Politics

Anti-Austerity Alliance changes party name to Solidarity

Change reflects broader social movements the party is involved in, says Murphy

File photograph of two of Solidarity’s three TDs, Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger. The third is Mick Barry. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
File photograph of two of Solidarity’s three TDs, Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger. The third is Mick Barry. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Pat Leahy
Fri Mar 10 2017 - 01:00

The Anti-Austerity Alliance is changing its name to Solidarity, and the party the group belongs to will become Solidarity-People Before Profit.

The new name for the group will be announced at a press conference in Dublin on Friday morning.

The group has three TDs – Paul Murphy, Mick Barry and Ruth Coppinger – but is registered as a political party in conjunction with the People Before Profit Alliance, which also has three TDs.

We think the name Solidarity is more appropriate – our current struggles are not just economic, but include big social movements

Solidarity TD Paul Murphy said the name change did not mean the group believed austerity was over but that the new name reflected the campaigns the party was now engaged in which were broader and included social movements such as the Repeal the Eighth campaign.

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“We think the name Solidarity is more appropriate – our current struggles are not just economic, but include big social movements,” he said.

Solidarity was also the name of a trade union movement in Poland which was banned by the country’s communist government in the 1980s, but emerged to lead the overthrow of the Moscow-backed regime in 1989.

Pat Leahy

Pat Leahy

Pat Leahy is Political Editor of The Irish Times