Social Democrats Na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta | |
|---|---|
_logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | Soc Dems[1][2] |
| Leader | Holly Cairns |
| Deputy leader | Cian O'Callaghan |
| Secretary General | Sabrina Ryan[3] |
| Chairperson | Colm Byrne |
| Founders | |
| Founded | 15 July 2015 (2015-07-15) |
| Headquarters | 28 South Frederick St,Dublin |
| Membership(2021) |  2,000+[4] |
| Ideology | Social democracy Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Colours | Purple |
| Dáil Éireann | 11 / 174 |
| Seanad Éireann | 1 / 60 |
| Local government | 33 / 949 |
| Website | |
| socialdemocrats.ie | |
TheSocial Democrats (Irish:Na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta)[5] are asocial democraticpolitical party in Ireland.[6] Led byHolly Cairns since March 2023, the party was launched on 15 July 2015 by threeindependentTDs:Catherine Murphy,Róisín Shortall, andStephen Donnelly. It promotes theNordic model of political economy,[7]pro-European views,[8] and implementingSláintecare, a plan to reform theIrish healthcare system.[9]
The Social Democrats was established with a co-leadership arrangement between its three founding members.Róisín Shortall is a formerLabour PartyTD and formerMinister of State at the Department of Health. She resigned from the role and from Labour in September 2012, citing lack of support and the lack of an explanation from then-Minister for HealthJames Reilly concerning his controversial decision to locate a newprimary care centre in his own constituency.[10]Catherine Murphy was successively a member of theWorkers' Party,Democratic Left and the Labour Party before being elected as an independent TD in 2005.Stephen Donnelly first entered politics as an independent TD in the2011 general election, having previously worked as a consultant forMcKinsey and Company. Both Murphy and Donnelly were members of theTechnical Group in the 31st Dáil, with Murphy having served as itsChief Whip.
The party ran fourteen candidates in the2016 general election, including its three incumbent TDs, former Labour PartySenatorJames Heffernan, and county councillorsGary Gannon andCian O'Callaghan.[11] Their three incumbent TDs were re-elected, but none of their other candidates were elected.
In May 2016, the party formed a technical group within the Dáil with theGreen Party.[12][13]
On 5 September 2016, Stephen Donnelly resigned as joint leader and left the party, stating that he was doing so "with great sadness, having vested so much together with my parliamentary colleagues, Catherine and Roisin, a small core team and many volunteers across the country, into the establishment of the Social Democrats over the last 20 months", but referring to his relationship with his fellow leaders, that "some partnerships simply don't work".[14] On 2 February 2017, he joinedFianna Fáil.[15]
The Social Democrats contested their firstEuropean Parliament elections in May 2019, with councillorGary Gannon running for election in theDublin constituency.[16] Gannon received 5.6% of the first-preference votes, finishing 6th out of 19 candidates in the first count. He was eliminated on the 14th count. The party did not contest the other Irish constituencies ofMidlands-North-West orSouth at this election.
The party also contested their first local elections in May 2019. The Social Democrats put forward 58 candidates for seats on local councils. 55% of the candidates were women, making it the second highest percentage of female candidates put forward among all political parties.[17] 19 of the 58 candidates were elected, more than trebling the party's representation in local government.[18]Ellie Kisyombe, aMalawi-born asylum seeker running for the Social Democrats in Dublin's North Inner City LEA, was retained after a review of inconsistencies in her account of her asylum history and time indirect provision; following this, three members of the party's National Executive resigned.[19]
In November 2019, the party contested 3 of the 4 by-elections caused by the election of Irish TDs to the European Parliament, but did not win any seats, with their candidates all receiving between 2.5% and 4.4% of the vote.
In the2020 general election, the party ran 20 candidates in 20 constituencies, and increased their seats to six, despite a small fall in the number of first preference votes received. Murphy and Shortall were re-elected in their constituencies, and were joined byHolly Cairns inCork South-West,Gary Gannon inDublin Central,Cian O'Callaghan inDublin Bay North andJennifer Whitmore inWicklow. The Social Democrats finished level on seats with theLabour Party and exceeded the seats of other left-leaning partiesSolidarity–People Before Profit andIndependents 4 Change.[20]
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On 22 February 2023, Murphy and Shortall announced that they would step down as co-leaders of the Social Democrats.[21] Holly Cairns was the only candidate to put her name forward for leadership of the party, and she was announced as the new leader on 1 March.[22][23] On becoming leader, Cairns reiterated that the Social Democrats have no interest in merging with the Labour Party, which had been repeatedly suggested but rejected by the Social Democrats' party leadership.[24][25][26][27] She said that housing and Sláintecare would be red line issues for the Social Democrats in any coalition talks with any party.[28] On 4 July 2023 it was announced that Cian O'Callaghan had been appointed to the newly created role of deputy party leader.[29][30]
In theJune 2024 local elections, the Social Democrats ran 78 candidates, with 35 elected, including 10 onDublin City Council, where they became the second largest party.[31] For the2024 European elections in Ireland, the party ran three candidates, one in each of the Irishconstituencies. While the Social Democrats' first preference vote share increased to 2.95%, none of their candidates were elected.[32]
At the2024 general election in November, the party almost doubled its number of TDs, going from 6 to 11, tying with Labour to become the fourth-largest party in Ireland.[33] The party also gained its first Senator inPatricia Stephenson at the2025 Seanad election. However, the party lost a TD at the same time following the indefinite suspension ofEoin Hayes.[34] In July 2025 Hayes was readmitted to the parliamentary party.[35] Shortly after Hayes' readmission, Galway city councillor Eibhlín Seoighthe resigned from the party.[36]
The party jointly nominatedCatherine Connolly in the2025 Irish presidential election as part of a broad left-wing alliance. They first announced their intention to support Connolly on 11 July 2025, alongsidePeople Before Profit,100% Redress and severalindependent politicians.Jennifer Whitmore said she was the overwhelming choice of party members.[37][38][39][40]
As of the2024 general election, the Social Democrats have 11 TDs.[41][42]
Through 2017 and 2018, the Social Democrats recruited several sitting county councillors, includingJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow County Council), Joe Harris (Cork County Council), Dermot Looney (South Dublin County Council), Paul Mulville (Fingal County Council) and June Murphy (Cork County Council).[43][44][45] In the 2019 local elections they won 19 council seats, but by 2023 they had expanded this to 22 by recruiting three county councillors; Mary Roche (Waterford City and County Council), Eoin Ó Broin (South Dublin County Council) andLiam Quaide (Cork County Council).[46][47][48]
In 2023,Galway City Councillor Owen Hanley resigned as a councillor and as a party member, following allegations made against him on social media.[49]
In the2024 local elections, the party won 35 councillor seats, up from the 19 they had previously held.[50] They performed particularly well in theDublin City Council election, doubling their seat share to 10 and becoming the second largest party behindFine Gael.[51]
In 2024, Dublin Bay South TDEoin Hayes was suspended from the party after he confirmed he gave incorrect details about when he had sold shares he held in software firmPalantir, which supplies technology to theIsrael Defense Forces.[52]
At the2025 Seanad election, the party saw its first ever Senator elected inPatricia Stephenson for theLabour Panel.[a][53][54]
The party iscentre-left[55] and supports Irish membership of theEuropean Union. At the party's launch, its three TDs stated their support for theNordic model ofsocial democracy, backed the repeal of theEighth Amendment and theOfficial Secrets Act, and stated their opposition to domesticwater charges.[6][56][57] The party is also in favour of a directly elected mayor ofDublin.[58]
In their 2024 general election manifesto,[9] the party outlined their 5 main aims and stated that they would only ever enter into a government that would work to implement these aims. Party leader,Holly Cairns stated that these were the party's red-lines.[59][60]
One of the party's core policies isSláintecare, an Irish national health service proposal.Sláintecare is a fully costed plan for a universal, single-tier public health service that would join up health and social care in Ireland and be free at the point of use.[61]Sláintecare was developed as the result of a cross-Party Oireachtas Committee chaired by the Social Democrats'Róisín Shortall, which sought to examine the issue of healthcare in Ireland. The party'sSláintecare policy plan also includes (but is not limited to): a legal entitlement to homecare packages for older people, significantly reducingprescription charges and lowering costs for medicines, providing access to basic procedures at a local level, and improved funding for mental health, including counselling, community programmes, and adult mental health teams.[62]
The Social Democrats are in favour of universal access to affordable housing.[63][64] In May 2017, the party published the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill to eliminate loopholes to the vacant site levy and increase penalties for developers engaged in land hoarding.[65] In January 2018 the party called for a nationwide rent freeze.[66] In December 2019 the party proposed a motion of no-confidence in housing ministerEoghan Murphy.[67]
In their 2020 manifesto, the party called for building 100,000 homes over a five-year period to be delivered by a new housing agency, and pledged to endhomelessness.[68] In their 2024 manifesto, the party stated that if elected to government they would deliver 50,000 affordable purchase homes and 25,000 cost rental homes over five years.[69][70]
In their 2020 manifesto, the party said it would ban exploitative work contracts, encourageunion membership and protect younger workers.[68] In their October 2023 alternative budget, they advocated for a new tax on assets valued at over 1 millioneuro and an increase of theminimum wage by 2 euro, to €13.30 per hour.[71]
The Social Democrats have published legislation on equal access and non-religious discrimination in schools,[72] extended unpaidparental leave[73] and greater minimum notice periods for residential tenancies.[74] The party called for a yes vote in theReferendum to Repeal the Eighth Amendment on 25 May 2018.[75] The party supports an end toconversion therapy.[76]
In their 2020 manifesto, the party committed to making primary school education free, reducing third level fees and expanding theSUSI grant system.[68]
In their 2024 manifesto, the party pledged to appoint a Senior Minister for Disability if elected to government.[77] The party also stated that they wish to implement a weekly Cost of Disability payment to reflect the higher costs of living with a disability, as well as address the waiting lists for an assessment of need and issues around staffing of Children's Disability Network Teams (CDNT).[78]
The party's 2020 manifesto vowed to build morecycle lanes, cutpublic transport fares and introduce a dedicated public transport policing unit. On climate policies, they called for banningfracking and pledged to meet the targets in theParis Agreement.[68]
The party supports thedecriminalisation of drugs for personal consumption. The Social Democrats instead want to take a health-led approach to drugs, such as by tackling the socio-economic and mental health factors that pre-dispose people tosubstance abuse. It also advocates for better funding for drug treatment and health services, as well as improved publiceducation around drugs.[79]
The party has called for the establishment of an independent anti-corruption agency in Ireland to tackle white-collar crime and corruption in the corporate world and political spheres.[80][81]
In November 2023, the Social Democrats put forward a Dáil motion seeking to expel theIsraeli ambassador to Ireland,Dana Erlich, and to place economic sanctions onIsrael amidst theIsraeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.[82] The motion was voted down by the government.[83] Two months later, the party put forward a motion to backSouth Africa's case against Israel in theInternational Court of Justice; the government put forward a counter-motion, which passed in its place.[84]
As part of their 2024 manifesto, the party introduced a plan for a €10 million fund to bringPalestinian children to Ireland for medical treatment.[85]
| Name | Portrait | Period | Constituency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall Stephen Donnelly | _Leadership%2c_2016.jpg) | 2015–2016 | Kildare North Dublin North West Wicklow |
| Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall |  | 2016–2023 | Kildare North Dublin North West |
| Holly Cairns | .jpg) | 2023–present | Cork South-West |
| Name | Portrait | Period | Constituency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cian O'Callaghan |  | 2023–present | Dublin Bay North |
| Election | Leaders | FPv | % | Seats | % | ± | Dáil | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Stephen Donnelly, Catherine Murphy, Róisín Shortall | 64,094 | 3.0 (#7) | 3 / 158 | 1.9 (#8) | New | 32nd | Opposition 30th, 31st government (FG-Indminority) |
| 2020 | Catherine Murphy, Róisín Shortall | 63,404 | 2.9 (#6) | 6 / 160 | 3.8 (#5) | 3 | 33rd | Opposition 32nd, 33rd, 34th government (FF-FG-GPmajority) |
| 2024 | Holly Cairns | 106,028 | 4.8 (#4) | 11 / 174 | 6.3 (#4) | 5 | 34th | Opposition 35th government (FF-FG-Ind majority) |
| Election | Candidate | 1st pref. votes | % | +/– | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | SupportedCatherine Connolly as an independent | ||||
| Election | 1st pref votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 39,644 | 2.3 (#6) | 19 / 949 |  |
| 2024 | 63,273 | 3.4 (#5) | 35 / 949 | 16 |
| Election | Leader | 1st pref Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall | 20,331 | 1.21 (#8) | 0 / 13 | New | − |
| 2024 | Holly Cairns | 51,571 | 2.95 (#9) | 0 / 14 | 0 |
| Election | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0 / 60 | |
| 2025 | 1 / 60 | 1 |
