. ^ "Éirígí About Us". Éirígí.
  3. ^ Officially Éirígí for a New Republic in the Register of Political Parties. "Register of Political Parties" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Bomb alert and protest mar royal visit". 21 March 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  5. ^ "éirígí Becomes a Political Party – Indymedia Ireland". Indymedia.ie. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Campaign group now a radical political party". Irish Examiner. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  7. ^ "éirígí and Elections: an Exercise in Participatory Democracy". Eirigi.org. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  8. ^ Irish News 1 August 2009 Archived 6 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Eirigi to stand in NI elections". BBC News. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  10. ^ "Irish Elections:Geography, Facts and Analyses". 15 July 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Former Sinn Fein vice-president's daughter Maire Drumm to run for Eirigi". 25 January 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Éirígí Candidates Secure An Average Of 4.4% Of The Popular Vote". 27 May 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Post Election The Fight For A New Republic Continues". 4 June 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Dissidents linked to parade halt". 15 August 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  15. ^ "Protestors invade Anglo-Irish HQ". 24 April 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  16. ^ "Anti-austerity protesters chant insults at Irish minister Pat Rabbitte". BBC News. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Video: Eirigi among protestors in Enniskillen". 18 June 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  18. ^ "Republican group Eirigi to launch app that tells people their rights when stopped by police". Belfast Live. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  19. ^ Queen's visit to Ireland: Garda foil plans to disrupt Dublin events, The Guardian, 17 May 2011
  20. ^ "Trinity graduate wearing wig and disguise when intercepted by armed gardai, court old". 30 January 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  21. ^ "Éirígí press officer bailed over photos". 29 January 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  22. ^ "Éirígí press officer Stephen Murney cleared of terrorism charges". BBC News. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  23. ^ Max Taylor; P.M. Currie (15 July 2011). Dissident Irish Republicanism. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-1-4411-5475-0.
  24. ^ "éirígí: For A Socialist Republic". Eirigi.org. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  25. ^ "Israeli workers tell of fear at Gaza protests". 14 January 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  26. ^ "Twentieth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission" (PDF). October 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  27. ^ "Éirígí backs Brexit with Northern Ireland poster campaign". The Irish Times. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  28. ^ "éirígí launch No campaign". Irish Democrat. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

External links[]

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