Making the difference? The Irish Labour Party 1912-2012

In 2011, on the cusp of its centenary year, the Labour Party recorded its greatest ever electoral success, with 37 TDs elected and a President. In doing so the party has succeeded, temporarily at least, in breaking free from the old two-and-a-half party system. But, why, for its first century, did Labour struggle to match its ambition? This series of essays to mark the party's centenary assesses the challenges facing Labour in a deeply conservative country, where echoes of civil war and Catholic Church hegemony have dominated the political landscape. Leading writers from the fields of journalism, history and social reform examine the failings, splits and contradictions of Ireland's oldest political party alongside the social and economic achievements to which the Labour Party lays claim. Contributors Ivana Bacik Michael Laffan Ronan O'Brien Stephen Collins David McCullagh Eunan O'Halpin Paul Daly Ciara Meehan Niamh Puirseil Diarmaid Ferriter William Mulligan Kevin Rafter Eamon Gilmore William Murphy Jane Suiter All Royalties to Barnardos

Paul Daly, a graduate of UCD and DCU, has worked in the Labour Party Press office. His first book was 'Creating Ireland' - a history of Irish parliamentary debates (2008). He now manages his own communications consultancy and lectures in DCU. Ronan O'Brien was Chef de Cabinet to Ruairi Quinn as Labour leader. He worked as Communications Director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland before becoming Special Advisor to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin T.D. Paul Rouse, formerly of Prime Time in RTE, has written extensively on Irish history and on the GAA. He teaches history at UCD and co-authored Handling Change - The Irish Bank Officials' Association with Mark Duncan, He co-wrote The GAA - A People's History (2009) and The GAA - County by County (2011) with Mark Duncan and Mike Cronin.