DEMOCRATIC LEFT

short-lived socialist party, organized in both Northern Ireland and the Irish republic, that broke away from the Workers' Party in 1992 and went on to serve in the government of the Irish republic between 1994 and 1997. In 1999 the party was incorporated into the Labour Party, and Democratic Left leader Proinsias De Rossa became Labour Party president. Additional reading Michael Holmes, The Establishment of Democratic Left, in Irish Political Studies vol. 9 (1994), is the best introduction to the party.