In February 1949, on the advice of the administrative council of the Irish Labour Party, the Socialist Republican Party and disaffected members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) set up a provisional committee on establishing a branch of the Irish Labour Party in Northern Ireland. Later that April, a 'six counties council' was set up to co-ordinate a merger into the Irish Labour Party pending the October 1949 party convention to amend the constitution to permit expansion into Northern Ireland.[3]
Within nine days however, Frank Hanna resigned from the council expressing doubts about the feasibility of a merger and about public support for the party. On 8 January 1950 the merger was complete when the 'six counties council' was abolished and replaced with a regional council within the Irish Labour Party.[3]
Diamond later stood for Parliament under a variety of labels before eventually forming the Republican Labour Party.
^Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2000). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. A&C Black. ISBN9780826458148.
^ abcNorton, Christopher (1996). "The Irish Labour Party In Northern Ireland, 1949-1958". Saothar. 21. Irish Labour History Society: 50–51. JSTOR23197182.