According to the ISRP historian Lynch, the party never had more than 80 members. Upon its founding one journalist commented that the party had more syllables than members.[2] Nevertheless, the ISRP is regarded by many Irish historians as a party of seminal importance in the early history of Irish socialism and republicanism. It is often described as the first socialist and republican party in Ireland, and the first organisation to espouse the ideology of socialist republicanism on the island.