Labour Youth

Not to be confused with Labour Youth Forum or Young Labour.

Labour Youth Óige an Lucht Oibre
Chairperson	Chloe Manahan
Founded	1979 (1979)
Ideology	Social democracy Socialism Social Liberalism Youth empowerment
Position	Centre-left
Mother party	Labour Party
International affiliation	International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY)
European affiliation	Young European Socialists (YES)
Newspaper	The Left Tribune
Website	www.labouryouth.ie

Labour Youth is the youth and student wing of the Labour Party of Ireland. Any person aged 15 to 25 years old is eligible to join Labour Youth.

History

Labour Youth succeeded the Young Labour League as a full section of the Party in 1979, under Party Leader Frank Cluskey. Members were active in the election of presidential candidate Mary Robinson, forming a base of membership during the campaign that would provide the backbone of leadership within the organisation for years to come. They provided leadership to the National Youth Council of Ireland and in 1992 were among the founding members of the European Council of Socialist Youth. In 1999, along with the main party, Labour Youth merged with Democratic Left Youth.

In the 2007 General Election, Labour Youth opposed a pre-election pact with the centre-right party Fine Gael. The group undertook an active and visible role in the 2011 Irish General Election in support of young candidates such as Ciara Conway, Patrick Nulty and Derek Nolan. They later called on the Party to abandon talks on forming a coalition government with Fine Gael, describing the proposal as undemocratic. Chloe Manahan is Labour Youth's current Chairperson.

Structure

As a prominently student organisation Labour Youth has long had a presence in many Universities and Institutes of Technology across Ireland. Originally confided to the larger and more prestigious universities such as Trinity, UCD and UCC, in more recent years efforts have been made to expand.

Labour Youth is currently represented in:

• Trinity College Dublin
• University College Dublin
• Dublin City University
• Dublin Institute of Technology
• University College Cork
• Maynooth University
• Institute of Technology, Carlow
• National University of Ireland, Galway

Constituency level:

• Dublin South West
• Dublin South Central
• Dublin South
• Dublin West
• Dublin Mid-West
• Kildare North
• Tipperary
• Wexford
• Wiklow
• Cork East
• Carlow-Kilkenny

Executive

The National Youth Executive (NYE) is responsible for the day-to-day running of Labour Youth. Officers are elected to the NYE at Youth Conference, held in November each year. The Labour Party Youth & Development Officer, currently Caroline Winston, is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the NYE.

Current Executive

Executive Position	Officer
National Chairperson	Kevin Donoghue
Vice Chairperson / Women’s & Trans* Officer	Chloe Manahan
Secretary-Treasurer	Eimear Martin
Campaigns Officer	Dion Tallant
Policy & Education Officer	James Joy
Communications Officer	Robert O'Donnell
International Officer	Declan Meenagh

Former National Chairs

• Grace Williams - 2015-2016

• Jack Eustace – 2014–2015

• Ciarán Garrett – 2013–2014

• Aideen Carberry – 2012–2013

• Conor Ryan – 2011–2012

• Colm Lawless – 2010–2011

• Rory Geraghty – 2009–2010

• Gary Honer – 2008–2009

• Enda Duffy – 2007–2008

• Patrick Nulty – 2006–2007

• Graham Ó Maonaigh – 2005–2006

• Donal Lyons – 2004–2005

• Rebecca Moynihan – 2002–2004

• Áine Morris – 2001–2002

• Alan Kelly – 1999–2001

• Cian O'Callaghan – 1999–2001

• Mark Garrett – 1997–1999

• David Leech – 1996–1997

• Fearghal O’Boyle – 1994–1996

• Desmond Cullen – 1993–1994

• Edward Dawson – 1991–1993

• Paddy Glackin – 1989–1991

• Vincent Byrne – 1988–1989

• Michael Barry – 1985–1988

• Ray McLoughlin – 1983–1985

• Michael Martin – 1980–1983

• John Kelleher – 1979–1980

Tom Johnson Summer School

The Tom Johnson Summer School is held annually in July. It is named after Tom Johnson, the first leader of the Labour Party and the only leader to date to serve as the leader of the opposition in Dáil Éireann. At Tom Johnson, panel discussions are held on a number of topics, with speakers from within and outside of the Party. The Jim Kemmy "Thirst for Justice" Award is awarded at Tom Johnson. In 2017 the Thirst for Justice Award was awarded to Neil Warner, a former Labour Youth International Officer who was elected as the first ever Transgender Vice-President of the Young European Socialists. Warner has been an outspoken activist on transgender rights, Palestinian liberation and opposition to Zionist influence in Irish media, banking and politics.

Publications

Labour Youth publishes The Left Tribune on a regular basis.

External links

Official Links

• Homepage of Labour Youth
• The Left Tribune