The Left must reclaim its position as standard bearers for individual freedom, deputy leader of the Labour Party Liz McManus said today.
The Right had "commandeered" the concept by associating it with free-market economics, Ms McManus told the Parnell Summer School, in Avondale, Co Wicklow.
Speaking on the subject of the labour movement, Ms McManus said: "It's time that we on the Left claimed back the concept of individual liberty.
"The freedom of individuals - whether women or gays or marginalised people - to live their lives as they choose has in many ways been fought for by the Left yet we are hesitant to express our commitment to individual liberty."
Aer Lingus's recent decision to axe its Shannon / Heathrow route was an example of the flaw in Right-wing version of freedom, she added.
"The PDs when they were alive, used freedom as a kind of watchword to disguise what they actually meant, which is an extended privilege based on elitism - the freedom of the shareholder superseding all else; as we can see in the current battle by the Shannon community," Ms McManus said.
Ms McManus said there remained a pressing need for social democratic values based around freedom, equality and solidarity.
"The freedom to have a home, a job, and a decent quality of life are at the heart of left politics. Ireland is a highly unequal society."
Ms McManus said the poor were "increasingly ghettoised". But tackling inequality should not be at the expense of working people on modest incomes, she added.
In face of the globalisation and its erosion of workers' rights, the party connection to the international labour movement was an important asset. Solidarity would be central to reversing the trend and the environmental challenges ahead, she said.