The Socialist Party of Ireland (SPI) (Cumann Sóisialachais na Éireann in Irish) was a minor leftwing political party which existed in Ireland from 1971 to 1980. In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

The SPI was set up by ex members of the Official IRA(military wing of Official Sinn Fein), who were unhappy with the slow progress being made by that movement towards socialism and away from nationalism. It was formed on 13 December 1971 in Dublin and published its political manifesto on 19 January 1972. The SPI saw itself as a hard-line Marxist-Leninist alternative to the Communist Party of Ireland, which it criticised for its “blurred philosophy, loose structure, of discipline and unity”. The SPI opposed the friendly stance taken by the CPI towards Official Sinn Féin, which it saw as a “mixture of petit-bourgeois radicals, nationalists and ultra leftists”. The SPI supported the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Moscow Declaration of 1969. The term Official IRA relates to one of the two elements of the Irish Republican Army - the other being the Provisional IRA - that emerged from the ideological split in the Irish Republican movement in 1969-70. ... Official Sinn Féin (aka Sinn Féin the Workers Party) evolved from the split in Sinn Féin and the IRA that took place in 1970. ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ... A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. ... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; Irish: Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is a small all-Ireland Marxist party. ... Official Sinn Féin (later renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party) was a Stalinst political party which evolved from the split in Sinn Féin and the IRA that took place in 1970. ... Petit-bourgeois or Anglicised petty bourgeois is a French term that originally referred to the members of the lower middle social-classes in the 18th and early 19th centuries. ... See radical for other uses of the term In mathematics, the n-th root or radical of the non-negative real number a, written as , is the unique non-negative real number b such that bn=a. ... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... The Ultra Left is current of Marxist communism closely related to council communism and left communism. ... The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за = КПСС) was the name used by the successors of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party from 1952 to 1991, but the wording Communist Party was present in the partys name since 1918 when the Bolsheviks became the All... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ...

It staged its first national congress in Dublin on 1–2 December 1973. The congress elected a seven member central committee comprising of: Fergus Brogan, Desmond Hughes, Deirdre Uí Bhrógáin, Éamonn Ó Fearghail, Seamus Ó Reachtagáin, and Fergus Quinlan. The central committee secretary was Séamas Ó Brógáin. In the late 1970s, the party started discussions with several other groups with a similar policy on the National Question, including the British and Irish Communist Organisation (B&ICO) and the Limerick Socialists headed by Jim Kemmy. Eventually the three groups merged forming the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) with one elected representative in the [Dáil]] (Parliament). The DSP eventually merged with the Irish Labour Party which became a junior partner in a Coalition Government. December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China meets in 2002 The Central Committee is a leading body of an organization, most often a political party, especially Communist parties. ... Jim Kemmy (1936-1997) was a socialist politician born in Limerick, Ireland. ... The Democratic Socialist Party was a small social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... Logo of the Irish Labour Party The Irish Labour Party (Irish: Páirti an Lucht Oibre) is the third largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ...

During its life, the SPI was very active in campaigning for divorce (Divorce Action Group), contraception (Contraception Action Campaign), abortion (Right to Choose) and in particular opposition to nationalism and the campaign of the Provisional IRA (Socialists Against Nationalism). It supported the Two States Theory which accepted the right of the Unionist population of Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom until such time as a majority of the population choose otherwise by democratic means.

The party's head office was at 23 Parliament Street, Dublin 2.

The SPI ran several candidates in elections, the most successfull being Eamon O'Brien from Ballymun, whose performance in achieving over 6% of the vote in North County Dublin inthe 1977 General Election, encouraged Official Sinn Fein on the parliamentary road.

The partys publications, Vanguard and Advance, set a new standard for leftwing publications, using modern layout and photographs in a high quality reproduction formatt.

Publications

Newspapers

• Vanguard, 1971-1974.
• Advance, 1975.

Books/Pamphlets

• Ireland into slavery: the Common Market threat, Dublin, 1972, ISBN 0904185001.
• The Socialist future. Programme of the Socialist Party of Ireland. Adopted by the 1st National Congress 1-2 December 1973, Dublin, 1974.
• Songs of the workers, Dublin, 1975.
• The two states theory, Dublin: Advance, 1978.