Irish Democratic Party
Political party in the Republic of Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Irish Democratic Party (IDP) was a minor Irish political party formed in 2013, as a result of a split with Direct Democracy Ireland. Another minor party of the same name but different ideology[clarification needed] and leadership had been established in 2010 but was later dissolved.
Irish Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | October 2013 |
| Dissolved | November 2020 |
| Split from | Direct Democracy Ireland |
| Ideology | Participatory democracy |
| Colours | Blue |
| Website | |
| irishdemocraticparty | |
The party advocated the introduction of participatory democracy in the Republic of Ireland. The IDP ran two candidates in the 2016 general election,[1] the party chairperson Ken Smollen ran in Offaly.[2][3] He received 2.2% of the first preference votes and was eliminated on the second count.[4] Smollen was elected to Offaly County Council for Tullamore in the 2019 local elections on the eighth count. He received 1,054 votes and 9.5% of the first preferences.[5] Mark Keogh, who was a candidate in the 2016 general election in Limerick, ran unsuccessfully as a Direct Democracy candidate in the 2019 local elections.
Smollen was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2020 general election in the Laois–Offaly constituency. Since November 2020, the IDP is no longer a registered political party.[6] Smollen became an independent councillor.[7]