On the United Front

As the turbulence of Irish politics continues and debates abound about left unity, Kieran Allen sets forth his analysis of the united front and how it applies today.

written by Kieran Allen December 6, 2025

I worked hard on Catherine Connolly’s campaign alongside members of the Irish Labour Party. Their leader, Ivana Bacik, is a TD from the same constituency. Afterwards, I was sceptical when I heard her claim that the Labour Party had become a ‘Connollyite republican party’. I thought, however, this could be tested when its councillors on Dublin City Council voted on rent hikes for council tenants. Unfortunately, my scepticism was more than confirmed when they agreed to 50% hikes for some.

All of this led me to think about left unity and left alliances. To get some help, I went back to some revolutionary classics about the united front tactic. Not that classics should be taken as dogma, because the context was very different. But they remain valuable repositories of strategies and tactics nonetheless.

Discussions on the united front tactics took place with the third and fourth congresses of the Communist International in 1921 and 1922. Two key assumptions formed the background.

1.   That there existed independent Communist parties outside the social democrats.
2.   That the tide of revolution had run out. Capitalism was in decline, and it was necessary to fight for the immediate interests of all workers.

It was agreed that revolutionaries should propose a united front to the soft left to encourage a fight on ‘the most basic vital interests of the working class’. This would involve an open invitation to their treacherous leadership. It should include a call for them to abstain from a ‘bourgeois-Social Democratic coalition’.

The slogan of a workers’ government flowed from this. The 4th Congress stated that Communist Parties should ‘state their readiness to form a government with non-Communist workers parties’. Such a government, however, should arise from the militant activity of workers. It should declare a readiness to rely on mass mobilisation to really fight the rich.

There was a lot more to it, but the key points should be clear.

It was not proposed to have a united policy block, but rather a unity geared to mobilising for immediate issues.

Moreover, unity should not come at the expense of hiding differences. Revolutionaries had to maintain their freedom to criticise and propose tactics to strengthen the mobilisations.

Revolutionaries could not be satisfied with being part of propaganda societies, which simply commented on the world. They needed to actively propose unity as a way of encouraging mass agitation.

Famously, these points were amplified in later discussions about how to respond to fascist movements. Against a ‘third period’ policy inaugurated by Stalin, Trotsky relentlessly argued for a united front of left parties. The Stalinist-controlled Communist International, however, described social democrats as ‘social fascists’ and rejected any unity with them. Through detailed analysis, Trotsky showed there was a real basis for a united front because the fascists would crush not only the communists but even moderate union leaders.

How does all this apply to Ireland today? First, the tactic of the united front cannot be reduced to being ‘non-sectarian’. It is not primarily about niceness or being friendly to rival non-revolutionary parties, although a pleasant disposition is more attractive than a bitter one. The proposal for a united front arises from the need to mobilise around specific issues which most workers want. Political sectarianism should, of course, be avoided as it is the language of despair that foregoes even the possibility of winning a mass audience.

Second, the validity and usefulness of the tactic are not decided by whether it brings together a handful of activists. In a world where social media effectively confines us to like-minded communities, it is easy to mistake a gathering of a handful of activists for genuine mass influence. Once again, the key issue is whether a united left can lead to active mobilisation by large numbers.

Third, while the focus is on unity around specific issues, some tactical sensitivity is required in Ireland. Namely, there has never been a reformist government. Instead, the domination of FF/FG in the South encourages a defeatist, ‘they are all the same’ attitude. Workers are encouraged to forge clientelist relations with right-wing politicians to get individual solutions to their grievances. We, therefore, need to convince workers to vote on left-right lines – to pose a left alternative to FF/FG.

History, however, does not follow on mechanical tracks. We have experience of ‘left governments’ in other countries – in Sweden and in Greece with Syriza.  So we must always combine a call for a left government with spelling out how such a government must be based on a mobilisation that goes far beyond existing practices, and be willing to take the fight to the rich.

Fourth, the united front tactic implies that we are working with and against certain allies. With, because we genuinely want the largest possible movements that fight for issues we agree on. Against, because every mobilisation throws up differences of tactics and strategy. Unity does not mean the most right-wing elements in any alliance get a veto over the expression of political differences.

So, how do these general points translate to, in practice?

The victory of Catherine Connolly shows there is a huge space to the left. When the candidates of the combined right-wing government only get 36% of the vote, then clearly their hegemony is under serious threat. It is not automatic, but a significant space has been opened for the left. That is, all parties on the left.

People Before Profit should engage in a major period of recruitment to expand its base. The party is a broad anti-capitalist party that does not require members to adhere to any particular revolutionary tradition. It is therefore in pole position to attract those who have, since the genocide in Gaza, opened their eyes to Western imperialism and are beginning to move away from a gradualist, reforming approach.

It also needs to relate to the sentiment for left unity while looking reality in the face. Other parties have already indicated that they will run candidates in future bye elections under their own label, rather than under a left alliance banner. However, electoral competition does not preclude a left unity around specific issues. Nor does it rule out the prospect of a vote left-transfer left pact and a public pledge not to join FF and FG.

In the meantime, let’s unite on the specific issues we agree on. We can build a broad coalition on affordability, housing or neutrality. Let’s ensure these coalitions mobilise a lot of people. And we can continue to disagree on council rents and, indeed, a host of other issues.