Editing Garret FitzGerald (section)

== Leadership of Fine Gael ==
In 1977, the [[National Coalition (Ireland)|National Coalition]] of Fine Gael and Labour suffered a disastrous electoral defeat in the [[1977 Irish general election|general election]]. Liam Cosgrave resigned as party leader, and FitzGerald was chosen by acclamation to succeed him.<ref name="Independent-Obit">{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/dr-garret-fitzgerald-dies-in-a-dublin-hospital-aged-85-2651519.html|title=Dr Garret FitzGerald dies in a Dublin hospital aged 85|work=Irish Independent|date=19 May 2011|access-date=21 May 2011|archive-date=20 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520224439/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/dr-garret-fitzgerald-dies-in-a-dublin-hospital-aged-85-2651519.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In his new role as [[Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)|Leader of the Opposition]] and party leader, he set about modernising and revitalising Fine Gael. He immediately appointed a General-Secretary to oversee all of this, a tactic copied from Fianna Fáil. Under FitzGerald, Fine Gael experienced a rapid rise in support and popularity. After the November 1982 election, it held only five seats fewer than Fianna Fáil (the parties' closest-ever margin until 2011; at times Fianna Fáil was far larger, on one occasion well over twice as large), with Fine Gael in the [[Oireachtas]] (i.e. including the Seanad) larger than Fianna Fáil, which had been the dominant force in Irish politics for 40 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/26/fianna-fail-irish-general-election|title=Fianna Fáil trounced as Fine Gael and Labour set to form coalition|work=The Guardian|date=26 February 2011|access-date=21 May 2011|location=London|first=Henry|last=McDonald|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111110654/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/26/fianna-fail-irish-general-election|url-status=live}}</ref>