[17] However, by virtue of securing over 2% of the national vote, Renua received significant funding from the state, which allowed the party to continue to exist in a diminished form.

In 2013 Creighton defied the party whip on anti-abortion grounds to oppose the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

The forthcoming launch of a new political party was announced at a press conference on 2 January 2015 held by Creighton, Eddie Hobbs, a financial advisor and broadcaster, and John Leahy, an Independent member of Offaly County Council.

[22] Its elected representatives on its foundation were TDs Lucinda Creighton, Billy Timmins and Terence Flanagan, Senators Paul Bradford and Mary Ann O'Brien, and Councillors John Leahy (Offaly) and Ronan McMahon.

[34][35] Although the Irish abortion debate was what precipitated Creighton's defection from Fine Gael, the party initially stated that it was not taking a position on the issue and would allow members a free vote,[36] before later stating under Leahy's leadership that it was an anti-abortion party that will ask all representatives to oppose a repeal of the Eighth Amendment, which places the life of the unborn on an equal footing to the life of the mother.

[41][42] The main points of the manifesto included a flat personal tax rate of 23%,[43] and a three-strikes law that would require mandatory life sentences on a third conviction for serious crimes.

[44] The flat tax rate was criticised by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and described by Labour's Kevin Humphreys as "too right-wing for Donald Trump".

[45] At the 2016 general election, incumbent TDs Billy Timmins, Terence Flanagan, and party leader Lucinda Creighton all lost their seats, leaving Renua with no representation in the Dáil.

[46] Nevertheless, the party won over 2% of first-preference votes, which meant that it was entitled to €250,000 of annual state funding for the duration of the 32nd Dáil.

By December 2016, Councillors Patrick McKee and Keith Redmond had both resigned from the party, leaving its leader John Leahy, and Ronan McMahon, a member of South Dublin County Council, as its only elected representatives.

[55][56] Renua attracted controversy when its official Twitter account tweeted the view that the 1955 Rosa Parks incident, or Montgomery bus boycott, generally considered an important event in the civil rights movement, was "orchestrated as part of an ongoing campaign" and that Parks was a "trained activist".

[64] In November 2020, the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) announced that Renua were one of five political parties who failed to provide them with a set of audited accounts for 2019, in breach of statutory obligations.

[70] The party has stated that "we would be strongly against further integration of the EU, particularly with relation to taxation or military affairs, and believe strongly that the EU works best when member countries are recognised fully as sovereign countries coming voluntarily together to promote economic cooperation rather than as a stepping stone to a federal Europe.