Is the Irish Labour Party strong enough to compete with established movements in Northern Ireland elections, asks Dr John Coulter. You can follow John on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter.

With Westminster generating a new bout of general election fever, the concept of official UK Labour Party candidates contesting Northern Ireland constituencies has once more nudged its way to the top of the socialist agenda here.

In an earlier article on Northern Slant, I put forward the argument that if the Labour Party maintained that it will not put up official candidates in Northern Ireland, then the Dublin-based Irish Labour Party should live up to its pledge to contest NI seats.

Ideologically, there is a need for a formal labour party to contest Northern Ireland polls in the same way as the Conservative Party runs official candidates here.

Strategically and tactically, is the Irish Labour Party capable of fighting elections in NI, given their disastrous showing in the Republic’s 2016 general election when the party lost 30 Dáil seats, reducing its representation to seven? Furthermore, what can Irish Labour gain by contesting Northern polls given its current tally of elected representatives in the South – according to the party’s website, seven TDs, four senators, and 57 councillors.

To save face, and rebuild, Irish Labour needs to sell itself as an all-island movement. Merely organising in Northern Ireland is not sufficient. It must contest elections. Even fringe organisations such as the anti-abortion Aontu party, led by former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín, has only a handful of elected representatives but can still claim itself to be an all-Ireland movement given its elected representatives do politically straddle the Irish border.

At the crux of Irish Labour’s gamble is deciding where its central focus should lie. Will it focus mainly on rebuilding in the Republic; if it does not contest NI seats, is it opening the electoral door either to Aontu or a revitalised SDLP should the latter regain the Foyle Westminster seat from Sinn Féin?

Irish Labour, tactically, should emphasise that it would be prepared not just to take their seats at Westminster; it could join a so-called ‘rainbow coalition’ of pro-EU/Remain parties at Westminster to oust Boris Johnson’s Tories. If Jeremy Corbyn is to lead such a coalition, he may need to make significant gains in Scotland at the expense of the SNP, but this doesn’t look likely. With potential for a Lib Dem ‘bounce’ under leader Jo Swinson elsewhere, an Irish Labour MP in NI could prove invaluable to Corbyn’s prospects of forming a government, as well to future talks with the EU over an Irish backstop. That is, of course, should the 31 October Brexit deadline be extended.

Should Irish Labour step up, a key selling point to Northern Irish voters would be that the party is not an overtly republican party like Sinn Féin or Aontu and, therefore, could be capable of attracting cross-community support. Secondly, it’d be organised on an all-Ireland basis, unlike the SDLP which is Northern-based and has only a working relationship with Fianna Fáil in the South. Should the party succeed, perhaps it might find itself in a prime position to challenge the Alliance Party as the main middle ground voice in Northern Ireland?