Martin Walsh of The Socialist Party in Dublin South Central in the 1997 General Election. Martin Walsh polled 328 votes. Walsh a shop steward at Packard Electrical in Tallaght from 1987 to 1996 and also had a role with the ATGWU.
Leaflet mentions some of the scandals of the time such as the Hepatitis C and Lowry/Dunne affair.
Rory Hearne, the People Before Profit candidate in the 2007 General Election in Dublin South East. He polled 591 votes.
The Democratic Left were opposed to Water charges, Water Tax or Water Rates. They wanted to put pressure on other councillors to oppose them too.
Looking at the previous years vote thats shown, some Fine Gael and Fianna Fail voted against the charges.
The Government were seen to be bringing in these extra taxes whilst at the same time having the Tax Amnesty.
“In 1985 the Councils in Dublin, following the election of councillors such as The Democratic Lefts Eamon Gilmore…….” took a bit of phrasing considering Gilmore was elected for The Workers Party.
From the 1989 General election where the then Councillor Gilmore wins a Dail seat. It was a breakthrough for the Workers Party as they had 7 TDs elected.
I wonder how many of the “150 words about local issues in Dun Laoghaire” are still valid today.
I’m curious about the reference to ‘..Maternity pay for teachers..” though. Is Hogweed still a problem too?
This the Late Tony Gregorys Leaflet from the 1991 Local Elections (From my own collection I see that Tony Gregory used this style leaflet for the 1985 Local Elections as well as the 1987,1989 and 1992 General elections so they can be confusing to date) . In it he mentions support of the Postal Workers who went on Strike in 1991.
One of his major issues, especially in the 80s and 90s, was that when developments were taking place in the area , local labour was not often enough employed, this is referenced here with regard to the Custom House scheme. The small bit about ‘ …strongly supports Tax relief for mortgage holders’ .. is a rebuttal of a constant issue that was used to attack the left, and scare the middle classes, at the time. Labour also came in for the same treatment in 1991 and the 1992 General election (an example) .
Tony Gregory is also pictured with the Street Traders, fighting for their rights he ended up in Mountjoy. His record as a founder member of the Concerned Parents is there also.
Eamonn O’ Liatháin from the 1987 General Election in Dublin South. (O’ Liatháin at electionsireland.org).
He polled over 1000 votes. His membership of groups such as CND, The Irish Anti Apartheid movement and,support of ‘Nicaragua must survive’ tells much of the International politics of the time.
In the 1987 election The Workers Party doubled their Dail representation from 2 to 4.
Former Dublin Lord Mayor Michael O’Halloran and running mate Paddy Bourke. O’Halloran was one of only two Labour Councillors to be elected to Dublin City Council in these 1985 Local Elections.
This is from the 1984 Euro Elections. De Courcy Ireland, aside from his political interests was heavily involved in the foundation of the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire. The profile below shows the calibre. He had been Jim Larkins election agent and aside from the DSP, had spells affiliated or involved with the Northern Ireland Labour Party, the Irish Labour Party, the Communist Party of Ireland, the Workers Party, Democratic Left and the Socialist Workers Party. (Party details from Wikipedia)
He was a founding member of Irish CND and also involved with The Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement.
He passed away in 2006.
(This leaflet was previously part of another post)
A leaflet produced around 1990 to help recruit Student members to The Workers Party.
Leaflet explains core Workers Party policy, issues that impacted student, the party’s position on the North, Womens issues, international policy, as well as what Democratic Centralism was.
It also goes on to say what a party member would be expected to do.
Labour councillor Paddy McNamara from the 2005 Kildare North by-election where he got almost 18% of the vote. The by-election was won by Catherine Murphy.
Liz McManus, Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, from the 1997 General Election in Wicklow. The Democratic Left produced leaflets in this style for each candidate, all pictured walking purposefully, often by the sea. Here Liz walks on Bray seafront.
It has praising quotes about the candidate from newspapers . The achievements both in Wicklow and Nationally of The Rainbow government are listed. Amongst them ‘Tour De France 1998 for Wicklow’
Finian McGrath from his first General Election in 1992 where he gained 764 votes. His vote in the 1997 GE increased and in 1999 he won a seat on Dublin City Council.
He was Elected to the Dail in 2002 when standing as part of the Independents Health Alliance.
His record as a fighter for the rights of the vulnerable is listed here as is his emphasis on Jobs and Health.
Gerry Browne the ‘Independent Labour’ candidate in the 2005 by-election in Kildare North caused by Charlie McCreeveys move to Brussells. Browne received 226 votes in a contest won by Catherine Murphy.
Killian Forde from the 2004 LE in Donaghmede where he topped the poll and got in on the first count. He was re-elected in 2009 although his vote fell.
With Barry Desmond off to Europe, Labours chances of retaining the seat were slim, especially with the Workers Partys Eamon Gilmore on the up. A two candidate strategy made it harder and despite the stature of both candidates the seat was lost to The Workers Party.
Jane Dillon Byrne is still a councillor and the brief pen pic below only gives brief highlights of her career (another leaflet from 1985 gives a better detail) .She was also a swimming teacher…
From 1987 Ruairi Quinn outlines the achievements of the Labour Government and himself in the previous four years, especially his time as Minister for Labour and Public Service.
It’s quite a good read,especially the final page which has examples of the Social Employment Scheme (SES) –which he set up in action. Also there is the work done by AnCO on the renovation and restoration of the Irish College at Louvain.
The “Did you know?..” lists some of the worthy achievements of Labour in government…. alas one “Politics have been taken out of planning” didn’t last too long.
From the November 1982 General Election, the now Judge Michael White (refered to here as Mick White in the profile). White stood in a number of Elections and despite hard work on the ground had no electoral success.
The Workers Partys achievements are listed as are their plans. We also have the picture Prionsias De Rossa, Paddy Gallagher and Joe Sherlock outside the Dail.
If using any of these images it would be nice to give me some credit for scanning them and posting them up (Unlike the Irish Independent who again used images from the site without crediting me)
Irish Election Literature 
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