Independents 4 Change | |
---|---|
Founded | 2014 |
Headquarters | 21 Elmwood Drive, Swords, Dublin |
Ideology | Socialism [1] Anti-neoliberalism [2] Antimilitarism [2] |
Political position | Left-wing [3] |
Local government | 1 / 949 |
Independents 4 Change [4] is an Irish political alliance, with registration as a political party, comprising several independent politicians. [5] It had two MEPs in the Ninth European Parliament: Clare Daly and Mick Wallace.
The political grouping registered as a political party in 2014. [6] It was previously known as the "Independents for Equality" Movement.
Four candidates contested the 2014 local elections for the group in each of the local electoral areas in Wexford County Council. [7] None of them were elected.
The party adopted its current name in September 2015, after the establishment of the Right2Change electoral alliance, which its candidates in the 2016 general election subscribed.
Mick Wallace, [8] Clare Daly, [8] Joan Collins, [9] and Tommy Broughan, [10] and councillor Barry Martin [8] contested the 2016 general election for Independents 4 Change, with Broughan, Collins, Daly and Wallace being elected.
Within the 32nd Dáil, I4C took advantage of revised Dáil standing orders to form their own technical group, which also included three Independent TDs who were not members of the party itself: Catherine Connolly, Thomas Pringle, and Maureen O'Sullivan. [11] [12] [13]
Tommy Broughan left the party on 26 July 2016. [14] [ failed verification ] In 2016 Ruth Nolan, a member of South Dublin County Council for Lucan who had been elected for People Before Profit, joined Independents 4 Change.[ citation needed ]
At the 2019 European Parliament election, Clare Daly and Mick Wallace were elected as MEPs; they became part of The Left group in the European Parliament. Three councilors were elected for Independents 4 Change in the local elections held on the same day, including former Labour TD from Sligo, and longtime Independent Socialist councillor Declan Bree.
In the February 2020 general election, Independents 4 Change returned one TD, Joan Collins in Dublin South-Central. However, she soon left I4C to found a new party called Right to Change, leaving I4C with no TDs. [15]
Neither Daly nor Wallace were re-elected in the 2024 European elections. Dean Mulligan was re-elected as a councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council.
In addition to Mulligan, [16] Wallace and Daly contested the 2024 Irish general election; [17] None were elected. [18]
Election | Seats won | ± | Position | First pref. votes | % | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 4 / 158 | 4 | 6th | 31,365 | 1.5% | Fine Gael – Independents with Fianna Fáil confidence & supply |
2020 | 1 / 160 | 3 | 9th | 8,421 | 0.4% | Fianna Fáil – Fine Gael – Green Party |
2024 | 0 / 174 | 1 | 14th | 5,166 | 0.2% | No Seats |
Election | Seats won | ± | First pref. votes | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 0 / 949 | 1,828 | 0.1% | |
2019 | 3 / 949 | 3 | 8,626 | 0.5% |
2024 | 1 / 949 | 2 | 3,537 | 0.2% |
Election | Leader | 1st pref Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Collective leadership | 124,085 | 7.39% (#5) | 2 / 13 | New | The Left |
2024 | 79,658 | 4.58% (#7) | 0 / 14 | 2 | − |
The Socialist Party is a political party in Ireland, active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Internationally, it was affiliated to the Trotskyist International Socialist Alternative until 2024.
Thomas Broughan is an Irish former Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2020.
Clare Daly is an Irish politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency from July 2019 to July 2024. She is a member of Independents 4 Change, affiliated to The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL.
Richard Boyd Barrett is an Irish People Before Profit–Solidarity politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since the 2011 general election. Boyd Barrett is a former member of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. He is also chair of the Irish Anti-War Movement and has been cited on war issues in the Irish media.
People Before Profit is a Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. The party is active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Joan Collins is an Irish Right to Change politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency from 2011 to 2024.
Maureen O'Sullivan is an Irish former independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 2009 to 2020.
Catherine Connolly is an Irish independent politician who has been serving as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency since 2016. She previously served as Chair of the Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands from 2016 to 2020 and Mayor of Galway from 2004 to 2005.
Michael Wallace is an Irish politician, former property developer and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency from 2019 to 2024. He is a member of Independents 4 Change, part of The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency from 2011 to 2019.
The 2016 Irish general election to the 32nd Dáil was held on Friday 26 February, following the dissolution of the 31st Dáil by President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February, at the request of Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The general election took place in 40 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland to elect to elect 158 Teachtaí Dála to Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. There was a reduction of eight seats under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2013. Fine Gael were returned to government as a minority administration.
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The United Left Alliance was an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election. The grouping originally consisted of three existing political parties, the Socialist Party, the People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA), and the Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG), as well as former members of the Labour Party.
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Right2Change is a political campaign that arose from the Right2Water campaign in Ireland, built around a document called "Policy Principles for a Progressive Irish Government". The principles centre on areas like health, housing, jobs education and dealing with debt.
Cian O'Callaghan is an Irish politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay North constituency since the 2020 general election. He is the Housing spokesperson for the Social Democrats and became deputy leader of the party in 2023. He served as a member of Fingal County Council from 2009 to 2020, and was Ireland's first openly gay mayor.
A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Wexford constituency in Ireland on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill the vacancy left by the election of Independents 4 Change TD Mick Wallace to the European Parliament.
The 2024 European Parliament election in Ireland is the Irish component of the 2024 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 7 June 2024, the same day as the Irish local elections and Limerick mayoral election.
The 33rd Dáil was elected at the 2020 general election on 8 February 2020 and first met on 20 February 2020. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It is sitting with the 26th Seanad as the Houses of the Oireachtas. There are 160 TDs in the 33rd Dáil, an increase of 2.
Media related to Independents 4 Change at Wikimedia Commons