Editing Fine Gael (section)

===Finding success with coalitions with Labour===
[[File:Garret FitzGerald 1975 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Garret FitzGerald]] is credited as having had a liberalising effect on the party in the 1980s]]
Fine Gael remained out of government and at a low ebb for a prolonged period until the aftermath of the [[1948 Irish general election|1948 general election]], which saw the party form a grand coalition with several other parties in order to oust Fianna Fáil and place Fine Gael member [[John A. Costello]] as Taoiseach. The coalition was short-lived but revived again between 1954 and 1957. However, following this stint Fine Gael returned to opposition for 16 years. The party went through a period of soul-searching during the 1960s, in which a new generation of Fine Gael politicians led by [[Declan Costello]] sought to revitalise Fine Gael with new ideas. In what has later been hailed as a landmark moment in Fine Gael history, Costello proposed moving the party to the left in a [[social democratic]] direction with a document entitled "Towards a Just Society". The document was adopted as the basis for the party's manifesto for the [[1965 Irish general election|1965 general election]]; however, when the party failed to make headway at the polls the momentum behind the Just Society document wilted and faded.<ref name="Titans">{{cite news |last=Byrne |first=Elaine |date=15 November 2008 |title=Titans of political history reflect on Fine Gael's role |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/titans-of-political-history-reflect-on-fine-gael-s-role-1.910576 |work=[[Irish Times]] |location= |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="DIB Declan">{{cite web |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/costello-david-declan-a10016 |title=Costello, (David) Declan |last=Clavin |first=Terry |date= June 2018 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |publisher= |access-date=7 January 2022 |quote=}}</ref><ref name="Meehan Examiner">{{cite news |last=Meehan |first=Ciara |date=11 June 2014 |title=Policy changes conceived in Costello's 'Just Society' |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-20271623.html |work=[[Irish Examiner]] |location= |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref>

It was not until leader [[Liam Cosgrave]] secured an election pact with the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] that Fine Gael returned to government in 1973. This period also saw Fine Gael becoming increasingly liberal in ethos, particularly under the leadership of [[Garret FitzGerald]] who took the reins of the party in 1977;<ref name="Britannica"/> It was during this time that Fine Gael campaigned in a number of referendums: the party supported Irish entry into the [[European Economic Community]], supported lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, and supported a proposal to remove the "special position" of the Roman Catholic Church from the constitution. It was on the successful side in all three of these campaigns. The party also began to take a more liberal approach to the introduction of [[contraceptives]] to Ireland, although an attempt by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition to legalise contraceptives in 1974 stumbled after six members of Fine Gael, most prominently Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, voted against the government's own bill.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 July 1974 |title=Access to Contraceptives Denied, 1974 |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2014/0717/631329-contraceptive-bill-defeated/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909165848/https://www.rte.ie/archives/2014/0717/631329-contraceptive-bill-defeated/ |archive-date=9 September 2021 |access-date=9 September 2021 |work=RTÉ News |via=RTÉ Archives}}</ref>

The arrangement between Fine Gael and Labour proved pleasing to both parties and their election pacts remained throughout the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s, seeing the pair enter government a number of times together.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fine-Gael |title=Fine Gael |last=Marsh |first=Michael |date= |website= |publisher=[[Britannica]] |access-date=29 January 2021 |quote= |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418034250/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fine-Gael |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1985, Fine Gael/Labour voted to liberalise access to contraceptives.<ref name="FitzGerald’s positive impact">{{cite news |last=McConnell |first=Daniel |date=3 July 2021 |title=Garret FitzGerald's positive impact is one worth recalling |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-40327691.html |work=[[Irish Examiner]] |location= |access-date=9 September 2021 |archive-date=9 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909165848/https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-40327691.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  That same year FitzGerald signed the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]] with [[Margaret Thatcher]], paving the way to devolved government in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name="FitzGerald’s positive impact"/> In 1986 the party campaigned for a Yes in that year's [[Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1986|referendum on legalising divorce]], which was defeated, with the No side obtaining 63.5% of the vote.<ref name="FitzGerald’s positive impact"/>