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|headquarters = 65–66 Lower Mount Street, ] 2,<br/>D02 NX40, ] |headquarters = 65–66 Lower Mount Street, ] 2,<br/>D02 NX40, ]
|ideology =<!-- Please DO NOT ADD to the ideology section without a cited reference either in article, or CHANGE/REMOVE text without first discussing it in talk. --> ]<ref name="Banchoff1999">{{cite book|author=T. Banchoff|title=Legitimacy and the European Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oX29JQSj_oUC&pg=PA130|accessdate=19 October 2017|year=1999|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-18188-4|page=130}}</ref><ref name="KourvetarisMoschonas1996"/><ref name="Scanlan2006"/><ref name="BudgeRobertson1987"/><ref name="beyond">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/24/fine-gael-fianna-fail-ireland | title=Beyond the yin and yang of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil | date=February 2016 | accessdate=26 February 2016}}</ref><br/>]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/interview-miche%C3%A1l-martin-on-restoring-his-party-s-dominance-1.2723890|title=Interview: Micheál Martin on restoring his party’s dominance|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/the-winner-of-election-2016-is-social-democracy-1.2552917|title=The winner of Election 2016 is social democracy|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/fianna-fail-statement-2nd-february-2017/|title=Fianna Fáil Statement 2nd February 2017|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><br>]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07907180903274784?src=recsys&journalCode=fips20 |title=Irish Political Studies}}</ref><br/>]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/|title=About Fianna Fáil|website=Fianna Fáil|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/fianna-fail-united-ireland-3284444-Mar2017/|title=Fianna Fáil's plans for North-South reunification get cautious welcome from Sinn Féin|first=Gráinne Ní|last=Aodha|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><br/> |ideology =<!-- Please DO NOT ADD to the ideology section without a cited reference either in article, or CHANGE/REMOVE text without first discussing it in talk. --> ]<ref name="Banchoff1999">{{cite book|author=T. Banchoff|title=Legitimacy and the European Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oX29JQSj_oUC&pg=PA130|accessdate=19 October 2017|year=1999|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-18188-4|page=130}}</ref><ref name="KourvetarisMoschonas1996"/><ref name="Scanlan2006"/><ref name="BudgeRobertson1987"/><ref name="beyond">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/24/fine-gael-fianna-fail-ireland | title=Beyond the yin and yang of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil | date=February 2016 | accessdate=26 February 2016}}</ref><br/>]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/interview-miche%C3%A1l-martin-on-restoring-his-party-s-dominance-1.2723890|title=Interview: Micheál Martin on restoring his party’s dominance|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/the-winner-of-election-2016-is-social-democracy-1.2552917|title=The winner of Election 2016 is social democracy|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/fianna-fail-statement-2nd-february-2017/|title=Fianna Fáil Statement 2nd February 2017|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><br>]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07907180903274784?src=recsys&journalCode=fips20 |title=Irish Political Studies}}</ref><br/>]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/|title=About Fianna Fáil|website=Fianna Fáil|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/fianna-fail-united-ireland-3284444-Mar2017/|title=Fianna Fáil's plans for North-South reunification get cautious welcome from Sinn Féin|first=Gráinne Ní|last=Aodha|publisher=|accessdate=1 October 2017}}</ref><br/>
|position = ]<ref>. ''Human Resource Management in Europe''. p.39. Edited by Chris Brewster, Wolfgang Mayrhofer and Michael Morley. Published by ''Routledge'' and ''Elsevier'' in Amsterdam. First published in 2004. Retrieved 18 July 2017, via Google Books.</ref><ref>. ''Irish Independent''. Author - Daniel McConnell. Published 1 January 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2017.</ref><ref>. ''The Telegraph''. Published 26 January 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2017.</ref><ref>. ''EUobserver''. Author - Shona Murray. Published 12 May 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.</ref> to ]<ref name="TaylorFlynn2008">{{cite book|author1=George Taylor|author2=Brendan Flynn|chapter=The Irish Greens|editor1=E. Gene Frankland|editor2=Paul Lucardie|editor3=Benoît Rihoux|title=Green Parties in Transition: The End of Grass-roots Democracy?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BJmqUTBiZ3EC&pg=PA97|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7429-0|page=97}}</ref><ref name="FarnhamHondeghem2016">{{cite book|author1=John Barlow|author2=David Farnham|author3=Sylvia Horton|author4=F.F. Ridley|chapter=Comparing Public Managers|editor1=David Farnham|editor2=Annie Hondeghem|editor3=Sylvia Horton|editor4=John Barlow|title=New Public Managers in Europe: Public Servants in Transition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJu-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19|year=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-13947-7|page=19}}</ref><ref name=guardiantitley>{{cite news|title=Beyond the yin and yang of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/24/fine-gael-fianna-fail-ireland|newspaper=The Guardian|date=24 February 2011|location=London|first=Gavan|last=Titley}}</ref> |position = ]<ref name="TaylorFlynn2008">{{cite book|author1=George Taylor|author2=Brendan Flynn|chapter=The Irish Greens|editor1=E. Gene Frankland|editor2=Paul Lucardie|editor3=Benoît Rihoux|title=Green Parties in Transition: The End of Grass-roots Democracy?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BJmqUTBiZ3EC&pg=PA97|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7429-0|page=97}}</ref><ref name="FarnhamHondeghem2016">{{cite book|author1=John Barlow|author2=David Farnham|author3=Sylvia Horton|author4=F.F. Ridley|chapter=Comparing Public Managers|editor1=David Farnham|editor2=Annie Hondeghem|editor3=Sylvia Horton|editor4=John Barlow|title=New Public Managers in Europe: Public Servants in Transition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJu-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19|year=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-13947-7|page=19}}</ref><ref name=guardiantitley>{{cite news|title=Beyond the yin and yang of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/24/fine-gael-fianna-fail-ireland|newspaper=The Guardian|date=24 February 2011|location=London|first=Gavan|last=Titley}}</ref>
|youth_wing = ] |youth_wing = ]
|membership_year = 2016 |membership_year = 2016

Revision as of 14:55, 15 December 2017

Political party in the Republic of Ireland
Fianna Fáil
File:Fianna Fáil logo 2011.svg
LeaderMicheál Martin TD
General SecretarySeán Dorgan
ChairmanBrendan Smith TD
Seanad LeaderSenator Catherine Ardagh
FounderÉamon de Valera
Founded23 March 1926 (1926-03-23)
Split fromSinn Féin
Headquarters65–66 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2,
D02 NX40, Ireland
Youth wingÓgra Fianna Fáil
Membership (2016)20,000
IdeologyConservatism
Populism
Pro-Europeanism
United Ireland
Political positioncentre-right
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
European Parliament groupAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliationLiberal International
Colours  Green
Dáil Éireann44 / 158
Seanad Éireann14 / 60
European Parliament1 / 11
Local government in the Republic of Ireland262 / 949
Website
www.fiannafail.ie

Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny or Warriors of Fál) officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party, (Template:Lang-ga) is a political party in Ireland.

The party was founded as an Irish republican party on 23 March 1926 by Éamon de Valera and his supporters after they split from Sinn Féin on the issue of abstentionism, in the aftermath of the Irish Civil War. Fianna Fáil has since 1927 been one of Ireland's two major parties, along with Fine Gael; both are seen as being centre-right parties, and as being to the right of the Labour Party and Sinn Féin. The party dominated Irish political life for most of the 20th Century, and since its foundation either it or Fine Gael has led every government. Between 1989 and 2011, it led coalition governments with parties of both the left and the right.

Fianna Fáil was last in government from 1997 to 2011 under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, with a periodic high of 81 seats in 2002, reduced to 77 in 2007 and then to 20 in 2011, the lowest in the party's history. Having won 44 seats at the 2016 general election, Fianna Fáil is currently the largest Opposition party in both houses of the Oireachtas, with party leader Micheál Martin entering into a confidence and supply arrangement with a Fine Gael-led minority government at the beginning of the 32nd Dáil.

Fianna Fáil is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and of Liberal International.

The party is also organised in Northern Ireland and intends to run in local government elections there for the first time in 2019.

History

File:Fianna Fáil logo.svg
Alternative logo
File:Fianna Fáil Glyph.png
Alternative logo – glyph version
Main article: History of Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil was founded by Éamon de Valera, formerly leader of Sinn Féin. He and a number of other members split from Sinn Féin when a motion he proposed—which called for elected members to be allowed to take their seats in Dáil Éireann if and when the controversial Oath of Allegiance was removed—failed to pass at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in 1926. The party adopted its name on 2 April of the same year. While Fianna Fáil was also opposed to the Treaty settlement, it rejected abstentionism, instead aiming to republicanise the Irish Free State from within. The party's platform of economic autarky had appeal among the farmers, working-class people and the poor, while alienating more affluent classes.

Fianna Fáil first entered government on 9 March 1932. It was in power for 61 of the 79 years between then and the election of 2011. Its longest continuous period in office has been 15 years and 11 months (March 1932 – February 1948). Its single longest period out of office in the 20th century was four years and four months (March 1973 – July 1977). Seven of the party's eight leaders have served as Taoiseach.

Fianna Fáil joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party on 16 April 2009, and the party's Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sat in the ALDE Group during the 7th European Parliament term from June 2009 to 1 July 2014. The party is an observer affiliate of the Liberal International.

It was the largest party in the Dáil after every general election from the 1932 general election until the 2007 general election. In the 2011 general election it suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state. This loss was described as "historic" in its proportions, and "unthinkable". The party fell from being the largest party in the Dáil to the third largest; it won 20 seats, compared to its previous performance of well over 60 seats at every election since 1932.

Organisation and structure

Fianna Fáil's success was credited by The Irish Times to its local structure. The basic unit was the cumann (branch) which were then grouped into comhairle ceantair (district branch) and a comhairle dáil ceantair (constituency branch) in every constituency. At the party's height, it had 3,000 cumainn, an average of 75 per constituency. The party claimed 55,000 members in 2004, a figure which Eoin O'Malley, a political scientist, considers exaggerated compared to membership figures for other parties.

However, since the early 1990s the cumann structure was weakened. Every cumann was entitled to three votes to selection conventions irrespective of its size; hence, a large number of cumainn became in effect "paper cumainn", the only use of which was to ensure an aspiring or sitting candidate got enough votes. Another problem arose with the emergence of parallel organisations grouped around candidates or elected officials. Supporters and election workers for a particular candidate were loyal to a candidate and not to the party. If the candidate were to leave the party, through either resignation, retirement or defeat at an election, the candidate's supporters would often depart. Although this phenomenon was nothing new (the most famous example being Neil Blaney's "Donegal Mafia") it increased significantly from the early 1990s, particularly in the Dublin Region with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's "Drumcondra mafia" and the groups supporting Tom Kitt and Séamus Brennan in Dublin South that were largely separate from the official party structure.

Since the 2007 election, the party's structure has significantly weakened. This was in part exacerbated by significant infighting between candidates in the run-up to the 2011 general election. The Irish Times estimated that half of its 3,000 cumainn are effectively moribund. This fraction rises in Dublin with the exception of Dublin West, the former seat of both Brian Lenihan, Snr and Brian Lenihan, Jnr.

Ideology

Fianna Fáil is seen as a typical catch-all party. R. Ken Carty wrote of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that they were 'heterogeneous in their bases of support, relatively undifferentiated in terms of policy or programme, and remarkably stable in their support levels'. Evidence from expert surveys, opinion polls and candidate surveys all fail to identify strong distinctions between the two parties. Many point to Ireland's civil war politics and feel that the basis for the division is the disagreement about the strategy to achieve a united Ireland. Kevin Byrne and political scientist Eoin O'Malley rejected this and have argued that the differences between the two parties goes much further back in Irish history. They linked the parties to different nationalist traditions (Irish Enlightenment and Gaelic Nationalist) which in turn could be linked to migrations of Anglo-Norman and new English into Ireland and the native Gaelic population.

Fianna Fáil is seen as conservative, like Fine Gael, but also as a nationalist party. It has presented itself as a "broad church", and attracted support from across disparate social classes. Between 1989 and 2011, it led coalition governments with parties of both the left and the right. Fianna Fáil’s platform contains a number of enduring aspects however, namely a commitment to Irish unity, to the promotion and protection of the Irish language, and to maintaining Ireland’s tradition of military neutrality. Distinctively more populist, nationalist and, generally speaking, more economically interventionist than Fine Gael, the party nonetheless shares its rival's support of the European Union and a mutual opposition to physical force republicanism.

The party's name and logo incorporates the words 'The Republican Party'. According to Fianna Fáil, "Republican here stands both for the unity of the island and a commitment to the historic principles of European republican philosophy, namely liberty, equality and fraternity".

Leadership and president

Main article: Leader of Fianna Fáil

Although the posts of leader and party president of Fianna Fáil are separate, with the former elected by the Parliamentary Party and the latter elected by the Ardfheis (thus allowing for the posts to be held by different people, in theory), in practice they have always been held by the one person. However, as the Ardfheis may have already been held in any given year by the time a new leader is elected, the selection of the new party president might not take place until the next year.

The following are the terms of office as party leader and as Taoiseach:

Leader Period Constituency Years as Taoiseach
Éamon de Valera 1926–1959 Clare 1932193319371938194319441948; 19511954; 1957–1959
(Government of the 7th Dáil, 8th Dáil, 9th Dáil, 10th Dáil, 11th Dáil, 12th Dáil, 14th Dáil and 16th Dáil)
Seán Lemass 1959–1966 Dublin South-Central 1959–19611965–1966
(Government of the 16th Dáil, 17th Dáil and 18th Dáil)
Jack Lynch 1966–1979 Cork Borough (1948–69)
Cork City North-West (1969–77)
Cork City (1977–81)
1966–19691973; 1977–1979
(Government of the 18th Dáil, 19th Dáil and 21st Dáil)
Charles Haughey 1979–1992 Dublin North-East (1957–77)
Dublin Artane (1977–81)
Dublin North-Central (1981–92)
1979–1981; Feb 1982Nov 1982; 19871989–1992
(Government of the 21st Dáil, 23rd Dáil, 25th Dáil and 26th Dáil)
Albert Reynolds 1992–1994 Longford–Roscommon 1992–1992–1994
(22nd Government of Ireland and 23rd Government of Ireland)
Bertie Ahern 1994–2008 Dublin Central 199720022007–2008
(Government of the 28th Dáil, 29th Dáil and 30th Dáil)
Brian Cowen 2008–2011 Laois–Offaly 2008–2011
(Government of the 30th Dáil)
Micheál Martin 2011–present Cork South-Central

Deputy leader

Name Period Constituency
Joseph Brennan 1973–77 Donegal–Leitrim
George Colley 1977–82 Dublin Central
Ray MacSharry 1982–83 Sligo–Leitrim
Brian Lenihan, Snr 1983–90 Dublin West
John P. Wilson 1990–92 Cavan-Monaghan
Bertie Ahern 1992–94 Dublin Central
Mary O'Rourke 1995–2002 Longford–Westmeath
Brian Cowen 2002–08 Laois–Offaly
Mary Coughlan 2008–11 Donegal South-West
Mary Hanafin 2011 Dún Laoghaire
Brian Lenihan, Jnr 2011 Dublin West
Éamon Ó Cuív 2011–12 Galway West
Position abolished

Seanad leader

Name Period Panel
Eoin Ryan, Snr 1977–82 Industrial and Commercial Panel
Mick Lanigan 1982–90 Industrial and Commercial Panel (1982–89)
Nominated member of Seanad Éireann (1989–90)
Seán Fallon 1990–92 Industrial and Commercial Panel
G. V. Wright 1992–97 Nominated member of Seanad Éireann
Donie Cassidy 1997–2002 Labour Panel
Mary O'Rourke 2002–07 Nominated member of Seanad Éireann
Donie Cassidy 2007–11 Labour Panel
Darragh O'Brien 2011–2016 Labour Panel
Catherine Ardagh 2016–present Industrial and Commercial Panel

General election results

Election Seats won ± Position First Pref votes % Government Leader
1927 (Jun) 44 / 153 Increase44 Increase2nd 299,486 26.2% Opposition Éamon de Valera
1927 (Sep) 57 / 153 Increase13 Steady2nd 411,777 35.2% Opposition Éamon de Valera
1932 72 / 153 Increase15 Increase1st 566,498 44.5% Minority gov't (supported by LP) Éamon de Valera
1933 77 / 153 Increase5 Steady1st 689,054 49.7% Minority gov't (supported by LP) Éamon de Valera
1937 69 / 138 Decrease8 Steady1st 599,040 45.2% Minority gov't (supported by LP) Éamon de Valera
1938 77 / 138 Increase8 Steady1st 667,996 51.9% Majority gov't Éamon de Valera
1943 67 / 138 Decrease10 Steady1st 557,525 41.9% Minority gov't Éamon de Valera
1944 76 / 138 Increase9 Steady1st 595,259 48.9% Majority gov't Éamon de Valera
1948 68 / 147 Decrease8 Steady1st 553,914 41.9% Opposition Éamon de Valera
1951 69 / 147 Increase1 Steady1st 616,212 46.3% Minority gov't (supported by Ind) Éamon de Valera
1954 65 / 147 Decrease4 Steady1st 578,960 43.4% Opposition Éamon de Valera
1957 78 / 147 Increase13 Steady1st 592,994 48.3% Majority gov't Éamon de Valera
1961 70 / 144 Decrease8 Steady1st 512,073 43.8% Minority gov't (supported by Ind) Seán Lemass
1965 72 / 144 Increase2 Steady1st 597,414 47.7% Majority gov't Seán Lemass
1969 75 / 144 Increase3 Steady1st 602,234 45.7% Majority gov't Jack Lynch
1973 69 / 144 Decrease6 Steady1st 624,528 46.2% Opposition Jack Lynch
1977 84 / 148 Increase15 Steady1st 811,615 50.6% Majority gov't Jack Lynch
1981 78 / 166 Decrease6 Steady1st 777,616 45.3% Opposition Charles Haughey
1982 (Feb) 81 / 166 Increase3 Steady1st 786,951 47.3% Minority gov't (supported by SFTWP and Ind) Charles Haughey
1982 (Nov) 75 / 166 Decrease6 Steady1st 763,313 45.2% Opposition Charles Haughey
1987 81 / 166 Increase6 Steady1st 784,547 44.1% Minority gov't (supported by Ind) Charles Haughey
1989 77 / 166 Decrease4 Steady1st 731,472 44.1% Coalition (FF-PD) Charles Haughey
1992 68 / 166 Decrease9 Steady1st 674,650 39.1% Coalition (FF-LP) Albert Reynolds
Opposition (from December 1994)
1997 77 / 166 Increase9 Steady1st 703,682 39.3% Coalition (FF-PD) Bertie Ahern
2002 81 / 166 Increase4 Steady1st 770,748 41.5% Coalition (FF-PD) Bertie Ahern
2007 77 / 166 Decrease4 Steady1st 858,565 41.6% Coalition (FF-GP-PD) Bertie Ahern
2011 20 / 166 Decrease57 Decrease3rd 387,358 17.5% Opposition Micheál Martin
2016 44 / 158 Increase23 Increase2nd 519,356 24.3% Opposition (supporting a minority FG gov't) Micheál Martin

Front bench

Main article: Fianna Fáil Front Bench

Dáil Éireann

See also: Dáil Éireann and Members of the 32nd Dáil
Portfolio Name
Leader of Fianna Fáil
Leader of the Opposition
Micheál Martin
Opposition Chief Whip Michael Moynihan
Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue
Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Niamh Smyth
Children and Youth Affairs Anne Rabbitte
Communications, Climate Action and Environment Timmy Dooley
Defence Lisa Chambers
Disability Margaret Murphy O'Mahony
Dublin John Lahart
Education and Skills Thomas Byrne
Housing, Planning and Local Government Barry Cowen
Finance Michael McGrath
Foreign Affairs and Trade Darragh O'Brien
Health Billy Kelleher
Rural and Community Development Éamon Ó Cuív
Business, Enterprise and Innovation Niall Collins
Justice and Equality Jim O'Callaghan
Mental Health James Browne
Public Expenditure and Reform Dara Calleary
Employment Affairs and Social Protection Willie O'Dea
Transport, Tourism and Sport Robert Troy

Seanad Éireann

See also: Seanad Éireann and Members of the 25th Seanad
Portfolio Name
Seanad Group Leader
Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Catherine Ardagh
Seanad Deputy Group Leader
Foreign Affairs, Irish Overseas and the Diaspora
Mark Daly
Agriculture, Food and the Marine Paul Daly
Business, Enterprise and Innovation Aidan Davitt
Rural and Community Development Brian Ó Domhnaill
Education Robbie Gallagher
Finance Gerry Horkan
Justice, Children and Youth Affairs Lorraine Clifford-Lee
Communications, Climate Action and Environment Terry Leyden
Housing, Planning and Local Government Jennifer Murnane-O'Connor
Without portfolio Denis O'Donovan
Health and Mental Health Ned O'Sullivan
Transport, Tourism and Sport Keith Swanick
Public Expenditure and Reform and Defence Ned O'Sullivan

Ógra Fianna Fáil

Main article: Ógra Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil's youth wing is called Ógra Fianna Fáil. Formed in 1975, it plays an active role in recruiting new members and supporting election campaigns. Ógra also plays an important role in the party organisation where it has five representatives on the Ard Chomhairle (National Executive).

Senator Thomas Byrne was the last nominated head or Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) of Ógra Fianna Fáil, before the youth wing introduced widespread oganisational reform following the heavy electoral defeat suffered by the whole party in 2011.

Fianna Fáil and Northern Ireland politics

On 17 September 2007 Fianna Fáil announced that the party would, for the first time, organise in Northern Ireland.

The then Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern was asked to chair a committee on the matter: "In the period ahead Dermot Ahern will lead efforts to develop that strategy for carrying through this policy, examining timescales and structures. We will act gradually and strategically. We are under no illusions. It will not be easy. It will challenge us all. But I am confident we will succeed".

The party embarked on its first ever recruitment drive north of the border in September 2007 in northern universities, and established two 'Political Societies', the William Drennan Cumann in Queens University, Belfast, and the Watty Graham Cumann in UU Magee, Derry, which subsequently became official units of Fianna Fáil's youth wing, attaining full membership and voting rights, and attained official voting delegates at the 2012 Árd Fheis.

Bertie Ahern announced on 7 December 2007 that Fianna Fáil had been registered in Northern Ireland by the UK Electoral Commission. The Party's Ard Fheis in 2009 unanimously passed a motion to organise in Northern Ireland by establishing forums, rather than cumainn, in each of the North's six counties. In December 2009, Fianna Fáil secured its first Northern Assembly MLA when Gerry McHugh, an independent MLA, announced he had joined the party. Mr. McHugh confirmed that although he had joined the party, he would continue to sit as an independent MLA. In June 2010, Fianna Fáil opened its first official office in the North in Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The then Taoiseach Brian Cowen officially opened the office, accompanied by Ministers Éamon Ó Cuív and Dermot Ahern and Deputies Rory O’Hanlon and Margaret Conlon. Discussing the party's slow development towards all-Ireland politics, Mr. Cowen observed: "We have a very open and pragmatic approach. We are a constitutional republican party and we make no secret of the aspirations on which this party was founded. It has always been very clear in our mind what it is we are seeking to achieve, that is to reconcile this country and not being prisoners of our past history. To be part of a generation that will build a new Ireland, an Ireland of which we can all be proud".

There has been speculation about an eventual merger with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), formerly the main Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland, but now smaller than Sinn Féin. This has been met with a negative reaction with former Deputy Leader of the SDLP, Seamus Mallon, stating he would be opposed to any such merger. The former leader of the SDLP, Margaret Ritchie, has also stated publicly that she opposes any merger famously announcing to the Labour Party Conference that such a merger would not happen on her "watch". At the 2010 Irish Labour Party conference she further criticised Fianna Fáil's record in government and also the National Asset Management Agency On 23 February 2008, it was announced that a former UUP councillor, Colonel Harvey Bicker, had joined Fianna Fáil.

Fianna Fáil has registered with the UK Electoral Commission and is a recognised party in Northern Ireland. However, it has not contested any elections in Northern Ireland. At the party's 2014 Ard Fheis, a motion was passed without debate to stand candidates for election north of the border for the first time in 2019.

On 13 November 2015 Ógra Fianna Fáil for the first time ever held their National Youth Conference in Northern Ireland, in Newry.

In 2017, Omagh councillor Sorcha McAnespy said she wished to run in the 2019 Northern Ireland local government election in the constituency under a Fianna Fáil ticket.. In October 2017 she was elected as northern representative on the party's national executive, the "committee of 15".

In European institutions

In the European Parliament from 1999 to 2009, Fianna Fáil was a leading member of Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN), a small national-conservative and Eurosceptic parliamentary group. European political commentators had often noted substantive ideological differences between the party and its colleagues, whose strongly conservative stances had at times prompted domestic criticism of Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil MEPs had been an attached to the European Progressive Democrats (1973–1984), European Democratic Alliance (1984–1995), and Union for Europe (1995–1999) groups before the creation of UEN.

Party headquarters, over the objections of some MEPs, had made several attempts to sever the party's links to the European right, including an aborted 2004 agreement to join the European Liberal Democrat and Reform (ELDR) Party, with whom it already sat in the Council of Europe under the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) banner. On 27 February 2009, Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced that Fianna Fáil proposed to join the ELDR Party and intended to sit with them in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group in the European Parliament after the 2009 European elections. The change was made official on 17 April 2009, when FF joined the ELDR Party.

In October 2009, it was reported that Fianna Fáil had irritated its new Liberal colleagues by failing to vote for the motion on press freedom in Italy (resulting in its defeat by a majority of one in the Parliament) and by trying to scupper their party colleagues' initiative for gay rights. In January 2010, a report by academic experts writing for the votewatch.eu site found that FF "do not seem to toe the political line" of the ALDE Group "when it comes to budget and civil liberties" issues.

In the 2014 European elections, Fianna Fáil received 22.3% of first-preference votes but only returned a single MEP, a reduction in representation of two MEPs from the previous term. This was due to a combination of the party's vote further dropping in Dublin and a two candidate strategy in the Midlands North West constituency, which backfired, resulting in sitting MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher losing his seat. On 23 June 2014, returning MEP Brian Crowley announced that he intended to sit with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) rather than the ALDE group during the upcoming 8th term of the European parliament. The following day on 24 June 2014 Crowley had the Fianna Fáil party whip withdrawn. He has since been re-added to Fianna Fáil's website.

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Joe Ambrose (2006) Dan Breen and the IRA, Douglas Village, Cork : Mercier Press, 223 p., ISBN 1-85635-506-3
  • Bruce Arnold (2001) Jack Lynch: Hero in Crisis, Dublin : Merlin, 250p. ISBN 1-903582-06-7
  • Tim Pat Coogan (1993) De Valera : long fellow, long shadow, London : Hutchinson, 772 p., ISBN 0-09-175030-X
  • Joe Joyce and Peter Murtagh (1983) The Boss: Charles J. Haughey in government, Swords, Dublin : Poolbeg Press, 400 p., ISBN 0-905169-69-7
  • F.S.L. Lyons (1985) Ireland Since the Famine, 2nd rev. ed., London : FontanaPress, 800 p., ISBN 0-00-686005-2
  • Dorothy McCardle (1968) The Irish Republic. A documented chronicle of the Anglo-Irish conflict and the partitioning of Ireland, with a detailed account of the period 1916–1923, etc., 989 p., ISBN 0-552-07862-X
  • Donnacha Ó Beacháin (2010) Destiny of the Soldiers: Fianna Fáil, Irish Republicanism and the IRA, 1926-1973, Gill and Macmillan, 540 p., ISBN 0-71714-763-0
  • T. Ryle Dwyer (2001) Nice fellow : a biography of Jack Lynch, Cork : Mercier Press, 416 p., ISBN 1-85635-368-0
  • T. Ryle Dwyer (1999) Short fellow : a biography of Charles J. Haughey, Dublin : Marino, 477 p., ISBN 1-86023-100-4
  • T. Ryle Dwyer, (1997) Fallen Idol : Haughey's controversial career, Cork : Mercier Press, 191 p., ISBN 1-85635-202-1
  • Raymond Smith (1986) Haughey and O'Malley : The quest for power, Dublin : Aherlow, 295 p., ISBN 1-870138-00-7
  • Tim Ryan (1994) Albert Reynolds : the Longford leader : the unauthorised biography, Dublin : Blackwater Press, 226 p., ISBN 0-86121-549-4
  • Dick Walsh (1986) The Party: Inside Fianna Fáil, Dublin : Gill & Macmillan, 161 p., ISBN 0-7171-1446-5

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