An Rabharta Glas

Irish political party

An Rabharta Glas – Green Left (Irish: [ənˠ ˈɾˠəuɾˠt̪ˠə ˈɡlˠasˠ], lit. 'The Green Spring Tide')^[2]^[3]^[4] is an unregistered Irish political party, launched on 5 June 2021 as a split from the Green Party. At launch, it had two councillors, who had previously been elected as Green Party members — Lorna Bogue, on Cork City Council, and Liam Sinclair, on South Dublin County Council. Its outlook has been described as "eco-socialist".^[1]

History

The party was launched on 5 June 2021. It was formed by former members of the Green Party, who had resigned in protest over various issues in 2020 and 2021, including the handling of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report by Roderic O'Gorman, and disagreement over the programme for government.^[1]

It was reported to have approximately 30 members on launch.^[1]

Lorna Bogue was elected as party leader at the party's inaugural AGM.^[5]

In May 2023, Bogue announced her candidacy for the 2024 European Parliament election as the party's candidate in the constituency of South.^[6]

In November 2023, the party's councillor on South Dublin County Council, Liam Sinclair, resigned his seat due to employment circumstances.^[7] This reduced the party's representation on local government to one seat as the Green Party had the right to co-opt a replacement for Sinclair, as he had originally been elected as Green Party candidate.^[8]

In April 2024, the Electoral Commission proposed to register the party as Rabharta to contest local and European Parliament elections.^[9]

Ideology and policies

An Rabharta Glas is a left-wing green party,^[2] described as "eco-socialist". Its mission statement is to "reconstruct the political system so that it serves people and nature, not profit and extraction."^[1] The party has stated it favours state intervention in the economy to protect against "vested interests".^[2] In terms of food production, the party has been described as favouring "decorporation" and decarbonisation.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Gataveckaite, Gabija (1 June 2021). "Former members of Green Party to launch 'eco-socialist' group this weekend". Dublin: Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h McNeice, Stephen (8 June 2021). "Lorna Bogue on new eco-socialist party An Rabharta Glas: 'Our aim is to transform the State'". Newstalk. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021.
^ Cllr. Lorna Bogue's interview with Pat Kenny on the Pat Kenny Show (Radio). Newstalk. 8 June 2021. Event occurs at 46:53 minutes. Transcript of Cllr. Lorna Bogue’s interview with Pat Kenny.
^ "Rabharta". teanglann.ie. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
^ Lorna Bogue [@LornaBogue] (20 November 2021). "Newly elected party leader Lorna Bogue addresses our inaugural AGM 'We want a society where a progressive working…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @AnRabhartaGlas (26 May 2023). "The European elections have just been announced for June 2024. I've decided to run in Ireland South. A big task but am looking forward to talking to workers and carers across the constituency" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Finnerty, Mike (1 November 2023). "Sinclair Resigns From Council". Dublin: Southside People. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
^ Finnerty, Mike (12 December 2023). "Mulhall Takes Seat On Council". Dublin: Southside People. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
^ "Changes to Register of Political Parties See New Party Proposed and Name/Emblem Changes for Another". Electoral Commission. 12 April 2024.