THE list of newly formed groups working towards establishing themselves as political parties has continued to grow with the launch of an organisation called the Irish Democratic Party (IDP).

The newly formed party launched a website recently and joins at least four other groups hoping to get the required membership of 300 before they can be officially registered on the Oireachtas Register of Political Parties.

Fís Nua or New Vision is one group described as a splinter group of the Greens. Another group calling itself Direct Democracy Ireland has held public meetings in Dublin. Its main platform is to allow citizens to petition for a referendum to allow government decisions to be negated.

Former local election Kildare candidate Leo Armstrong is also trying to form a party to "replace Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael". Elsewhere, Cork businessman Michael Murphy, who describes himself as an "ordinary Joe Soap", is behind a group called the Reform Party to create a "democratic revolution".

The latest political grouping to come to prominence is the IDP. Party spokesman Ciarán Ó Floinn told the Sunday Tribune: "Our party is composed of ordinary concerned citizens from all sectors of Irish society who witness on a daily basis the crippling deficit of leadership in Irish political life.

"The IDP's aim is to establish a democratic, accountable and verifiable republic. We want to facilitate and strongly encourage the active engagement of citizens with their government at all levels, in particular at municipal level," he said.