Fine Gael

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Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party, shortened to Fine Gael (meaning Family or Tribe of the Irish, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. It claims a membership of 30,000, and is the largest opposition party in the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament. Fine Gael was founded in 1933 following the merger of its parent party Cumann na nGaedhael, the Centre Party and the Army Comrades Association, popularly known as the "Blueshirts". Its origins lie in the struggle for Irish independence and the pro-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War, identifying in particular Michael Collins as the founder of the movement.

Modern Fine Gael describes itself as a party of the progressive centre, with core values focussed on fiscal rectitude, individual rights and responsibilities and free enterprise. They are strongly pro-EU integration and opposed to violent Irish republicanism. Fine Gael is Ireland's only party in the European People's Party (EPP); its MEPs sit in the EPP-ED group. The party's youth wing, Young Fine Gael, was formed in 1977 and has approximately four thousand members.

The current party leader is Enda Kenny. He was elected by a secret ballot of the parliamentary party on 5 June 2002.

History

Following the rise in support for Éamon de Valera's anti-Treaty Fianna Fáil party in the mid-1920s, a new strategy was felt necessary to bolster the pro-Treaty factions which found themselves in opposition. As a result of the Army Comrades Association's defence of Cumann na nGaedhael from republican intimidation Fine Gael was formed through a merger of the ACA, Cumann na nGaedhael and the Centre Party on 3 September 1933. Fine Gael candidates were elected to only thirty-one seats in the 1948 general election, however Fianna Fáil's failure to achieve an overall majority led to the creation of the first Inter-Party Government, made up of an alliance of anti-Fianna Fáil parties, which served between 1948 and 1951. Fine Gael's leader at the time, Richard Mulcahy, was considered too controversial among members of Clann na Poblachta to be Taoiseach due to his role as Chief-of-Staff to the Irish Army in the execution of republicans during the Irish Civil War. Instead, John A. Costello, a compromise candidate, served as head of the government. Costello also headed the second Inter-Party Government which served between 1954 and 1957. Liam Cosgrave, Minister for External Affairs in the coalition negotiated Ireland's entry into the United Nations in 1955. In 1957, de Valera and Fianna Fáil were returned to power and Fine Gael returned to opposition. During its period in opposition, the party's Just Society policy statement came into being. These policies came from the emerging social democratic wing of the party. In 1966, Fine Gael candidate Tom O'Higgins came within one percent of defeating incumbent Éamon de Valera in the presidential election. As events in Northern Ireland spiralled out of control in the late 1960s, new party leader Liam Cosgrave sought to focus the party's view on its role as protector of the state's institutions, and to neutralise feuding between the party leadership and the centre-left branch of the party.

Fine Gael was returned to government in a National Coalition with the Labour Party in 1973. The coalition was beset by problems from the start, including the oil crisis and escalating violence in Northern Ireland. The resignation of President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh in 1976 after a confrontation with Minister for Defence Paddy Donegan was also a blow to the credibility of the coalition. In 1977, Fianna Fáil under Jack Lynch won an unprecedented twenty-seat majority in the Dáil, and returned to government. Cosgrave resigned the leadership and was replaced by Garret FitzGerald. FitzGerald became Fine Gael's third Taoiseach, again in a short-lived coalition with Labour between 1981 and February 1982. FitzGerald revived Fine Gael's fortunes to the point where they were five seats behind Fianna Fáil following the November 1982 general election. The party returned to government with Labour. FitzGerald negotiated the Anglo-Irish Agreement with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985. However, the government struggled to control high unemployment and emigration, and was heavily defeated by Fianna Fáil under Charles Haughey in 1987.

FitzGerald was replaced as leader by Alan Dukes, who spearheaded the Tallaght Strategy, under which Fine Gael would not oppose economic measures put forward by the minority Fianna Fáil government in the national interest. The strategy was an electoral disappointment, and the party gained four seats in the 1989 general election. Dukes resigned the leadership after Fine Gael's Austin Currie finished a distant third behind Mary Robinson and Brian Lenihan in the 1990 presidential election. He was replaced by John Bruton. As Fianna Fáil had abandoned its core policy of not going into coalition following the 1989 election, Fine Gael found itself in opposition to a Fianna Fáil-Labour government following the general election in 1992. The government collapsed in 1994, allowing Bruton to become Taoiseach in a Fine Gael-Labour-Democratic Left Rainbow Coalition. The three government parties ran on a united platform in the 1997 election, and Fine Gael gained nine seats. Labour lost heavily however, and Fianna Fáil led by Bertie Ahern came to power in a coalition with the Progressive Democrats. Bruton was replaced as leader in 2001 by Michael Noonan, who led the party into its worst-ever general election in 2002; the party lost twenty-three seats, including those of deputy-leader Jim Mitchell and former leader Alan Dukes. Noonan resigned as leader as the results of the election were being tallied, and was replaced in a subsequent leadership election by Enda Kenny.

Policies

Although Ireland's political spectrum is divided along Civil War lines, rather than the traditional European left-right split, Fine Gael describes itself as a Christian democratic party, with a focus on law and order. As the descendent of the pro-Treaty factions in the Irish Civil War, Fine Gael has a strong affinity with Michael Collins. He remains a symbol for the party, and his anniversary is celebrated each year on 22 August. Fine Gael has, since its inception, been a party of fiscal rectitude, advocating pro-enterprise policies. The party is a member of the Centrist Democrat International and sits with the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament.

Fine Gael is among the most pro-European integration parties in the Republic of Ireland, having supported the failed European Constitution and advocating participation in European common defence. Under Enda Kenny the party has opposed Irish neutrality, with Kenny claiming that "the truth is, Ireland is not neutral. We are merely unaligned." Under Kenny the party has also strongly opposed the perceived "rip-off" society that has developed in Ireland, advocating reform of stealth taxes and stamp duty.

Alliance with the Labour Party

Following the unveiling of the Mullingar Accord, an election pact agreed after the local and European elections in 2004, Fine Gael and the Labour Party increasingly co-operated in the build-up to the 2007 general election, agreeing a vote-transfer pact and plan to go into government together provided the parties had the required number of seats. The pact was overwhelming endorsed by Labour members at the party's conference in Tralee in May 2005. Fine Gael director of elections Frank Flannery claimed that the agreement, coupled with the party's strong performance in pre-election opinion polls, could lead to a gain of twenty-eight seats in the election. The party gained a total of twenty seats in the election on 24 May 2007, giving the "Alliance for Change" a total of seventy-one seats (seventy six including the Green Party as a potential partner), putting the coalition six seats behind Fianna Fáil. On the first day of the new Dáil, on 14 June 2007, Enda Kenny was nominated for Taoiseach by Fine Gael deputy-leader Richard Bruton and then-Labour leader Pat Rabbitte. He was defeated by incumbent Bertie Ahern and a coalition of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, the Progressive Democrats and a group of Independents by eighty-nine votes to seventy-six.

Leadership and deputy-leadership

Mayo TD Enda Kenny was elected leader of Fine Gael in a secret ballot of the parliamentary party on 5 June 2002. Kenny defeated Richard Bruton, Phil Hogan and Gay Mitchell in the leadership election, which was triggered by the resignation of Michael Noonan following the 2002 general election. The current deputy-leader of the party is Dublin North Central TD and party Finance spokesperson Richard Bruton. He was preceded as deputy leader by Jim Mitchell.

List of party leaders

Leader	Period	Constituency
Eoin O'Duffy	1933–34	None
W. T. Cosgrave	1934–44	Carlow-Kilkenny
Richard Mulcahy	1944–59	Tipperary
James Dillon	1959–65	Monaghan
Liam Cosgrave	1965–77	Dún Laoghaire
Garret FitzGerald	1977–87	Dublin South East
Alan Dukes	1987–90	Kildare South
John Bruton	1990–2001	Meath
Michael Noonan	2001–02	Limerick East
Enda Kenny	2002—	Mayo

Electoral performance

In the 2007 general election, Fine Gael gained twenty seats bringing them to a total of fifty-one. The party ran candidates in all forty-three constituencies, and had candidates elected in every constituency except Dublin Central, Dublin Mid West, Dublin North West and Kildare South. In local elections held on 11 June 2004, Fine Gael won 293 seats, an increase of sixteen on 1999, bringing the party within nine seats of Fianna Fáil nationally. In European elections held on the same day, the party won five seats, becoming the most represented Irish party in the European Parliament. Fine Gael won fourteen seats in Seanad Éireann following elections in 2007, a loss of one from the previous election in 2002. With the exception of Douglas Hyde (nominated by Fine Gael), a Fine Gael candidate has never been elected to the office of President of Ireland. The most recent Fine Gael presidential candidate, Mary Banotti, finished second in the 1997 election. In 2004, Fine Gael supported the re-election of President Mary McAleese.

General election results

Year	Dáil	No. of seats	% of vote
1937	9th	48	34.8
1938	10th	45	33.3
1943	11th	32	23.1
1944	12th	30	21.8
1948	13th	31	19.8
1951	14th	40	25.7
1943	15th	50	32.0
1957	16th	40	26.6
1961	17th	47	32.0
1965	18th	47	33.9
1969	19th	50	33.3
1973	20th	54	35.1
1977	21st	43	30.6
1981	22nd	65	39.2
1982 (Feb)	23rd	63	37.3
1982 (Nov)	24th	70	39.2
1987	25th	50	27.1
1989	26th	55	29.3
1992	27th	45	24.5
1997	28th	54	27.9
2002	29th	31	22.5
2007	30th	51	27.3

Front bench

Portfolio	Spokesperson
Leader of the Opposition Northern Ireland	Enda Kenny	2002—
Deputy-Leader of the Opposition Finance	Richard Bruton	2002—
Justice & Law Reform	Charles Flanagan	2007—
Foreign Affairs	Billy Timmins	2007—
Enterprise, Trade & Employment	Leo Varadkar	2007—
Health & Children	Dr. James Reilly	2007—
Environment, Heritage & Local Government	Phil Hogan	2007—
Arts, Sport & Tourism	Olivia Mitchell	2007—
Social, Family Affairs & Equality	Olwyn Enright	2007—
Transport & the Marine	Fergus O'Dowd	2007—
Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs	Michael Ring	2007—
Agriculture & Food	Michael Creed	2007—
Education & Science	Brian Hayes	2007—
Defence	Jimmy Deenihan	2007—
Immigration and Integration	Denis Naughten	2007—
Children	Alan Shatter	2007—
Communications & Natural Resources	Simon Coveney	2007—
Chief Whip	Paul Kehoe	2007—

See also

• List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links

• Official website
• Young Fine Gael

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