Editing Workers' Party (Ireland) (section)

{{Short description|Irish political party}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = The Workers' Party
| logo             = Workers' Party (Ireland) logo.png
| logo_size        = 
| colorcode        = {{party color|Workers' Party (Ireland)}}
| president        = Michael McCorry<ref>{{cite web | url=https://workersparty.ie/about-us/organisation/ | title=Governing Structure of the Workers' Party }}</ref> (disputed)
| founded          = 17 January 1970{{efn|The party emerged as the majority faction from a split in [[History of Sinn Féin|Sinn Féin]] in 1970, becoming known as ''Official Sinn Féin''. In the Republic of Ireland, it renamed itself as ''Sinn Féin The Workers' Party'' in 1977. In Northern Ireland it continued under the ''Republican Clubs'' name (first used by Sinn Féin to escape a 1964 ban) and later as ''Workers Party Republican Clubs''. Both sections adopted the current name in 1982.}}
| ideology         = [[Communism]]<br />[[Marxism–Leninism]]<br />[[Irish republicanism]]
| position         = [[Far-left politics|Far-left]]
| headquarters     = 8 Cabra Road,<br />[[Dublin]] 7, Ireland
| international    = [[International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties|IMCWP]]<br>WAP (disputed)<br>
[[European Communist Action|ECA]] (disputed)
| website          = {{Official URL}}
| country          = the Republic of Ireland
| country2         = Northern Ireland
| native_name      = Páirtí na nOibrithe
| youth_wing       = {{Nowrap|Workers' Party Youth<ref>"WFDY – CENA Member Organizations". World Federation of Democratic Youth. June 2015. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2022.</ref>}}
| european         = [[Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties|INITIATIVE]] (2013–2023)
| colours          = {{colorbox|{{party color|Workers' Party (Ireland)}}}} Red
| split            = [[Sinn Féin]]
}}
'''The Workers' Party''' ({{langx|ga|Páirtí na nOibrithe}}) is an [[Irish republican]], [[Marxist–Leninist]] [[communist party]] active in both the [[Republic of Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name=register>{{cite web |title=Register of Political Parties in Ireland |url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/housesoftheoireachtas/contentassets/documents/registerofpoliticalparties/Register-November-2010.doc |work=Houses of the Oireachtas |date=23 November 2010 |access-date=2 May 2010 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123931/http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/housesoftheoireachtas/contentassets/documents/registerofpoliticalparties/Register-November-2010.doc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=registerNI>{{cite web |title=NI Register of Political Parties |url=http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Search/Registrations?currentPage=1&rows=30&sort=RegulatedEntityName&order=asc&open=filter&et=pp&et=ppm&register=ni&regStatus=registered&optCols=EntityStatusName |publisher=Electoral Commission |access-date=17 February 2020 |archive-date=17 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917082911/http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Search/Registrations?currentPage=1&rows=30&sort=RegulatedEntityName&order=asc&open=filter&et=pp&et=ppm&register=ni&regStatus=registered&optCols=EntityStatusName |url-status=live }}</ref>

The party formerly asserted a claim of direct descent from the [[History of Sinn Féin|original Sinn Féin organisation]] founded in 1905 by [[Arthur Griffith]]. It took its current form in 1970 following a division within Sinn Féin, in which the majority faction followed the leadership in a [[Marxist]] direction. It was known as '''Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place)''' or '''Official Sinn Féin''', to distinguish it from the minority faction of "Sinn Féin (Kevin Street)" or "Provisional Sinn Féin". It changed its name from Sinn Féin to '''Sinn Féin The Workers' Party''' in 1977 and then to the '''Workers' Party''' in 1982. In that time, Provisional Sinn Féin came to be known simply as [[Sinn Féin]]. Both groups were tied to corresponding paramilitary groups, with Official Sinn Féin tied to the [[Official Irish Republican Army]].

By the late 1980s, the party had broken through electorally in the Republic of Ireland and at its peak it elected 7 [[Teachta Dála|TDs]] at the [[1989 Irish general election|1989 general election]] and 21 councillors at the [[1991 Irish local elections|1991 local elections]]. However, following the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] and [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] in the early 1990s, almost all the party's elected members broke away and formed [[Democratic Left (Ireland)|Democratic Left]] in 1992. Since 1992 the party has existed as a [[microparty]]. A 2021 split in the party left the party's status disputed.