THE LABOUR Party is experiencing an “extraordinary surge” in numbers joining the party, its general secretary has said.
Ita McCaulisse said there had been a more than 400 per cent increase in people joining the party last month as compared with the same period last year.
“It has been very, very busy,” she said.
“Where September 2009 was busy, with about 150 new members, we had 650 new members this September.
“It has been extraordinary, and has been part of a huge surge in support this year. We are very encouraged.”
While September was always a strong month for recruiting members with big drives at third-level institutions during their freshers weeks, she said this September saw new members in institutions where the party had not traditionally had a strong presence, such as Dublin Institute of Technology.
“We are also recruiting in parts of the country where we wouldn’t have Oireachtas representation like Tipperary.”
She put the increasing numbers joining down to the popularity of party leader Eamon Gilmore as well as to a “real hunger for change and people wanting to be a part of it.
“There’s a lot of anger out there. And a lot of fear. People really want to be involved, to get out canvassing and to be part of bringing about change,” she said.
The Labour Party has about 10,000 members nationally.
A spokesman for Fianna Fáil said figures for recruitment over the past two months were not yet available, but feedback indicated recruitment was “at about the same level as last year”.
It has about 65,000 members nationally.
The Green Party’s overall membership has fallen from 1,766 at the end of last year to 1,401 now.
Among these, however, are 197 new members who have joined since January.
Fine Gael said it has about 35,000 members and receives about 20 new applications a week.
