Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist)

Years Active:	1965–2003
Other Names:	The Internationalists (1965–1969) Irish Communist Movement (Marxist-Leninist) (1969–1972)
Groups & Sections: ^	Irish Student Movement … Close Association Dublin H-Block Armagh Committee … Close Association Communist Youth Union of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) … Youth Organisation Necessity for Change Institute of Anti-Imperialist Studies … Publishing Imprint Democratic Student Front (1973–) … Close Association
Documents in Archive:	27
Publications:	Workers' and Unemployed News, The Spirit of Freedom, The Irish Student, Red Patriot, Marxist-Leninist Weekly, Marxist-Leninist Journal
Related Collection:	The Hunger Strikes
Article:	The Internationalists/Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist), Part One: 1965-1970
Timeline:	View in the timeline of the Irish left
Discuss:	Comments on this organisation

About

The Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) originated as The Internationalists in Trinity College Dublin in 1965, founded by Hardial Bains. It was an anti-revisionist party, initially Maoist and later supporting Albanian leader Enver Hoxha following the Sino-Albanian split. The party was officiallly dissolved in 2003, following a long period of inactivity.

Other names, groups or sections

Irish Student Movement
The Irish Student Movement was linked to the Internationalists, later the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist). Active in the late 1960s and early 1970s in various colleges and educational establishments across Ireland.
Communist Youth Union of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist)
The Communist Youth Union of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) was the youth section of the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist).
Democratic Student Front
Democratic Student Front was established by the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) in April 1973 in order to contest elections to the Student Representative Council in Trinity College Dublin.

Identifiers

VIAF^	315664026
Wikipedia	Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist)

Documents

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The Irish Student

The Irish Student, No. 1
1967
Irish Student Movement

Words and Comment

Words and Comment, No. 3
1968
The Internationalists

Articles

The Internationalists/Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist), Part One: 1965-1970

From The Irish Left Open History Project

When The Internationalists were first set up in Trinity College Dublin in November 1965, it was not as a fully-formed Marxist-Leninist party, but ‘as an exercise in better staff-student relations.’ 1 Prominent among the initial group was Hardial Bains, a lecturer in bacteriology who was originally from India, but who had left for Canada in 1959 and had completed his post-graduate studies in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia. Bains was a former member of the Communist Party of India, having resigned in protest at the party’s endorsement of Khrushchev’s criticisms of Stalin. In March 1963 he founded a political group in Vancouver which was called The Internationalists (later the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), and while the November 1965 TCD group may not have been exactly an Irish version at this stage, the choice of name suggests Bains’ strong input from the start.

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External Resources

Election Literature & Leaflets

Irish Election Literature

Some leaflets and documents from the party and individual election candidates.

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Personal Accounts

The Irish Left Archive hopes to collate first-hand political reminiscences or observations from people involved in Irish Left political activity over the years. We'd be grateful to anyone who has been involved in political parties, campaigns or activism who would like to provide us an account of their personal experience.

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