History of Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil was founded on 23 March 1926 when a group of Dáil deputies led by Éamon de Valera[1] split from the original Sinn Féin.
This happened because de Valera's motion calling for elected members be allowed to take their seats in the Dáil, if and when the controversial Oath of Allegiance was removed, failed to pass at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis.
However the assassination of the Cumann na nGaedheal Minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, led the then government to introduce a new bill, requiring all candidates to swear that they would take the oath if elected.
The ban on the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was lifted, the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown was abolished and the office of Governor-General was greatly demoted.
[15] This "tit for tat" policy was disastrous for the Irish economy with the impact of the Great Depression compounding the difficulties, removing the outlet of emigration from Ireland and reducing remittances from abroad.
[16][17][18] The government urged people to support the confrontation with Britain as a national hardship to be shared by every citizen and it would last until 1938 when the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Agreement was signed.
Controversially,[20] de Valera formally offered his condolences to the German Minister in Dublin on the death of Adolf Hitler in 1945, in accordance with diplomatic protocol.
[21] After de Valera had spent sixteen years in power—without answering the crucial questions of partition and republican status—the public demanded a change from Fianna Fáil government.
[23] He won the presidential election on 17 June 1959 and resigned as Taoiseach, leader of Fianna Fáil and TD for Clare six days later, handing over power to Seán Lemass.
Tom Garvin, professor emeritus of politics at University College Dublin, has argued that Lemass suggested and enabled protectionism from 1932, and then was unduly credited when he chose to revert to a free trade policy after 1960.
At the height of the violence he made a famous speech on RTÉ saying that the Irish "government could no longer stand by and watch innocent people be injured or perhaps worse".
The following year (1970) Lynch discovered that two government ministers, Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney, had apparently become involved in a plot to import arms for use by the Provisional IRA.
The reasons for its big victory were the populist economic policies it put forward, the dissatisfaction with the Coalition, the huge popularity of Lynch as leader, and the attempted gerrymander of many constituencies by Minister Tully.
Despite his career nearly being destroyed by the Arms Crisis in 1970, Charles Haughey was elected the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil and subsequently Taoiseach, replacing Jack Lynch in both positions.
A third of Ireland's workforce were employed by in public service jobs by the 1980s; this promoted Haughey to make a ministerial broadcast on Raidió Teilifís Éireann in 1980 addressing the current state the nation was in.
[31] Job creation and economic growth were not meeting targets set by the Department of Finance and a trade deficit of 760 million Irish pounds was recorded.
This failure to rein in government spending and bring the economy back to positive growth led to Fianna Fáil being defeated at the 1981 general election and receiving its worst result in 20 years.
However, the report said pressurising a businessman to donate money when he was seeking support for a commercial project was "entirely inappropriate, and was an abuse of political power and government authority".
The election of Tony Blair in Britain gave renewed hope of an agreement for peace in Northern Ireland, an issue that has traditionally always been an aspiration of Irish Governments.
In the 2004 local elections saw Fianna Fáil's share of the vote drop by seven percentage points from its 1999 result to only 32% on a 60% turnout[44] losing 20% of its council seats.
[47] In response to this, some shifts in policy and a cabinet reshuffle took place in September 2004, including Charlie McCreevy's resignation as Finance minister to join the European Commission.
[48] In November 2004, on the 10th anniversary next week of his election as Fianna Fáil leader, Ahern famously kept a straight face when called himself 'one of the few socialists left' despite a common perception that the FF/PD Government of over 7 years at that stage represented a considerable shift to the right.
After the election Fianna Fáil entered into a coalition with the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats, while also being supported three Independent TD's Michael Lowry, Jackie Healy-Rae and Finian McGrath.
[38] Following the 2008 leadership election, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen succeeded Ahern as leader of Fianna Fáil on 6 May 2008 and was appointed Taoiseach on 7 May 2008.
[52] The controversial emergency budget of October 2008 delivered by Brian Lenihan Jnr, caused major upset amongst pensioners for removing the automatic medical card for over 70 year olds [53] the decision had to be revised initially twice within a week of delivery to attempt to defuse back bench revolt.
Still however the removal of the universal nature of the medical card was seen as contradicting the long term party policy, which had in the past introduced free bus pass for pensioners, and subsidised Television Licences and Telephone lines.
In 2010, Minister of Defense Willie O'Dea was forced to resign in an affidavit scandal involving the smearing of a political opponent, in what the Evening Herald described as "two absolutely calamitous weeks".
The Green Party, the junior coalition partner, effectively withdrew their support for the government and demanded a general election be held in the early part of the new year.
[61] Following the botched reshuffle, rebellion within his own party, and an acknowledged public relations disaster,[62] Cowen announced his resignation as leader of Fianna Fáil on 22 January 2011.
[38] There were four candidates in the election for the party's eighth leader: Micheál Martin, Brian Lenihan, Mary Hanafin and Éamon Ó Cuív.
