IMPULS Michèle Auga Trade Unions and Right-Wing Populism in Ireland The Irish Trade Union Movement Ireland’s trade unions are largely gathered under a single confederation – The Irish Congress of Trade Unions(ICTU), comprising 43 unions representing over 700 000 workers island-wide. SIPTU, a general union, accounts for nearly one-third of this membership. Union density peaked at 62 percent in the 1980s but is now around 26 percent, with collective-bargaining coverage at 35 percent. Public admin ­istration, education, health, energy and water workers tend to be the most unionised, while hospitality, IT and low-skill manufacturing remain least organised. The defining feature of Ireland’s trade union framework is its voluntarist system. Although freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed, there is no obligation for employers to recognise unions. Thus, bargaining occurs at enterprise level, and agreements are rarely enforceable in court. Two specialised instruments are crucial for imposing sector wide standards: Sectoral Employment Orders(SEOs), which require ratification by the Labour Court before they can be applied universally, and Joint Labour Committees, which target weakly organised sectors. The right to strike is not protected by the constitution, although as long as strict balloting laws are followed, and appropriate notice is given, immunity from legal action is protected by the Industrial Relations Act 1990. Recent developments as a result of the Supreme Court ruling on O’Neill Limited vs. Unite The Union(2024) found freedom of association to include at least some protected percentzone of freedom« for unions to organ­ise, and raised the bar for issuing strike-stopping injunctions. Despite weak legal foundations, Irish unions have demons­trated an impressive ability to influence policy. Most notably, three-year»social-partnership« pacts ran from 1987 – 2010, which stabilised the economy and limited strikes by exchang ­ing moderate wage rises for tax and service cuts. Although the model collapsed after the 2008 financial crash, public­sector pay is still set through multi-year deals. ICTU also sits on the Labour Employer Economic Forum with Irish Busi ­ness and Employers’ Confederation(Ibec), giving direct access to government ministers. Despite turbulence since 2010, Irish unions still enjoy broad political legitimacy and have avoid ­ed hostile anti-union legislation seen elsewhere in Europe. The Far-Right in Ireland – Recent Developments and Strategic Positioning Ireland was long considered immune to far-right politics. A number of factors have been posited as to why this may be the case, including the Catholic Churches historic role in Trade Unions and Right-Wing Populism in Ireland 1