Councillor Johansson quits PBP, criticises direction of party

Councillor Madeleine Johansson has resigned from People Before Profit.

Johannson and other members of the party, The Red Network, have left the party over changes in party policy (and yes, before people ask, we are aware of the Monty Python bit).

In a statement, The Red Network said “People Before Profit likes to engage in student moralism and performative politics. We reject that approach.”

“As People Before Profit has moved right on the question of entering government they also lost touch with some of their pre-established working class base. This was particularly evident after the “Green wave” of 2019,” they noted.

Johannson said that People Before Profit “is not the same as when I joined and I can no longer ignore the change in political principles”.

The Palmerstown-Fonthill councillor said “I will continue to represent my constituents from the perspective of revolutionary socialist principles. I will work as hard as I always have for the working-class communities that I represent.”

In a statement, the councillor said “I, and other members of the Red Network, have argued within PBP for years about the need for political honesty, deep organising in working-class communities and workplaces and against opportunist practices.”

“We no longer feel that it is possible to continue to do this, and instead feel the need to forge a new path for revolutionary socialist politics outside of PBP,” she said.

The Southside councillor said “over recent months, I have raised critical concerns regarding the party’s direction—particularly its episodic relationship with the working class and shifting priorities away from grassroots organising. I have voiced deep unease about frequent short-sighted tactical shifts—tailing popular movements on the latest issue, rather than maintaining sustained class-based organising in estates and workplaces.”

She said she was “deeply troubled” by People Before Profit’s seeming willingness to join a left-led government with Sinn Féin, a move championed by TD Paul Murphy last summer.

“I argued for a clear stance: supporting a Sinn Féin government from the opposition benches on a case-by-case basis and holding them to account,” she said.

“Given these fundamental differences—about political method, working-class loyalty, and strategic priorities—I can no longer remain part of People Before Profit.”

“I will continue my work as councillor for Palmerstown–Fonthill, dedicating myself to fighting on the issues that matter to working-class people. From defending tenants facing eviction like in Tathony House, to forcing council action on derelict homes and backing Fórsa members battling outsourcing. I look forward to continuing that fight for a genuinely working-class, revolutionary socialist movement.”