SWP to stand against Socialist Party in European Elections

[Jolly Red Giant]

In an act of blatant sectarianism the SWP in Ireland have decided to run a candidate in Dublin in the European Elections against sitting Socialist Party / CWI MEP Paul Murphy.

Paul Murphy is in a four way fight for three seats in Dublin with Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein. The SWP candidate Brid Smith (who will stand under the SWP front name of People Before Profit) has no hope of winning a seat.

This act is clearly part of the SWP engaging in a wrecking ball strategy - take enough votes from Paul Murphy to ensure he doesn't retain the seat - raise the profile of Brid Smith and then run Brid Smith as a general election candidate against socialist Member of Parliament, Joan Collins, in the hope of unseating her and winning the seat for the SWP.

Despite this intervention Paul Murphy will likely still be in a position to fight it out for a seat in the European Parliament - but this action demonstrates that the SWP have no interest in 'left' unity' unless they can dictate and control the 'left'. Furthermore they are likely to dumb down their political programme further in an attempt to engage in populism in order to win extra votes.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Has the implosion of the UK SWP affected the organisation in Ireland? They are part of the same international.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Has the implosion of the UK SWP affected the organisation in Ireland? They are part of the same international.
There are no members of the SWP anywhere close to my area so I don't know the details - my understanding is that there has been some rumblings but nothing that has risen to the surface. Apparently the Irish SWP CC drafted a resolution criticising the actions of the British SWP leadership but didn't publish it and sent it to them as more of a bit of friendly advice than anything else. Maybe someone from Dublin might have more up to date information.

I would be very surprised if the antics in the UK didn't surface when Brid Smith gets onto some of the national media - I could see the likes of Vincent Browne (a bit of a maverick journalist and presenter) sticking it to her on his TV programme (he likes creating controversy).

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Imagine being an Irish worker and having the option between three Trotskyist parties... What a joke.

...and your alternative is.....?

[Jolly Red Giant]

Imagine being an Irish worker and having the option between three Trotskyist parties... What a joke.
What three Trotskyist parties would these be?

[Thirsty Crow]

The ungodly plot to steal CWI votes.

What a pathetic joke the electoral strategy has become.

[TheEmancipator]

The good news is judging by the other parties on offer the conservative vote will be split 3 ways!

[Tim Cornelis]

What three Trotskyist parties would these be?

Deleted my comment: I didn't know People Before Profit was a SWP front, so I counted them separately. Still, two is bad.

[Stevie N]

In an act of blatant sectarianism the SWP in Ireland have decided to run a candidate in Dublin in the European Elections against sitting Socialist Party / CWI MEP Paul Murphy.

Paul Murphy is in a four way fight for three seats in Dublin with Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein. The SWP candidate Brid Smith (who will stand under the SWP front name of People Before Profit) has no hope of winning a seat.

This act is clearly part of the SWP engaging in a wrecking ball strategy - take enough votes from Paul Murphy to ensure he doesn't retain the seat - raise the profile of Brid Smith and then run Brid Smith as a general election candidate against socialist Member of Parliament, Joan Collins, in the hope of unseating her and winning the seat for the SWP.

Despite this intervention Paul Murphy will likely still be in a position to fight it out for a seat in the European Parliament - but this action demonstrates that the SWP have no interest in 'left' unity' unless they can dictate and control the 'left'. Furthermore they are likely to dumb down their political programme further in an attempt to engage in populism in order to win extra votes.

You have prob being asked this before, but what are the main core differences between the Irish SP and the Irish SWP ? Why do the Swp and the Sp have a dislike towards each other ?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Yeah, this seems . . . silly.
On the other hand, I'm not sure why it's all on the SWP and not the SP.
It's like, seriously, could y'all not sit down and agree on a joint candidate? Or, given that, by the sounds of it, SP buddy already has a seat, couldn't a line of communication have been opened to find a way for the SWP to put forward some of their programmatic points, or somehow benefit?

This whole business, to me, sounds more like a consequence of ongoing sectarianism than something that can be viewed in isolation.