Editing Fianna Fáil

{{Short description|Irish political party}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox political party
| country          = the Republic of Ireland
| country2         = Northern Ireland
| name             = Fianna Fáil&nbsp;– The Republican Party
| native_name      = Fianna Fáil&nbsp;– An Páirtí Poblachtánach
| native_name_lang = ga
| logo             = Fianna Fáil logo (2024).svg
| logo_size        = 220px
| leader1_title    = [[Leader of Fianna Fáil|Leader]]
| leader1_name     = [[Micheál Martin]]
| leader2_title    = Deputy leader
| leader2_name     = [[Jack Chambers (politician)|Jack Chambers]]
| leader3_title    = General Secretary
| leader3_name     = [[Seán Dorgan]]
| leader4_title    = Chairperson
| leader4_name     = [[Brendan Smith (politician)|Brendan Smith]]
| leader5_title    = Seanad leader
| leader5_name     = [[Fiona O'Loughlin (politician)|Fiona O'Loughlin]]
| founded          = {{start date and age|1926|5|16|df=y}}
| founder          = [[Éamon de Valera]]
| split            = [[Sinn Féin]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucd.ie/archives/html/collections/fiannafail.htm |title=Fianna Fail |website=UCD Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030910083611/http://www.ucd.ie/archives/html/collections/fiannafail.htm |archive-date=10 September 2003 |access-date=26 April 2021}}</ref>
| headquarters     = 65–66 [[Mount Street Lower]], [[Dublin]], Ireland
| ideology         = {{ublist|class = nowrap
 | [[Conservatism]]
 | [[Christian democracy]]{{refn|<ref name="Budge">{{cite book|last=Budge|first=Ian|author-link=Ian Budge|date=25 July 2008|chapter=Great Britain and Ireland: Variations in Party Government|editor-link=Josep Colomer|editor-last=Colomer|editor-first=Josep M.|title=Comparative European Politics|edition=3rd|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TZF8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 31]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-134-07354-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Dunphy|chapter=Ireland|editor=Donatella M. Viola|title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-50363-7|page=247|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226015850/https://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
 | [[Irish republicanism]]
}}
| position         = [[Centrism|Centre]] to [[Centre-right politics|centre-right]]
| youth_wing       = [[Ógra Fianna Fáil]]
| membership_year  = 2024
| membership       = {{decrease}} 15,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/join-fianna-fail/join-with-full-party-membership |title=Join Fianna Fáil |last= |first= |date=26 November 2024 |website=FiannaFail.ie |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>
| international    = [[Liberal International]]
| european         = [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party|Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]]{{cref|a}}
| europarl         = [[Renew Europe]]{{cref|b}}
| colours          = {{Color box|{{Political party data|color}}}} Green
| anthem           = "We'll Be There"<ref>{{cite book |first=Noel |last=Whelan |title=A History of Fianna Fáil: The outstanding biography of the party |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud_4AwAAQBAJ |access-date=1 June 2019 |year=2011 |publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd |isbn=978-0717147618 |page=219 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222013610/https://books.google.com/books?id=ud_4AwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><br /><div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">{{center|[[File:We'll Be There.ogg|140px|We'll Be There]]}}</div>
| website          = {{Political party data|website}}
| colorcode        = {{Political party data|color}}
| seats1_title     = [[Dáil Éireann]]
| seats1           = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-lower-house}} <!-- Values obtained from Wikidata; to edit, see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q216517 -->
| seats2_title     = [[Seanad Éireann]]
| seats2           = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-upper-house}} <!--  Values obtained from Wikidata; to edit, see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q216517 -->
| seats4_title     = [[European Parliament]]
| seats4           = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|EP}} <!-- Values obtained from Wikidata; to edit, see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q216517 -->
| seats5_title     = [[Political composition of local government in the Republic of Ireland|Councillors]]
| seats5           = {{Composition bar|246|949|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| footnotes        = {{cnote|a|previously a member of the [[Alliance for Europe of the Nations]] (2002–09)}}{{cnote|b|Member of the [[European Progressive Democrats|EPD group]] from 1973 to 1984, the [[European Democratic Alliance|EDA group]] from 1984 to 1995, the [[Union for Europe|UfE group]] from 1995 to 1999, the [[Union for Europe of the Nations|UEN group]] from 1999 to 2009, and the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group|ALDE group]] from 2009 to 2014.}}
| wing1            = Fianna Fáil LGBTQI+ Network<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/lgbtqi | title=LGBTQI+ Network }}</ref>
| wing1_title      = LGBT wing
}}

'''Fianna Fáil''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg|ˌ|f|iː|(|ə|)|n|ə|_|ˈ|f|ɔɪ|l|,_|-|ˈ|f|ɔː|l}} {{respell|FEE|(ə)|nə|_|FOYL|,_|-|FAWL}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fianna Fáil |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/fianna-fail_n?tl=true |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/fianna-fail|title=Fianna Fáil|work=[[Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]]|publisher=[[Longman]]|access-date=14 August 2019|archive-date=14 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814183823/https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/fianna-fail|url-status=live}}</ref> {{IPA|ga|ˌfʲiən̪ˠə ˈfˠaːlʲ|lang}}; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of [[Inis Fáil|Fál]]"),<ref>{{cite book |title=Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla |last=Ó Dónaill |first=Niall |publisher=[[An Gúm]] |year=1977 |isbn=978-1-85791-037-7 |editor=(advisory ed. Tomás de Bhaldraithe) |location=Dublin |pages=512, 540 |language=Irish}}</ref> officially '''Fianna Fáil&nbsp;– The Republican Party'''<ref name="BudgeRobertson1987">{{cite book |first1=Ian |last1=Budge |first2=David |last2=Robertson |first3=Derek |last3=Hearl |title=Ideology, Strategy and Party Change: Spatial Analyses of Post-War Election Programmes in 19 Democracies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I63z5nm0f94C&pg=PA137 |access-date=26 August 2012 |year=1987 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-30648-5 |page=137 |archive-date=9 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009074627/http://books.google.com/books?id=I63z5nm0f94C&pg=PA137 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/ |title=About Fianna Fáil |access-date=26 January 2016 |publisher=Fianna Fáil |quote=The party's name incorporates the words 'The Republican Party' in its title. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114050821/https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/ |archive-date=14 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ({{langx|ga|Fianna Fáil&nbsp;– An Páirtí Poblachtánach}}),<ref name="Banchoff1999_127">{{cite book |author=T. Banchoff |title=Legitimacy and the European Union |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgvLEFPY8l4C&pg=PA127 |access-date=26 August 2012 |year=1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-18188-4 |page=127 |archive-date=13 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313070914/https://books.google.com/books?id=GgvLEFPY8l4C |url-status=live }}</ref> is a [[Centrism|centre]] to [[Centre-right politics|centre-right]] [[List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland|political party]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. 

Founded as a [[Irish republicanism|republican]] party in 1926 by [[Éamon de Valera]] and his supporters after they split from [[Sinn Féin]] in order to take seats in the [[Oireachtas (Irish Free State)|Oireachtas]], which Sinn Féin refused to recognise,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/history-of-fianna-fail/ |title=History of Fianna Fáil |publisher=fiannafail.ie |access-date=3 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203312/https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/history-of-fianna-fail// |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> since 1927 Fianna Fáil has been one of Ireland's two major parties, along with [[Fine Gael]] since 1933; both are seen as centre-right parties, to the right of the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] and Sinn Féin. The party dominated Irish political life for most of the 20th century, and, since its foundation, either it or Fine Gael has led every government. Between 1932 and 2011, it was the largest party in [[Dáil Éireann]], but latterly with a decline in its vote share; from 1989 onwards, its periods of government were in coalition with parties of either the left or the right.

Fianna Fáil's vote collapsed in the [[2011 Irish general election|2011 general election]]; it ended in third place, in what was widely seen as a political realignment in the wake of the [[post-2008 Irish economic downturn]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://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|date=26 February 2011|website=the Guardian|access-date=1 June 2021|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623223305/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/26/fianna-fail-irish-general-election|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2016, it had recovered enough to become the largest opposition party,<ref>{{cite news|last=Boland|first=Vincent|date=7 April 2016|title=Ireland's main opposition party rejects coalition deal|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/be75a5bf-bd82-3b77-9b14-0ac31997301e|access-date=7 June 2017|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802205051/https://www.ft.com/content/be75a5bf-bd82-3b77-9b14-0ac31997301e|url-status=live}}</ref> and it entered a [[confidence and supply]] [[2016 Irish government formation|arrangement]] with a [[Government of the 32nd Dáil|Fine Gael–led minority government]].<ref>{{cite news|last=McDonald|first=Harry|date=28 February 2016|title=Fianna Fáil truce will allow Kenny to continue as taoiseach|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/28/fianna-fail-ceasefire-will-allow-kenny-to-continue-as-taoiseach|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802212020/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/28/fianna-fail-ceasefire-will-allow-kenny-to-continue-as-taoiseach|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, after a number of months of political stalemate following the [[2020 Irish general election|general election]], Fianna Fáil agreed with Fine Gael and the [[Green Party (Ireland)|Green Party]] to enter into an unprecedented coalition, with the leaders of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rotating between the roles of [[Taoiseach]] and [[Tánaiste]].

Fianna Fáil is a member of the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party|Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]],<ref>{{cite web|title=ALDE Party Members|url=https://www.aldeparty.eu/members/political-parties|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610223657/https://www.aldeparty.eu/members/political-parties|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 June 2017|publisher=Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe|access-date=4 June 2017}} </ref> and of [[Liberal International]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Full Members of Liberal International|url=http://www.liberal-international.org/site/Full_Members.html|publisher=Liberal International|access-date=4 June 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525043836/http://www.liberal-international.org/site/Full_Members.html|archive-date=25 May 2014}}</ref> From 2019 to 2022, Fianna Fáil was in partnership with the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/speech-of-fianna-fail-leader-micheal-martin-td-at-the-announcement-of-fianna-fail-sdlp-partnership-initiative/|title=Speech of Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin TD at the announcement of Fianna Fáil/SDLP Partnership Initiative|date=24 January 2019|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-date=18 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218180435/https://www.fiannafail.ie/speech-of-fianna-fail-leader-micheal-martin-td-at-the-announcement-of-fianna-fail-sdlp-partnership-initiative/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="end">{{cite news |last=Breen |first=Suzanne |title=SDLP ends three-year partnership with Fianna Fail as party examines poor Assembly election results |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sdlp-ends-three-year-partnership-with-fianna-fail-as-party-examines-poor-assembly-election-results-42025139.html |date=28 September 2022 |work=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Fianna Fáil}}
[[File:President De Valera and his Cabinet (Poster).jpg|thumb|left|1932 Fianna Fáil poster featuring many of the founding members of the party such as [[Éamon de Valera|de Valera]], [[Seán Lemass|Lemass]], [[Frank Aiken|Aiken]] and [[Gerald Boland|Boland]]]] 
[[File:Fianna Fáil logo circa 1970s, 1980s.png|thumb|left|Logo of Fianna Fáil in the 1970s and 1980s]]
Fianna Fáil was founded by [[Éamon de Valera]], a former leader of [[Sinn Féin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/features/devalera.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040208005923/http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/features/devalera.shtml|url-status=dead|title=Notable New Yorkers&nbsp;– Éamon de Valera|archive-date=8 February 2004}}</ref> The previous year, de Valera proposed a motion calling for elected members to be allowed to take their seats in [[Dáil Éireann]] if and when the controversial [[Oath of Allegiance (Ireland)|Oath of Allegiance]] was removed. It failed to pass at the Sinn Féin [[Ardfheis|Ard Fheis]], leading de Valera and a number of other members, including most of Sinn Féin's parliamentary talent, to split from Sinn Féin.<ref>''[[The Times]]'', Irish Republican Split. Search For Basis of Cooperation 13 March 1926</ref> His new party adopted its name on 2 April of the same year. While it was also opposed to the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty|Treaty settlement]], it rejected abstentionism, instead aiming to republicanise the [[Irish Free State]] from within. Fianna Fáil's platform of economic [[autarky]] had appeal among the farmers, working-class people and the poor, while alienating more affluent classes.<ref>[[Peter Mair]] and Liam Weeks, "The Party System," in ''Politics in the Republic of Ireland'', ed. John Coakley and Michael Gallagher, 4th ed. (New York: Routledge, 2004), p. 140</ref> It largely pre-empted voters of the aforementioned groups from the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] (with its almost identical economic and social policy) following its entry into the Dáil in 1927.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Allen|first=Kieran|url=|title=Fianna Fáil and Irish Labour: 1926 to the Present|publisher=Pluto Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-7453-0865-4|language=en}}</ref> Fianna Fáil would go on to style themselves for several decades as "the real Labour Party".<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Rouse|first1=Paul|url=|title=Making the Difference?: The Irish Labour Party 1912–2012|last2=Daly|first2=Paul|last3=O'Brien|first3=Ronan|date=2012-04-30|publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd|isbn=978-1-84889-970-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Downey|first=James|url=|title=Lenihan: His Life and Loyalties|publisher=New Island Books|year=1998|isbn=978-1-874597-34-6|location=Ireland|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Allen|first=Kieran|url=|title=Fianna Fail and the Irish Labour Movement 1926–1982: From Populism to Corporatism|publisher=Trinity College Dublin|year=1993|language=en}}</ref>

The split within Sinn Féin on the Anglo-Irish Treaty caused there to be pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty Sinn Féin running in the 1922 general election.There was a clear victory for the pro-Treaty Sinn Féin, which went on to form Cumann na nGaedheal. Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin competed in the subsequent 1923 election as 'Republicans'. The split between what would become Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael possibly has deeper roots than the Treaty, however, and reflects a deeper tension within Irish nationalism that was obvious throughout the 19th century. There was a difference between constitutional Irish nationalism and a more violent Gaelic nationalism, which in turn, according to genetic evidence, could be based on patterns of migration from as far back as the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Byrne |first=Kevin P. |last2=O'Malley |first2=Eoin |date=2012-11-01 |title=Politics with Hidden Bases: Unearthing the Deep Roots of Party Systems |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00478.x |journal=The British Journal of Politics and International Relations |language=EN |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=613–629 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00478.x |issn=1369-1481}}</ref> 

Cumann na nGaedheal sought to exploit the notion that Fianna Fáil was a party in thrall to communists. During the 1932 general election campaign, Cumann na nGaedheal declared in a newspaper advert that "the gunmen and Communists are voting for Fianna Fáil today – vote for the Government party." However, Fianna Fáil won the election,<ref>{{cite news|last=McGreevy|first=Ronan|title=Class warfare and shadowy gunmen: How the 2020 election echoes 1932|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/class-warfare-and-shadowy-gunmen-how-the-2020-election-echoes-1932-1.4163679|access-date=2021-11-23|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518122141/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/class-warfare-and-shadowy-gunmen-how-the-2020-election-echoes-1932-1.4163679|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The 'State will Perish': Comparing the Elections of 1932 and 2020 – The Irish Story|url=https://www.theirishstory.com/2020/02/12/the-state-will-perish-comparing-the-elections-of-1932-and-2020/#.YZ1-6i2l2Rs|access-date=2021-11-23|language=en-GB|archive-date=23 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123235812/https://www.theirishstory.com/2020/02/12/the-state-will-perish-comparing-the-elections-of-1932-and-2020/#.YZ1-6i2l2Rs|url-status=live}}</ref> forming its first government on 9 March 1932. It was in power for 61 of the 79 years between then and the election of 2011. Its longest continuous period in office was its first, 15 years and 11 months (March 1932&nbsp;– February 1948). Its longest single period out of office in the 20th century was four years and four months (March 1973&nbsp;– July 1977). All of the party's leaders have served as [[Taoiseach]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Leaders-of-Ireland-1935162|title=Leaders of Ireland|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731050515/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Leaders-of-Ireland-1935162|url-status=live}}</ref>

The party's most dominant era was the 41-year period between 1932 and 1973, when party leaders Éamon de Valera, [[Seán Lemass]] and [[Jack Lynch]] served as Taoiseach in an almost unbroken chain save for two three-year stints by [[John A. Costello]]. De Valera's reign is acknowledged for having successfully guided Ireland through World War II unscathed but is criticised for leaving Ireland in economic and cultural stagnation.<ref name="Ferriter, 2007">Ferriter, ''Judging Dev: A Reassessment of the Life and Legacy of Éamon de Valera'' (2007), {{ISBN|1-904890-28-8}}.</ref> His successors such as Lemass however were able to turn around Ireland's economic fortunes as well as primed the country for entry into the [[European Economic Community]], later the [[European Union]].<ref name="britannica"/>
[[File:Charles Haughey, 1990.jpg|thumb|left|Charles Haughey, party leader from 1979 to 1992.]]

Fianna Fáil's fortunes began to falter in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1970 the [[Arms Crisis]] threatened to split the entire party in two when Fianna Fáil cabinet ministers [[Charles Haughey]] and [[Neil Blaney]] were dismissed by Jack Lynch after being accused of seeking to provide arms to the newly emergent [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]].<ref>{{cite news  |title=All you need to know about the 1970 Arms Crisis  |url=https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0505/1136524-arms-crisis-debacle-1970-haughey-blaney-lynch/  |access-date=22 March 2021  |archive-date=18 March 2021  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318054518/https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0505/1136524-arms-crisis-debacle-1970-haughey-blaney-lynch/  |url-status=live  }}</ref> Factional infighting over Northern Ireland, economics and the "moral issues" such as the legalization of divorce, abortion, and contraception plagued the party in this era and grew particularly intense when Charles Haughey later became party leader.<ref name="britannica"/> Under Haughey, Fianna Fáil lost both the [[1981 Irish general election|1981 general election]] and [[November 1982 Irish general election|November 1982 general election]] to [[Garret FitzGerald]]'s Fine Gael during a particularly chaotic time in Ireland's political and economic history. Numerous failed internal attempts to oust Haughey as leader of the party culminated in the most significant split in the party's history when a large portion of the membership walked out to create the [[Progressive Democrats (Ireland)|Progressive Democrats]] in 1985, under the leadership of Haughey archrival [[Desmond O'Malley]].<ref name="britannica"/> Haughey was forced to resign as Taoiseach and party leader in 1992 following revelations about his role in [[Irish phone tapping scandal|a phone tapping scandal]].<ref>{{cite news |date=30 January 1992 |title=PDs Force Taoiseach's Resignation 1992 |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0126/847880-taoiseach-charles-haughey-to-resign/ |work=[[RTÉ]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413070205/https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0126/847880-taoiseach-charles-haughey-to-resign/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although the two parties had seemed poised to be bitter enemies owing to the personal conflicts between the memberships, from 1989 onwards Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats served repeatedly in coalition governments together, helping to stabilise Fianna Fáil. In 1994 Fianna Fáil came under the new leadership of Haughey protégé [[Bertie Ahern]], who also became Taoiseach in 1997. Under Ahern, Fianna Fáil was able to claim credit for helping to broker the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998 which began the peace process in Northern Ireland, as well the economic upswing caused by the [[Celtic Tiger]] which saw Ireland's economy boom during the 2000s.<ref name="britannica"/> However, this momentum came to a sharp and sudden halt following two events. Firstly, Ahern was forced to resign as Taoiseach and left the party in 2008 following revelations made in the [[Mahon Tribunal]] that Ahern had accepted money from property developers.<ref name="britannica"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Neild |first=Barry |date=2 April 2008 |title=Bertie Ahern resigns from Fianna Fáil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/24/bertie-ahern-resigns-fianna-fail |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=13 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113171011/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/24/bertie-ahern-resigns-fianna-fail |url-status=live }}</ref> Secondly, the party, which was still in government under a new leader and Taoiseach [[Brian Cowen]], was held responsible for the effects of the [[post-2008 Irish economic downturn]].<ref name=liquidate /> The party's popularity crashed: an opinion poll on 27 February 2009 indicated that only 10% of voters were satisfied with the Government's performance.<ref name="10% satisfied with Govt performance">{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0226/poll.html|title=10% satisfied with Govt performance|date=26 February 2009|access-date=26 February 2009|publisher=[[RTÉ]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090228055803/http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0226/poll.html| archive-date= 28 February 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>

In the [[2011 Irish general election|2011 general election]], it suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/recapturing-relevance-a-huge-challenge-for-ff-1.560434 |title=Recapturing relevance a huge challenge for FF |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=1 May 2011 |access-date=4 October 2015 |archive-date=5 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005055455/http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/recapturing-relevance-a-huge-challenge-for-ff-1.560434 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The National UAE">{{cite news |newspaper=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]] |url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/europe/irish-government-teeters-on-the-brink |title=Irish government teeters on the brink |first=Nuala |last=Haughey |date=23 November 2010 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-date=6 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106102622/http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/europe/irish-government-teeters-on-the-brink |url-status=live }}</ref> This loss was described as "historic" in its proportions<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0301/1224291075967.html |title=Recapturing relevance a huge challenge for FF |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=1 May 2011 |access-date=24 June 2013 |archive-date=3 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303053110/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0301/1224291075967.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and "unthinkable".<ref name=liquidate>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/angry-electorate-coldly-voted-to-liquidate-fianna-f%C3%A1il-1.583810 |title=Angry electorate coldly voted to liquidate Fianna Fáil |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=28 February 2011 |access-date=24 June 2013 |archive-date=5 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005222741/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/angry-electorate-coldly-voted-to-liquidate-fianna-f%C3%A1il-1.583810 |url-status=live }}</ref> The party sank from being the largest in the Dáil to the third-largest,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doEjDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA209|title=A Conservative Revolution?: Electoral Change in Twenty-first-century Ireland|first1=Michael Marsh (Ph|last1=D.)|first2=David M.|last2=Farrell|first3=Gail|last3=McElroy|date=6 September 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780198744030|access-date=6 September 2019|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521091306/https://books.google.com/books?id=doEjDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA209|url-status=live}}</ref> losing 58 of its 78 seats.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-apcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|title=Western Europe 2015–2016|first=Wayne C.|last=Thompson|date=13 August 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|via=Google Books|isbn=9781475818857|access-date=6 September 2019|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521091210/https://books.google.com/books?id=-apcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref> This broke 79 consecutive years of Fianna Fáil being the largest single party in the Dáil. That election took place with [[Micheál Martin]] as leader, as Cowen had resigned as party leader in January 2011, although retained his role as Taoiseach until the election.<ref>{{cite news |last=McGee |first=Harry |date=22 January 2011 |title=Cowen resigns as FF leader, but to remain as Taoiseach |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cowen-resigns-as-ff-leader-but-to-remain-as-taoiseach-1.870518 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=14 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314184228/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cowen-resigns-as-ff-leader-but-to-remain-as-taoiseach-1.870518 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cowen's premiership was sharply criticised in the media, with ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' describing Cowen's tenure as Taoiseach as "a dismal failure"<ref name=stepaside>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5537732.ece|title=Take control or step aside, Mr. Cowen|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|date=18 January 2009|access-date=26 April 2010|location=London|first=Ed|last=Hawkins|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226124713/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 2011 the ''[[Irish Independent]]'' calling Cowen the "worst Taoiseach in the history of the State."<ref name=worstweek>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-worst-week-for-the-worst-taoiseach-in-the-states-history-2507517.html |title=The worst week for the worst Taoiseach in the State's history |work=[[Irish Independent]] |date=23 January 2011 |access-date=23 January 2011 |archive-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801215500/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-worst-week-for-the-worst-taoiseach-in-the-states-history-2507517.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Since 2011===
[[File:Logo of the Fianna Fáil.svg|thumb|left|Party logo until 2024]]
Martin continued to lead Fianna Fáil past 2011; In the [[2016 Irish general election|2016 general election]] Martin's Fianna Fáil made a moderate recovery while Fine Gael retained control of the government as a [[minority government]], made possible by a [[confidence and supply]] agreement with Fianna Fáíl.<ref>{{cite news |last=McDonald |first=Henry |date=3 May 2016 |title=Ireland to have minority Fine Gael government after deal agreed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/03/ireland-to-have-minority-fine-gael-government-after-deal-agreed |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323200610/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/03/ireland-to-have-minority-fine-gael-government-after-deal-agreed |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018 the party was divided internally over how to handle that year's [[Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|referendum on the Eighth Amendment]], the provision in the Irish constitution which forbade [[abortion]]. A significant portion of both the parliamentary party and the ordinary membership favoured a No vote, which would keep abortion illegal for non–life-threatening pregnancies. Leader Micheál Martin signalled his own desire for a Yes vote,<ref>{{cite news |last=Finn |first=Christina |date=15 September 2018 |title=One year on: Advice given to FF on their abortion referendum position was ignored – but will they learn from it? |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/fianna-fail-abortion-referendum-2-4236367-Sep2018/ |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321001439/https://www.thejournal.ie/fianna-fail-abortion-referendum-2-4236367-Sep2018/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but was unable to bring the party under one stance, and ultimately more than half of Fianna Fáil's TDs campaigned for a No vote.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 May 2018 |title=Majority of Fianna Fail TDs gather to call on voters to say 'No' to repeal of 8th |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30840832.html |work=[[Irish Examiner]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |archive-date=13 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813003724/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30840832.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="l294">{{cite news | last=Bardon | first=Sarah | title=Photo shows extent of Fianna Fáil party backing for No vote | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=2018-05-03 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/photo-shows-extent-of-fianna-fail-party-backing-for-no-vote-1.3482017 | access-date=2024-10-10}}</ref> On polling day the Yes side won, 66% to 33%.

After the [[2020 Irish general election|2020 general election]], for the first time in history, Fianna Fáil entered into a coalition government with its traditional rival Fine Gael, as well as the [[Green Party (Ireland)|Green Party]], ending its longest period out of government since its formation. Under the agreement, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin served as [[Taoiseach]] for the first half of the parliamentary term.<ref>{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Rory |date=15 June 2020 |title=Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Greens agree deal to form Irish coalition |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/15/fine-gael-fianna-fail-and-greens-agree-deal-to-form-irish-coalition |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203032423/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/15/fine-gael-fianna-fail-and-greens-agree-deal-to-form-irish-coalition |url-status=live }}</ref> That same year a number of Fianna Fáil members were involved in the "[[Golfgate]]" scandal, an event that ultimately led to the resignation of Fianna Fáil deputy leader [[Dara Calleary]].<ref>{{cite news |date=24 August 2020 |title=Dara Calleary resigns as deputy leader of Fianna Fáíl |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40036886.html |work=Irish Examiner |access-date=24 August 2020 |archive-date=24 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824095159/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40036886.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2021 Fianna Fáil suffered what a number of sources suggested might have been the single worst result in its history when the party polled extremely poorly in the [[2021 Dublin Bay South by-election]].<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=ToghannEire |number=1413496729484206084 |title=We believe this *could* be Fianna Fáil's worst election result since their first election in 1927.}}</ref><ref name="Taoiseach not concerned">{{cite news |last=McGee |first=Harry |date=9 July 2021 |title=Taoiseach 'not concerned' for his leadership after FF byelection performance |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/taoiseach-not-concerned-for-his-leadership-after-ff-byelection-performance-1.4616259 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=9 July 2021 |quote=Fianna Fáil's worst-ever electoral performance has raised serious questions about the future leadership of Mr Martin, a number of its TDs have said..."I do believe we need to ask the real, tough questions and that includes the leadership", said one TD. "It is an appropriate question to ask now in the light of the worst election in the party's history." |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183605/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/taoiseach-not-concerned-for-his-leadership-after-ff-byelection-performance-1.4616259 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=9 July 2021 |title=Taoiseach is "not worried" about party leadership after Fianna Fail suffer worst ever election result |url=https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/taoiseach-not-worried-party-leadership-21017003 |access-date=9 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709170857/https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/taoiseach-not-worried-party-leadership-21017003 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Politico">{{cite news |last=Pogatchnik |first=Shawn |date=9 July 2021 |title=Housing crisis spurs opposition win in Irish by-election |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/ireland-bacik-dublin-bay-south-varadkar-fine-gael-fianna-fail-labour/ |work=[[politico.eu]] |access-date=9 July 2021 |archive-date=11 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711131238/https://www.politico.eu/article/ireland-bacik-dublin-bay-south-varadkar-fine-gael-fianna-fail-labour/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The result prompted [[Jim O'Callaghan]] and [[Cathal Crowe]] to question whether Martin should lead the party into its next general election.<ref>{{cite news |last=Duffy |first=Rónán |date=9 July 2021 |title=Ivana Bacik promises to be 'strong, progressive, woman's voice' as she's elected to the Dáil |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-bay-south-ivana-bacik-5490843-Jul2021/ |access-date=9 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709210301/https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-bay-south-ivana-bacik-5490843-Jul2021/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RTE Cowen">{{cite news |date=10 July 2021 |title=Cowen calls for FF party meeting to discuss by-election result |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2021/0710/1234305-fianna-fail/ |work=[[RTÉ News]] |access-date=10 July 2021 |archive-date=11 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711025357/https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2021/0710/1234305-fianna-fail/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2023, former leader Bertie Ahern rejoined the party, having left in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Connell |first=Hugh |date=8 February 2023 |title=Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern rejoins Fianna Fáil more than 10 years after quitting the party |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/former-taoiseach-bertie-ahern-rejoins-fianna-fail-more-than-10-years-after-quitting-the-party-42333638.html |work=[[Irish Independent]] |location= |access-date=}}</ref> Over the course of 2024, several sitting Fianna Fáil councillors and former party members left to join the right-wing [[Independent Ireland]] party.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coughlan |first1=Jack |last2=McCarron |first2=Mark |last3=McDonald|first3=Kate |date=1 June 2024 |title=Beyond the banner: who was elected for Independent Ireland? |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2024/0615/1454850-beyond-the-banner-who-was-elected-for-independent-ireland/ |work=[[RTÉ News]] |location= |access-date=10 November 2024}} </ref>

Following the [[2024 Irish general election]], Fianna Fáil became the largest party in the Dáil and led the creation of a government.

==Organisation and structure==
Fianna Fáil uses a structure called a cumann system. The basic unit was the ''[[cumann]]'' (branch); these were grouped into ''comhairlí ceantair'' (district branches) and a ''comhairle dáil ceantair'' (constituency branch) in every constituency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fianna-Fail|title=Fianna Fail {{!}} History, Policies, & Facts|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-date=20 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720194559/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fianna-Fail|url-status=live}}</ref> The party claimed that in 2005 they had 50,000 registered names, but only an estimated 10,000–15,000 members were considered active.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/fianna-fail-faces-crisis-in-party-s-structure-says-report-1.440237|title=Fianna Fail faces crisis in party's structure, says report|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-date=29 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529205655/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/fianna-fail-faces-crisis-in-party-s-structure-says-report-1.440237|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, from the early 1990s onward, the ''cumann'' structure was weakened. Every ''cumann'' was entitled to three votes to selection conventions irrespective of its size; hence, a large number of ''cumainn'' had become in effect "paper ''cumainn''", the only use of which was to ensure an aspiring or sitting candidate got enough votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fianna-fail-s-decline-1.441081|title=Fianna Fail's decline|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128174418/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fianna-fail-s-decline-1.441081|url-status=live}}</ref> Although this phenomenon was nothing new (the most famous example being [[Neil Blaney]]'s "Donegal Mafia").<ref name="komito">{{cite thesis |url=http://www.ucd.ie/lis/staff/komito/thesis.htm |type=PhD |title=Politics and Clientelism in Urban Ireland: Information, reputation, and brokerage |first=Lee |last=Komito |date=1985 |publisher=University Microfilms International |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |id=8603660 |quote=The only exception was Neil Blaney in Donegal. Blaney had a very strong personal following in Donegal and, perhaps most importantly, was able to claim that it was everyone who remained in Fianna Fáil that had actually departed from party ideals. In nationalist Donegal, the claim that he represented the true Fianna Fáil seemed effective. |access-date=24 June 2013 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222033654/http://www.ucd.ie/lis/staff/komito/thesis.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the 2007 election, the party's structure has significantly weakened. This was in part exacerbated by significant infighting between candidates in the run-up to the 2011 general election.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=White |author-link=Michael White (journalist) |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/25/irish-general-election-parties-divided |title=Irish general election turns into slanging match with parties divided |newspaper=The Guardian |date=25 February 2011 |access-date=27 February 2011 |location=London |archive-date=21 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921065508/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/25/irish-general-election-parties-divided |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Irish Times'' estimated that half of its 3,000 ''cumainn'' were effectively moribund. This fraction rose in [[Dublin]] with the exception of [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]], the former seat of both [[Brian Lenihan Snr]] and [[Brian Lenihan Jnr]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0827/1224303046802.html |title=Fianna Fáil has lost the local knowledge. The grassroots are not being listened to |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=27 August 2011 |access-date=30 August 2011 |archive-date=30 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830101724/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0827/1224303046802.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Ideology and platform==
{{Conservatism sidebar}}
{{Irish republicanism|Active parties}}
Fianna Fáil is primarily cited as being on the [[Centrism|centre]]{{refn|<ref name="k318">{{cite web | last=Lawless | first=Jill | title=Voters are being asked to change Ireland's Constitution which says a woman's place is in the home | website=PBS News | date=2024-03-08 | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/voters-are-being-asked-to-change-irelands-constitution-which-says-a-womans-place-is-in-the-home | access-date=2024-10-09 | quote=...including centrist government coalition partners Fianna Fail and Fine Gael...}}</ref><ref name="t556">{{cite web | title=Irish elections: Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil lead as count continues | website=BBC Home | date=2024-06-10 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyxx9rrwgzvo | access-date=2024-10-09 | quote=Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, both centrist parties, are likely to be the first announced MEPs to return to Brussels.}}</ref><ref name="i288">{{cite web | last=Frayer | first=Lauren | title=How Sinn Fein has made themselves over | website=NPR | date=2024-03-15 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238876771/how-sinn-fein-has-made-themselves-over | access-date=2024-10-03 | quote=For them, Sinn Fein is a left-wing alternative to the two centrist parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who've dominated Irish politics since just after independence from Britain in 1921.}}</ref><ref name="w947">{{cite web | last=Clarke | first=Seán | title=Irish general election: full results | website=The Guardian | date=2020-02-11 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/10/ireland-election-latest-results-live-sinn-fein-fine-gael-fianna-fail | access-date=2024-10-04 | quote=A centrist, ideologically malleable party}}</ref><ref name="h933">{{cite web | last=O'Leary | first=Naomi | title=Why Sinn Féin is surging in the Irish election | website=POLITICO | date=2020-02-03 | url=https://www.politico.eu/article/why-sinn-fein-is-surging-in-the-irish-election/ | access-date=2024-10-03 | quote=POLITICO's poll of polls shows liberal-conservative Fine Gael and Sinn Féin both polling at 21 percent, behind the centrist Fianna Fáil at 25 percent — with some individual polls putting Sinn Féin firmly in second place.}}</ref><ref name="c553">{{cite web | last=Kelpie | first=Colm | title=Irish general election: Profile of Irish political parties | website=BBC Home | date=2020-02-06 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51386410 | access-date=2024-10-03 | quote=Fianna Fáil, the centrist party, historically appealed across all social divides.}}</ref><ref name="q657">{{cite journal | last=Friedberg | first=James J. | title=Brexit, the Misrepresentation of Democracy, and the Rock of Gibraltar | journal=University of Bologna Law Review | date=2020 | volume=5 | doi=10.6092/ISSN.2531-6133/11381 | doi-access=free | page=No 1 (2020) | url=https://bolognalawreview.unibo.it/article/view/11381 | access-date=2024-10-11 | quote=First, the recent unprecedented plurality victory of Sinn Fein in Irish elections gives power to a party ... which is likely to be more demanding of immediate reunification of Ireland than have been the duopolist Fine Gael and Fianna Fail centrist parties.}}</ref><ref>[http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fianna-fail-on-election-footing-now-says-martin-30874717.html Fianna Fail on election footing now, says Martin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830160659/http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fianna-fail-on-election-footing-now-says-martin-30874717.html |date=30 August 2017 }}. ''Irish Independent''. Author – Daniel McConnell. Published 1 January 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2017.</ref><ref name="b268">{{cite web | title=Ireland's Martin to Lead Historic Government Coalition | website=Associated Press (Voice of America) | date=2020-06-28 | url=https://www.voanews.com/a/europe_irelands-martin-lead-historic-government-coalition/6191868.html | access-date=2024-10-07 | quote=The two centrist parties have long shunned Sinn Fein because of its historic links to the Irish Republican Army...
}}</ref><ref name="t804">{{cite web | title=Sinn Fein demands place in Irish government after election surge | website=France 24 | date=2020-02-09 | url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200209-sinn-fein-s-surge-in-the-irish-election-leaves-three-parties-tied-exit-poll | access-date=2024-10-07 | quote=The Ipsos MRBI survey of around 5,000 voters predicted that centrist rivals Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and leftists Sinn Fein had each received around 22 per cent of first preference votes.
}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/8284324/Micheal-Martin-to-replace-Brian-Cowen-as-Fianna-Fail-leader.html Micheal Martin to replace Brian Cowen as Fianna Fail leader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416091406/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/8284324/Micheal-Martin-to-replace-Brian-Cowen-as-Fianna-Fail-leader.html |date=16 April 2018 }}. ''The Telegraph''. Published 26 January 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2017.</ref><ref>[https://euobserver.com/beyond-brussels/133414 Weakened Irish PM faces delicate balancing act] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830152313/https://euobserver.com/beyond-brussels/133414 |date=30 August 2017 }}. ''EUobserver''. Author – Shona Murray. Published 12 May 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.</ref><ref name="r308">{{cite web | title=The substance of the left-right dimension in Ireland | first=Thomas | last=Däubler |
website=University College Dublin | date=2021-09-21 | url=https://www.ucd.ie/connected_politics/blog/thesubstanceoftheleft-rightdimensioninireland/ | access-date=2024-10-07 | quote=Second, Fianna Fáil made a move to the centre in 2016, which – coincidentally or not – paralleled that of Sinn Féin. This move also implies that, unlike in the elections between 2002 and 2011, Fine Gael is now placed considerably to the right of Fianna Fáil.
}}</ref><ref name="v196">{{cite web | last=Reilly | first=Gavan | title=A United Ireland, a Disunited Kingdom? – DW – 02/07/2020 | website=dw.com | date=2020-02-07 | url=https://www.dw.com/en/irish-election-a-united-ireland-a-disunited-kingdom/a-52289023 | access-date=2024-10-09 | quote=The 2011 election saw the near-wipeout of the centrist Fianna Fail rulers, who had been the largest party in every Irish parliament since the 1930s.}}</ref>}} or [[Centre-right politics|centre-right]]{{refn|<ref name="Devitt2021">{{cite book|author=Camilla Devitt|chapter=Ireland|editor=y Ellen M. Immergut|editor2=Karen M. Anderson|editor3=Camilla Devitt|editor4=Tamara Popic|title=Health Politics in Europe: A Handbook|publisher=Oxford University Press|
year=2021|isbn=9780192604248|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPAxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|page=90}}</ref><ref name="NorrisInglehart2019">{{cite book|author1=Pippa Norris|author2=Ronald Inglehart|title=Cultural Backlash and the Rise of Populism: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2019|isbn= 9781108426077|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X96CDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA245|page=245 }}</ref><ref name="Dunphy2016A">{{cite book|author=Richard Dunphy|chapter=Ireland|editor=Donatella M. Viola|title= Routledge Handbook of European Elections|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781317503637|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA246|page=246}}</ref><ref name="p441">{{cite journal | last=Puirséil | first=Niamh | title=Fianna Fáil and the evolution of an ambiguous ideology | journal=Irish Political Studies | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=32 | issue=1 | date=2016-12-29 | issn=0790-7184 | doi=10.1080/07907184.2016.1269755 | pages=49–71 | quote=Note: In Ireland, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can be categorised as centre-right parties, although the former has a more populist outlook, favours more economic interventionism and some of its leaders have sometimes referred to the party's fuzzy ideology as 'left of centre'.
}}</ref><ref name="g236">{{cite journal | last1=Müller | first1=Stefan | last2=Regan | first2=Aidan | title=Are Irish voters moving to the left? | journal=Irish Political Studies | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=36 | issue=4 | date=2021-09-08 | issn=0790-7184 | doi=10.1080/07907184.2021.1973737 | doi-access=free | pages=535–555 | quote= At the ballot box, the two dominant centrist and centre-right parties – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – have seen their vote share decline to less than 45 per cent ... Today, both parties cluster in the European liberal-centre, with Fianna Fail perhaps struggling the most in terms of party identity.| url=https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/document/88966/1/ssoar-irpolstu-2021-4-muller_et_al-Are_Irish_voters_moving_to.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Hearne 2020">{{cite book|author= Rory Hearne|title=Housing Shock: The Irish Housing Crisis and How to Solve It|publisher=Policy Press, University of Bristol|year=2020|isbn= 9781447353898|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0gfpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112PAGES=111-112}}</ref><ref name="g024">{{cite web | last=Fahy | first=Graham | title=Ireland's dominant centre-right parties to continue post-election talks | website=Reuters | date=2020-02-25 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/irelands-dominant-centre-right-parties-to-continue-post-election-talks-idUSKBN20J2G9/ | access-date=2024-10-03 | quote= The leaders of Ireland's two largest centre-right parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail...}}</ref><ref name="TaylorFlynn2008">{{cite book |first1=George |last1=Taylor |first2=Brendan |last2=Flynn |chapter=The Irish Greens |editor1=E. Gene Frankland |editor2=Paul Lucardie |editor3=Benoît Rihoux |title=Green Parties in Transition: The End of Grass-roots Democracy? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BJmqUTBiZ3EC&pg=PA97 |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-7429-0 |page=97 |access-date=22 October 2016 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226015057/https://books.google.com/books?id=BJmqUTBiZ3EC&pg=PA97 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="FarnhamHondeghem2016">{{cite book |first1=John |last1=Barlow |first2=David |last2=Farnham |first3=Sylvia |last3=Horton |first4=F.F. |last4=Ridley |chapter=Comparing Public Managers |editor1=David Farnham |editor2=Annie Hondeghem |editor3=Sylvia Horton |editor4=John Barlow |title=New Public Managers in Europe: Public Servants in Transition |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJu-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |year=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-13947-7 |page=19 |access-date=22 October 2016 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226015059/https://books.google.com/books?id=UJu-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=guardiantitley>{{cite news |title=Beyond the yin and yang of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/24/fine-gael-fianna-fail-ireland |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 February 2011 |location=London |first=Gavan |last=Titley |access-date=11 December 2016 }}</ref>}} of the [[political spectrum]].{{efn|The party has been described as anywhere from [[Centre-left politics|centre-left]]<ref name="p806">{{cite web | first2=Padraic | last2=Halpin | first1=Conor | last1=Humphries | title=Irish PM calls election as economy takes centre stage | website=Reuters | date=2016-02-03 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/irish-pm-calls-election-as-economy-takes-centre-stage-idUSKCN0VC0Z9/ | access-date=2024-10-08}}</ref><ref name="y469">{{cite journal | last1=Collins | first1=Patrick | last2=Rainey | first2=Mark Justin | last3=Strohmayer | first3=Ulf | title=It's less the destination and more the getting there: urban development, emergence and co-production in Galway, Ireland | journal=Town Planning Review | publisher=Liverpool University Press | volume=95 | issue=1 | date=2024-01-24 | issn=0041-0020 | doi=10.3828/tpr.2023.23 | pages=89–107 | quote=Irish elections have been dominated by the two largest political parties in the state – centre-left leaning Fianna Fail, and notionally centre-right leaning Fine Gael.}}</ref> to [[right-wing politics|right-wing]].<ref name="Allen2020">{{cite book|author=Kieran Allen|
chapter=Fianna Fáil and Irish Labour: A New Hegemony?|editor1=Olivier Coquelin|editor2=Patrick Galliou|editor3=Thierry Robin|title=Political Ideology in Ireland: From the Enlightenment to the Present|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2020|isbn= 9781527561335|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AiMGEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA180|page=180}}</ref>}} Fianna Fáil's ideology has been characterised both as [[Conservatism|conservative]]{{refn|<ref name="v288">{{cite web | title=Simon Harris to become Ireland's prime minister – DW – 03/25/2024 | website=dw.com | date=2024-03-25 | url=https://www.dw.com/en/simon-harris-to-become-irelands-prime-minister/a-68657280 | access-date=2024-10-08}}</ref><ref name="z353">{{cite web | last=Stone | first=Jon | title=Sinn Fein surge in polls ahead of Ireland election as Leo Varadkar's party suffers | website=The Independent | date=2020-01-21 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sinn-fein-ireland-election-polls-varadkar-latest-a9295366.html | access-date=2024-10-08}}</ref><ref name="c316">{{cite web | last1=Crisp | first1=James | last2=Smallcombe | first2=Mike | title=Sinn Fein calls for elections after Leo Varadkar's surprise resignation | website=The Telegraph | date=2024-03-20 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/20/leo-varadkar-step-down-irish-prime-minister/ | access-date=2024-10-08}}</ref><ref name="Knutsen2018">{{cite book|author=Oddbjørn Knutsen|title=Social Structure, Value Orientations and Party Choice in Western Europe|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2018|isbn=9783319521237|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxsuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA130|page=130}}</ref><ref name="Alexiadou2016">{{cite book|author= Despina Alexiadou|chapter=Ireland|title= Ideologues, Partisans, and Loyalists: Ministers and Policymaking in Parliamentary Cabinets|publisher= Oxford University Press|year=2016|isbn= 9780198755715|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXznCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|page=153}}</ref><ref name="KopecekHloušek2010">{{cite book|first1=Lubomír|last1=Kopecek|first2=Vít|last2=Hloušek|title=Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3wHffNQ7owC&pg=PA157|year=2010|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-9977-0|page=157|access-date=30 October 2019|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220131032/https://books.google.com/books?id=W3wHffNQ7owC&pg=PA157|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Knutsen2006">{{cite book|first=Oddbjørn|last=Knutsen|title=Class Voting in Western Europe: A Comparative Longitudinal Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jx0H8T1LaM8C&pg=PA39|year=2006|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-1095-9|page=39|access-date=7 November 2019|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221150434/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jx0H8T1LaM8C&pg=PA39|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Banchoff1999">{{cite book |author=T. Banchoff |title=Legitimacy and the European Union |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oX29JQSj_oUC&pg=PA130 |access-date=19 October 2017 |year=1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-18188-4 |page=130 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226015059/https://books.google.com/books?id=oX29JQSj_oUC&pg=PA130 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="KourvetarisMoschonas1996">{{cite book |first1=George A. |last1=Kourvetaris |first2=Andreas |last2=Moschonas |title=The Impact of European Integration: Political, Sociological, and Economic Changes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JXZzr5TJn4C&pg=PA208 |access-date=26 August 2012 |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-95356-0 |page=208 |archive-date=9 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009074619/http://books.google.com/books?id=8JXZzr5TJn4C&pg=PA208 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Budge|first1=Professor of Government Ian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I63z5nm0f94C&pg=PA137|title=Ideology, Strategy and Party Change: Spatial Analyses of Post-War Election Programmes in 19 Democracies|last2=Budge|first2=Ian|last3=Derek|first3=Hearl|last4=Robertson|first4=David|last5=Hearl|first5=Derek|last6=Press|first6=Cambridge University|date=1987-07-09|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-30648-5|language=en|access-date=17 March 2016|archive-date=29 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129083530/https://books.google.com/books?id=I63z5nm0f94C&pg=PA137|url-status=live}}</ref>}} and ambiguous or malleable.{{refn|<ref name="w947"/><ref name="p441"/><ref name="w803">{{cite journal | last1=O'Malley | first1=Eoin | last2=McGraw | first2=Sean | title=Fianna Fáil: the glue of ambiguity | journal=Irish Political Studies | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=32 | issue=1 | date=2017-01-02 | issn=0790-7184 | doi=10.1080/07907184.2016.1271329 | url=https://www.academia.edu/79664919| pages=1–29 | quote=Ideologically the party is ambiguous. It appears centrist, conservative, and attached to the state ... but it has also been regarded as radical, socialist, anti-Catholic and even a threat to the state ... Despite these apparent contradictions and deep ambiguity concerning what type of party Fianna Fáil really is, the party has been one of the most successful political organisations in twentieth-century Europe...}}</ref><ref name="f030"/><ref name="h763"/><ref name="c721">{{cite journal | last=Costello | first=Rory | title=Issue congruence between voters and parties: examining the democratic party mandate in Ireland | journal=Irish Political Studies | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=36 | issue=4 | date=2021-09-06 | issn=0790-7184 | doi=10.1080/07907184.2021.1973318 | doi-access=free | pages=581–605 | quote=Both parties are commonly categorised as 'catch-all' parties ... Mainwaring and McGraw (2019) find that these parties are more centrist and more flexible in terms of the policy compared to other parties in Ireland, and also display internal divergence among elected representatives across a range of policy issues. Many observers have emphasised the lack of clear policy or ideological difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil (e.g. Garry, 2018, p. 63; Weeks, 2018, p. 113) and competition between them often focuses on other aspects such as track-record, candidates, and leadership credentials| hdl=10344/10567 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>}} The party has also been ideologically described as [[centrist]],{{refn|<ref name="n474">{{cite journal | last=Martínez-Lirola | first=María | title=A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of a Sample of Posters Used in the 2016 and 2020 Election Campaigns in Ireland | journal=Estudios Irlandeses | issue=18 | date=2023-03-17 | issn=1699-311X | doi=10.24162/ei2023-11447 | doi-access=free | pages=37–53 | quote=Its political ideology is characterized as Irish Nationalist and Irish Republican; it can be considered a liberal party with a centrist ideology.| hdl=10045/132888 | hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="e177">{{cite book | title=Monitoring media pluralism in Europe: application of the media pluralism monitor 2017 in the European Union, FYROM, Serbia & Turkey : country report : Ireland. | date=2019| publisher=Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (European University Institute)| doi=10.2870/087944 | access-date=2024-10-11 | page= | url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/61144/2018_Ireland.pdf?sequence=3 | quote=From 1932 on, the Fianna Fail party consistently held the most parliamentary seats until the economic crash of 2008 but at the 2011 election the Fine Gael party moved into the ascendancy. Both parties are ideologically centrist: their main distinctions being positions adopted in 1922 regarding the nature of Irish independence.| author1=European University Institute. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.| isbn=978-92-9084-688-8}}</ref><ref name="p488">{{cite journal | last=Carty | first=R. Kenneth | title=A natural governing party: Fianna Fáil in comparative perspective | journal=Irish Political Studies | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=32 | issue=1 | date=2016-12-29 | issn=0790-7184 | doi=10.1080/07907184.2016.1271331 | pages=30–48 | quote=Fianna Fáil's identity claims, centrist orientation, long 'principled' rejection of coalition politics, relatively easy dominance of electoral competition and complex internal centre–periphery organisational relationships all reflected its position as the country's natural governing party in a system where it faced both catch-all (Fine Gael) and interest-based (Labour) opponents.}}</ref>}} [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]],{{refn|<ref name="Thompson2024">{{cite book|editor=Wayne C. Thompson|title=The World Today Series: Western Europe 2024–2025|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2024|isbn= 9781538185957|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuYPEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|page=86}}</ref><ref name="Budge"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilera-directory.org/15thworldcongress/files/papers/Track_4/Thur_W4_DONAGHEY.pdf|title=Social Partnership and Democratic Legitimacy in Ireland|last1=Teague|first1=Paul|last2=Donaghey|first2=Jimmy|publisher=International Labour and Employment Relations Association|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020004225/http://www.ilera-directory.org/15thworldcongress/files/papers/Track_4/Thur_W4_DONAGHEY.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/feb/27/ireland-general-election-exit-poll-coalition-fine-gael?page=with:block-56d15d3fe4b0bd5a0524cda5#block-56d15d3fe4b0bd5a0524cda5|title=Ireland general election: Irish PM admits his coalition has been rejected&nbsp;– live|last1=Quinn|first1=Ben|last2=Johnston|first2=Chris|date=27 February 2016|quote=...the possibility of a grand coalition between Ireland's two centrist, sometimes right-of-centre, Christian democratic parties: Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-date=13 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713055754/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/feb/27/ireland-general-election-exit-poll-coalition-fine-gael?page=with:block-56d15d3fe4b0bd5a0524cda5#block-56d15d3fe4b0bd5a0524cda5|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Colomer|first=Josep M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZF8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|title=Comparative European Politics|date=2008-07-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-07354-2|language=en|access-date=21 July 2020|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801132249/https://books.google.com/books?id=TZF8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|url-status=live}}</ref>}} [[liberal conservatism|liberal-conservative]],<ref name="o882">{{cite web | title=2020 Elections | website=CSIS | date=2024-10-07 | url=https://www.csis.org/programs/europe-russia-and-eurasia-program/projects/european-election-watch/2020-elections/ireland | access-date=2024-10-08 | quote=Fianna Fail (FF): center to center-right; liberal conservatism; ideologically similar to FG but different historical roots
}}</ref><ref name="MaginVigen2021">{{cite book|author1=Melanie Magin|author2=Marius G. Vigen|chapter=When Nothing Happened, but Much Changed: How Political Parties in Ireland Used Facebook in the 2019 European Parliament Election Campaign|editor1=Jörg Haßler|editor2=Melanie Magin|editor3=Uta Russmann|editor4=Vicente Fenoll|title=Campaigning on Facebook in the 2019 European Parliament Election: Informing, Interacting with, and Mobilising Voters|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2021|isbn=9783030738518|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Xs9EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|page=137}}</ref> [[populism|populist]],<ref name="Maguire1986">{{cite book|author=Maria Maguire|
chapter=Ireland|editor=Peter Flora|title=Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II Volume 2|publisher= Walter de Gruyter|year=1986|isbn=9783110111316|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GaWtd5zJfB8C&pg=PA333|page=333}}</ref><ref name="Dunphy2016B">{{cite book|author=Richard Dunphy|chapter=Ireland|editor=Donatella M. Viola|title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781317503637|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247|page=247}}</ref> [[conservative liberalism|conservative-liberal]],<ref name="oscillates">{{cite book | date=2019 | last=Close | first=Caroline| chapter=The liberal family ideology|editor1-last=Close|editor1-first=Caroline|editor2-last=van Haute|editor2-first=Emilie|title=Liberal Parties in Europe|pages=326–347 |publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781351245487 | quote=Interestingly, other parties classified as Conservative Liberals in previous decades have oscillated between Conservative and Social liberalism since the 1990s: This is the case of the Portuguese Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Irish Fianna Fail}}</ref><ref name="VanHauteClose2019">{{cite book|editor1=Emilie van Haute|editor2=Caroline Close |title=Liberal parties in Europe |quote= ... the classical-liberal German FDP, which has tried to keep a centrist position between the CDU/CSU and the SPD; the social-liberal D66; and the conservative-liberal Fianna Fail (although it has recently tended to move towards a more social-liberal profile).|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781351245487| page=369 |year=2019}}</ref> [[social conservatism|socially conservative]],<ref name="Kiersey2018">{{cite book|author=Nicholas Kiersey|chapter=Narrative Crisis in Ireland's Great Recession|editor1=Owen Parker|editor2=Dimitris Tsarouhas|title=Crisis in the Eurozone Periphery: The Political Economies of Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal|date=19 February 2018 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn= 9783319697215|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nwhNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA115|page=115}}</ref><ref name="h763">{{cite news | last=Sheehan | first=Jack | title=Who is Fianna Fáil for? A dwindling, increasingly regionalised demographic | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=2023-06-17 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/06/17/who-is-fianna-fail-for-a-dwindling-increasingly-regionalised-demographic/ | access-date=2024-10-07 | quote=Unlike Fine Gael, which functions as a standard European Christian Democratic or Liberal-Conservative party, Fianna Fáil has never been comfortable with the label of right-wing, or with having a discernible ideology at all ... For a decade now, a socially conservative, supposedly republican party has been led by a centrist social liberal with a more cautious position on Irish unification than even Leo Varadkar. }}</ref> [[liberalism|liberal]],{{refn|<ref name="n474"/><ref name="l509">{{cite book | last=Sarkissian | first=Armen | title=The Small States Club: How Small Smart States Can Save the World | publisher=Hurst | year=2023 | isbn=978-1-78738-940-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTRmzwEACAAJ | access-date=2024-10-11 | page=151 | quote="The alliance between the liberal Fianna Fail and the conservative Fine Gael parties was not forged easily..."}}</ref><ref name="m660">{{cite web | title=Ireland's Fianna Fáil to step up efforts to form a government | website=www.euractiv.com | date=2020-02-20 | url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/irelands-fianna-fail-to-step-up-efforts-to-form-a-government/ | access-date=2024-10-09}}</ref><ref name="t447">{{cite web | title=Snap Elections in Ireland | website=Friedrich Naumann Foundation | date=2020-02-07 | url=https://www.freiheit.org/european-union/interview-after-brexit-snap-elections-ireland | access-date=2024-10-08}}</ref>}} [[national liberalism|national-liberal]]<ref name="s584">{{cite book | last=Krumm | first=Thomas | title=The Politics of Public–Private Partnerships in Western Europe | publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing | date=2016-03-25 | isbn=978-1-78254-926-0 | doi=10.4337/9781782549260 | page=81 | quote=For a long period its party system was dominated by the national-liberal Fianna Fail... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msexCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA81}}</ref> and [[national conservatism|national-conservative]].<ref name="i017">{{cite book |first1=Liesbet |last1=Hooghe|first2=Gary| last2=Marks|chapter=Preface| title=Multi-Level Governance and European Integration | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | series=Governance in Europe Series | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-585-38166-4 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbscAAAAQBAJ&pg=PR16 | access-date=2024-10-11 | page=16}}</ref><ref name="MarksWilson2005">{{cite book| author1=Gary Marks|author2=Carole Wilson|chapter=National parties and the contestation of Europe|editor1=Thomas Banchoff|editor2=Mitchell Smith|title=Legitimacy and the European Union: The Contested Polity|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ul7SZILT6-8C&pg=PA130|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-67560-9|page=130}}</ref> In 2017, academics Eoin O'Malley and Sean McGraw wrote that Fianna Fáil "appears centrist, conservative, and attached to the state", but that there was "deep ambiguity concerning what type of party Fianna Fáil really is".<ref name="w803"/>

[[File:Fianna Fáil Election Poster 1948 (Workers!).jpg|right|thumb|305x305px|Fianna Fáil poster from the 1948 general election]]
In the modern era, Fianna Fáil is seen as a typical [[catch-all party]] and has defined itself as such.<ref name="f030">{{cite web | last=Mahon | first=Brian | title=Talks deepen Fianna Fáil identity crisis | website=The Times & The Sunday Times | date=2020-02-19 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/talks-deepen-fianna-fail-identity-crisis-h99xcb5sf | access-date=2024-10-09 | quote=Fianna Fáil, less so. It retains many of the characteristics of a catch-all party. During the election Micheál Martin tried to position it as a social democratic left of centre alternative to Fine Gael. }}</ref><ref name="z674">{{cite book | last1=Dochartaigh | first1=N.Ó. | last2=Hayward | first2=K. | last3=Meehan | first3=E. | title=Dynamics of Political Change in Ireland: Making and Breaking a Divided Island | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Routledge Advances in European Politics | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-317-26991-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCwlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 | access-date=2024-10-10 | page=147 | quote=This meant that the 'catch-all' Fianna Fáil party suffered a massive loss of voters...}}</ref> It has presented itself as a "[[Big tent|broad church]]"<ref name="Garvin">{{cite book |first1=Tom |last1=Garvin |title=Preventing the Future: Why was Ireland so Poor for so Long? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtknAQAAIAAJ |access-date=3 June 2017 |year=2005 |publisher=Gill and Macmillan |isbn=978-0717139705 |page=208 |archive-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521091243/https://books.google.com/books?id=MtknAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> and attracted support from across disparate [[social class]]es.<ref name="martin">{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0126/breaking8.html |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=26 January 2011 |title=Micheal Martin elected as eighth leader of Fianna Fáil |access-date=3 July 2011 |archive-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525093603/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0126/breaking8.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cowen">{{cite web |title=Cowen Calls on Government to resist OECD right wing agenda |url=http://www.fiannafail.ie/news/entry/cowen-calls-on-government-to-resist-oecd-right-wing-agenda |publisher=Fianna Fáil |date=26 May 2011 |last=Cowen |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Cowen |access-date=24 June 2013 |archive-date=14 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614132348/http://www.fiannafail.ie/news/entry/cowen-calls-on-government-to-resist-oecd-right-wing-agenda |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1980s, [[Brian Lenihan Snr]] declared "there are no isms or [ide]ologies in my party"; further, in the early 2000s, Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern affirmed the party's catch-all stance by defining Fianna Fáil as a party that "looks out for the small ranking guy, the middle-ranking guy and assists the big guy".<ref name="Ferriter Jan 2022">{{cite news |author=[[Diarmaid Ferriter]] |date=28 January 2022 |title=Diarmaid Ferriter: Fianna Fáil now bereft of its catch-all credentials |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/diarmaid-ferriter-fianna-f%C3%A1il-now-bereft-of-its-catch-all-credentials-1.4787285 |work=[[Irish Times]] |location= |access-date=29 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226124039/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/diarmaid-ferriter-fianna-f%C3%A1il-now-bereft-of-its-catch-all-credentials-1.4787285?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fdiarmaid-ferriter-fianna-f%25C3%25A1il-now-bereft-of-its-catch-all-credentials-1.4787285 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, party leader Micheál Martin described Fianna Fáil as "a progressive [[Irish republicanism|republican]] party which rejects the failed and destructive idea that you must conform to the traditional left/right ideology".<ref name="b175">{{cite news | last=Martin | first=Micheál | title=Micheál Martin: Fianna Fáil has more to offer than simplistic and divisive right-left politics | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=2023-06-22 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/06/22/fianna-fail-has-more-to-offer-than-simplistic-and-divisive-rightleft-politics/ | access-date=2024-10-10 | quote=Fianna Fáil is a progressive republican party which rejects the failed and destructive idea that you must conform to the traditional left/right ideology.}}</ref>

Between 1989 and 2011, Fianna Fáil led coalition governments with parties of both the left and the right. Fianna Fáil's platform contains a number of enduring commitments: to [[Irish unity]]; to the promotion and protection of the [[Irish language]]; and to maintaining [[Irish neutrality|Ireland's tradition of military neutrality]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About Fianna Fáil |url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/ |publisher=Fianna Fáil |access-date=5 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114050821/https://www.fiannafail.ie/about-fianna-fail/ |archive-date=14 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Marsh |first1=Michael |title=Fianna Fáil; History, Policies, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fianna-Fail |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=29 July 2020 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731033602/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fianna-Fail |url-status=live}}</ref> The party's name and logo incorporates the words 'The Republican Party'.<ref name="BudgeRobertson1987" /> According to Fianna Fáil, "Republican here stands both for the unity of the island and a commitment to the historic principles of European [[Republicanism|republican philosophy]], namely [[liberty, equality and fraternity]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fiannafail.ie/content/pages/5095/ |title=Our Party |publisher=Fianna Fáil |date=28 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908091800/http://www.fiannafail.ie/content/pages/5095/ |archive-date=8 September 2013 }}</ref> The party's main goal at its beginning was to reunite the North and the South.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=Stephen |title=Fianna Fáil, Partition and Northern Ireland, 1926–1971 |date=2013 |publisher=Irish Academic Press |location=Dublin |pages=9–12}}</ref>

Fianna Fáil is [[pro-Europeanism|supportive of the European Union]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Fianna Fáil: Tenacious Localism, Tenuous Europeanism|journal=Irish Political Studies|volume=24|issue=4|pages=491–509|doi=10.1080/07907180903274784|year = 2009|last1 = Hayward|first1 = Katy|authorlink1=Katy Hayward|last2=Fallon|first2=Jonathan|s2cid=143864920}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/2019/02/22/news/sdlp-and-fianna-fa-il-call-for-all-island-pro-remain-alliance-1557635/|title=SDLP and Fianna Fáil call for all island pro remain alliance|first=Allison|last=Morris|date=22 February 2019|website=The Irish News|access-date=2 December 2019|archive-date=21 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921170329/http://www.irishnews.com/news/2019/02/22/news/sdlp-and-fianna-fa-il-call-for-all-island-pro-remain-alliance-1557635/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190525-ireland-varadkar-eu-european-elections|title=Irish PM's pro-EU party ahead in European vote, polls suggest|date=25 May 2019|website=France 24|access-date=5 September 2019|archive-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024222212/https://www.france24.com/en/20190525-ireland-varadkar-eu-european-elections|url-status=live}}</ref> Although part of the liberal [[Renew Europe|Renew]] group in the European Parliament, its [[Liberalism|liberal]] nature has been disputed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Close|first=Caroline|date=12 February 2019|chapter=The liberal party family ideology: Distinct, but diverse|editor1-last=Close|editor1-first=Caroline|editor2-last=van Haute|editor2-first=Emilie|title=Liberal Parties in Europe|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6zuIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA366 366]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781351245487|quote=However, the liberal identity of the Irish {{lang|ga|Fianna Fáil}} is highly questionable.}}</ref> As of 2009, Fianna Fáil did not always support Renew's positions on [[civil liberties]]<ref name="votewatch" /> though the party did [[Same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland|legalize same-sex civil partnerships]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Ahern%20Welcomes%20Coming%20Into%20Law%20of%20Civil%20Partnership%20and%20Certain%20Rights%20and%20Obligations%20of%20Cohabitants%20Act%202010 |title= Ahern Welcomes Coming Into Law of Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 |work= Department of Justice and Law Reform |date= 17 July 2010 |access-date= 18 December 2019 |archive-date= 19 October 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191019070457/http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Ahern%20Welcomes%20Coming%20Into%20Law%20of%20Civil%20Partnership%20and%20Certain%20Rights%20and%20Obligations%20of%20Cohabitants%20Act%202010 |url-status= live }}</ref> In 2014, Fianna Fáil expelled [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] [[Brian Crowley]] for joining the right-wing [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]], with the party stating that "the ideas and principles of the ECR group and its component parties are totally incompatible with the core principles of Fianna Fáil".<ref name="o102">{{cite web | last=Molloy | first=Dave | title=Brian Crowley expelled from Fianna Fáil parliamentary party | website=Irish Examiner | date=2014-06-24 | url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30634360.html | access-date=2024-10-11}}</ref> In recent years, Fianna Fáil has increasingly been seen as divided on social issues,<ref name="v772">{{cite book | date=2019 | last1=Little | first1=Conor | last2=Farrell | first2=David M. | chapter= Fianna Fáil In the Liberals but not of the Liberals|editor1-last=Close|editor1-first=Caroline|editor2-last=van Haute|editor2-first=Emilie|title=Liberal Parties in Europe|pages=185–204 |publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781351245487 | quote=In recent years, Fianna Fáil has increasingly come to be seen as divided on these issues, with marriage equality and abortion having been the main 'moral policy' issues on the agenda.}}</ref><ref name="k333">{{cite news | last=McGee | first=Harry | title=Fianna Fáil revival makes Micheál Martin a great survivor of Irish politics | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=2016-03-01 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/fianna-f%C3%A1il-revival-makes-miche%C3%A1l-martin-a-great-survivor-of-irish-politics-1.2554837 | access-date=2024-10-10 | quote=When the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill came before the Dáil, the younger modernisers wanted Fianna Fáil to back it, but it was fiercely resisted by the more reactionary members of the parliamentary party (mainly senators). Martin was forced into conceding a free vote, which he claimed as "reformist" but was perceived as a weakness. That faultline between the party's conservative and liberal forces has also materialised in relation to the issue of repealing the Eighth Amendment.}}</ref> and as moving towards a more [[social liberal]] profile.<ref name="VanHauteClose2019"/> Fianna Fáil supported the unsuccessful [[2024 Irish constitutional referendums]], which would have deleted a reference to women's domestic duties and broadened the definition of the family.<ref name="k318"/>

Evidence from expert surveys, opinion polls and candidate surveys have failed to identify strong distinctions between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.<ref name="c721"/><ref name="benoitlaver1">{{cite journal |url=http://www.kenbenoit.net/pdfs/laverbenoitAJPS.pdf |title=The Evolution of Party Systems Between Elections |last1=Laver |first1=Michael |last2=Benoit |first2=Kenneth |journal=[[American Journal of Political Science]] |date=April 2003 |pages=215–233 |volume=47 |number=2 |access-date=24 June 2013 |doi=10.1111/1540-5907.00015 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193348/http://www.kenbenoit.net/pdfs/laverbenoitAJPS.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="benoitlaver2">{{cite journal |citeseerx = 10.1.1.144.6558 |title=Estimating Irish Party Positions Using Computer Wordscoring: The 2002 Elections |last2=Laver |first2=Michael |last1=Benoit |first1=Kenneth |journal=[[Irish Political Studies]] |date=June 2003 |pages=97–107 |volume=18 |number=1 |access-date=<!-- 24 June 2013  -->|doi=10.1080/07907180312331293249|s2cid=145015417 }}</ref><ref name="benoitlaver3">{{cite journal |url=http://www.kenbenoit.net/pdfs/BenoitLaver_ESR_2005.pdf |title=Mapping the Irish Policy Space: Voter and Party Spaces in Preferential Elections |last2=Laver |first2=Michael |last1=Benoit |first1=Kenneth |journal=The Economic and Social Review |date=Summer–Autumn 2005 |pages=83–108 |volume=36 |number=2 |access-date=24 June 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200215/http://www.kenbenoit.net/pdfs/BenoitLaver_ESR_2005.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="glutz">{{cite journal |title=Irish party competition in the new millennium: Change, or ''plus ça change''? |last=Gilland Lutz |first=Karin |journal=Irish Political Studies |pages=40–59 |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=Winter 2003 |doi=10.1080/1364298042000227640|s2cid=153399425 }}</ref> Fianna Fáil is generally considered more [[populist]]<ref name="Whelan">{{cite book |editor1=Katy Hayward |editor2=Mary C. Murphy |chapter=Ireland's EU Referendum Experience |title=The Europeanization of Party Politics in Ireland, North and South |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780955820373 |page=26 | quote=Indeed, as an example, Fianna Fáil politicians in particular have adopted populist rhetoric in the past...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishnews.com/opinion/columnists/2023/11/04/news/patrick_murphy_sinn_fe_in_and_fianna_fa_il_are_more_alike_than_they_would_admit-3746486/|newspaper=[[The Irish News]]|date=3 November 2023|access-date=23 September 2024|title=Patrick Murphy: Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil are more alike than they would admit|last=Murphy|first=Patrick}}</ref> and [[Economic interventionism|economically interventionist]]<ref name="r679">{{cite web | last1=Kedrowski | first1=Karen M. | last2=Haussman | first2=Melissa | title=Prime Minister May's Tightrope Walk between Brexiteers and Remainers | publisher=University of Michigan Press | date=2023 | url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/166/oa_monograph/chapter/3773216 | access-date=2024-10-11 | quote=In the Republic of Ireland, Fine Gael, under which Leo Varadkar led the Irish parliament (Oireachtas) from June 2017 to June 2020 as Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, is slightly to the right of Fianna Fail. It has a more pronounced pro-market liberalization stance.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Murphy |first=William |date=2005 |title=Cogging Berkeley?: "The Querist" and the Rhetoric of Fianna Fáil's Economic Policy |jstor= 24338940 |journal=Irish Economic and Social History |volume=32 |pages=63–82 |doi=10.1177/033248930503200104 |s2cid=157142918 }}</ref> than its rival.<ref name="p441"/> [[University College Dublin]] professor Thomas Däubler wrote that Fianna Fáil had "made a move to the centre" in the [[2016 Irish general election|2016 election]], which resulted in Fine Gael being placed "considerably to the right" of Fianna Fáil.<ref name="r308"/> In 2020, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine described Fianna Fáil as "slightly more socially conservative and further to the left on the economy" than Fine Gael.<ref name="l880">{{cite magazine | last=Nugent | first=Ciara | title=Ireland Goes to the Polls on Saturday. Here's Why the Stakes Are So High | magazine=TIME | date=2020-02-05 | url=https://time.com/5778249/ireland-elections-2020/ | access-date=2024-10-09}}</ref> Fianna Fáil has been described in modern times as struggling with its identity as a party.<ref name="g236"/><ref name="f030"/><ref name="h763"/><ref name="z870">{{cite web | last=Cionnaith | first=Fiachra Ó | title=Micheál Martin faces identity crisis in Fianna Fáil | website=RTE.ie | date=2020-12-13 | url=https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2020/1213/1183944-fianna-fail-analysis/ | access-date=2024-10-09}}</ref> In 2023, Jack Sheehan of ''[[The Irish Times]]'' wrote that "for a decade now, a socially conservative, supposedly republican party has been led by a centrist social liberal with a more cautious position on Irish unification than even [[Leo Varadkar]]."<ref name="h763"/>

===20th century===
In the early 20th century, Fianna Fáil had a more explicitly working-class orientation. In 1926, Seán Lemass described the party as "a progressive republican party based on the actual conditions of the moment"<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Loughlin |first1=Michael |title=Republicanism still a potent link between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/republicanism-still-a-potent-link-between-fianna-f%C3%A1il-and-sinn-f%C3%A9in-1.4170582?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Frepublicanism-is-still-the-potent-link-between-fianna-fail-and-sinn-f%25C3%25A9in-1.4170582 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709024144/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/republicanism-still-a-potent-link-between-fianna-f%C3%A1il-and-sinn-f%C3%A9in-1.4170582?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Frepublicanism-is-still-the-potent-link-between-fianna-fail-and-sinn-f%25C3%25A9in-1.4170582 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Puirséil FF Evolution"/> while upon winning the [[1932 Irish general election]], newly elected Fianna Fáil TD [[Seán Moylan]] proclaimed that Fianna Fáil's win meant a victory of "the owners of the donkey and cart over the pony and trap class".<ref name="Ferriter Jan 2022"/> The Fianna Fáil party of the 1930s has been described as an economically [[social democratic]] one that sought to create an economically independent state ([[autarky]]) via protectionist policies, based on its [[Cultural nationalism|culturally nationalist]] thinking.<ref name="Puirséil FF Evolution">{{cite journal |last1=Puirséil |first1=Niamh |date=2016 |title=Fianna Fáil and the evolution of an ambiguous ideology |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07907184.2016.1269755?journalCode=fips20 |journal=Irish Political Studies |volume= 32|issue= |pages= 49–71|doi=10.1080/07907184.2016.1269755 |s2cid=152051248 |access-date=12 April 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the leadership of Seán Lemass in the 1960s, Fianna Fáil began to utilise some [[Corporatism|corporatist]] policies (embracing the concept of '[[Social Partnership|social partnership]]'), taking some influence from [[Catholic social teaching]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Finnegan|first=Richard B.|url=|title=Ireland: Historical Echoes, Contemporary Politics|date=2018-02-20|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-96817-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Patterson|first=Henry|date=1988|title=Fianna Fáil and the Working Class: The Origins of the Enigmatic Relationship|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23196031|journal=Saothar|volume=13|pages=81–88|jstor=23196031|issn=0332-1169|access-date=10 December 2021|archive-date=10 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210035640/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23196031|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2003|title=Ireland as Catholic corporatist state: a historical institutional analysis of healthcare in Ireland|url=https://www.ul.ie/ppa/content/files/258567748.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210205816/https://www.ul.ie/ppa/content/files/258567748.pdf |archive-date=2021-12-10 |url-status=live|journal=|via=University of Limerick}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Roche|first=Bill|date=2008|title=Social Partnership: From Lemass to Cowen|url=https://www.ul.ie/iair/sites/default/files/2008%20Lecture%20by%20Bill%20Roche.pdf|journal=|via=UL|access-date=10 December 2021|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203074550/https://www.ul.ie/iair/sites/default/files/2008%20Lecture%20by%20Bill%20Roche.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> It was also during Lemass' time that the party shifted heavily away from autarkic thinking and towards a firm belief in [[free trade]] and [[foreign direct investment]] in Ireland.<ref name="Puirséil FF Evolution"/>

In 1967, Jack Lynch described the party as "left of centre" while suggesting it was to the left of Fine Gael and Labour. However, during the [[1969 Irish general election]], the party ran [[red scare]] tactics against Labour after it began using the slogan "the seventies will be socialist!". As Fine Gael became more and more socially liberal in the 1970s under [[Garret FitzGerald]], the party reacted by embracing social conservatism and populism.<ref name="Budge"/><ref name="Puirséil FF Evolution"/> In the same time period, the emergence of [[the Troubles]] and the Arms Crisis of 1971 tested the party's nationalism, but despite these events, Fianna Fáil maintained their moderate culturally nationalist stance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ivory |first1=Gareth |date=Fall 1997 |title=Fianna Fail, Constitutional Republicanism, and the Issue of Consent: 1980–1996 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2941780 |journal=Irish-American Cultural Institute |volume=32 |issue=2–3 |pages=93–116 |doi= |access-date=12 April 2022}}</ref> In 1983, R. Ken Carty wrote of Fianna Fáil and [[Fine Gael]] that they were "heterogeneous in their bases of support, relatively undifferentiated in terms of policy or programme, and remarkably stable in their support levels".<ref name="x538">{{cite journal | last=Holsteyn | first=Joop van | title=Days of Blue Loyalty. The Politics of Membership of the Fine Gael Party | journal=Acta Politica | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=39 | issue=1 | date=2004-03-17 | issn=0001-6810 | doi=10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500048 | pages=96–99 | quote=Ken Carty (1983, 1) was puzzled by the fact that one found parties 'heterogeneous in their bases of support, relatively undifferentiated in terms of policy or programme, and remarkably stable in their support levels'}}</ref> 

In the 1990s, Fianna Fáil was described as a [[Conservatism|conservative]] and [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] party.<ref name="Banchoff1999" /><ref name="KourvetarisMoschonas1996" />

==Leadership and president==
{{Main|Leader of Fianna Fáil}}
The following are the terms of office as party leader and as Taoiseach:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Leader
! Portrait
! Period
! Constituency
! Years as Taoiseach
|-
| {{nowrap|[[Éamon de Valera]]}}
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Éamon de Valera.jpg|bSize = 70|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 5}} 
| 1926–1959
| [[Clare (Dáil constituency)|Clare]]
| [[1932 Irish general election|1932]]–[[1933 Irish general election|1933]]–[[1937 Irish general election|1937]]–[[1938 Irish general election|1938]]–[[1943 Irish general election|1943]]–[[1944 Irish general election|1944]]–[[1948 Irish general election|1948]]; [[1951 Irish general election|1951]]–[[1954 Irish general election|1954]]; [[1957 Irish general election|1957]]–1959<br />([[6th Executive Council of the Irish Free State|6th]], [[7th Executive Council of the Irish Free State|7th]], and [[8th Executive Council of the Irish Free State]],<br />[[1st Government of Ireland|1st]], [[2nd Government of Ireland|2nd]], [[3rd Government of Ireland|3rd]], [[4th Government of Ireland|4th]], [[6th Government of Ireland|6th]] and [[8th Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Seán Lemass]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Seán Lemass, 1966.jpg|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}} 
| 1959–1966
| [[Dublin South-Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-Central]]
| 1959–[[1961 Irish general election|1961]]–[[1965 Irish general election|1965]]–1966<br />([[9th Government of Ireland|9th]], [[10th Government of Ireland|10th]] and [[11th Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Jack Lynch]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Jack Lynch, 1972 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}} 
| 1966–1979
| [[Cork Borough (Dáil constituency)|Cork Borough]] {{small|(1948–1969)}}<br />[[Cork City North-West (Dáil constituency)|Cork City North-West]] {{small|(1969–1977)}}<br />[[Cork City (Dáil constituency)|Cork City]] {{small|(1977–1981)}}
| 1966–[[1969 Irish general election|1969]]–[[1973 Irish general election|1973]]; [[1977 Irish general election|1977]]–1979<br />([[12th Government of Ireland|12th]], [[13th Government of Ireland|13th]] and [[15th Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Charles Haughey]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Charles Haughey 1989 (headshot).png|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}} 
| 1979–1992
| [[Dublin North-East (Dáil constituency)|Dublin North-East]] {{small|(1957–1977)}}<br />[[Dublin Artane (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Artane]] {{small|(1977–1981)}}<br />[[Dublin North-Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin North-Central]] {{small|(1981–1992)}}
| 1979–[[1981 Irish general election|1981]]; [[February 1982 Irish general election|Feb 1982]] – [[November 1982 Irish general election|Nov 1982]]; [[1987 Irish general election|1987]]–[[1989 Irish general election|1989]]–1992<br />([[16th Government of Ireland|16th]], [[18th Government of Ireland|18th]], [[20th Government of Ireland|20th]] and [[21st Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Albert Reynolds]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Albert Reynolds (cropped).jpg|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}} 
| 1992–1994
| [[Longford–Roscommon (Dáil constituency)|Longford–Roscommon]]
| 1992–[[1992 Irish general election|1992]]–1994<br />([[22nd Government of Ireland|22nd]] and [[23rd Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Bertie Ahern]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Bertie Ahern 2006 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| 1994–2008
| [[Dublin Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Central]]
| [[1997 Irish general election|1997]]–[[2002 Irish general election|2002]]–[[2007 Irish general election|2007]]–2008<br />([[25th Government of Ireland|25th]], [[26th Government of Ireland|26th]] and [[27th Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Brian Cowen]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Brian Cowen, June 2010 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}} 
| 2008–2011
| [[Laois–Offaly (Dáil constituency)|Laois–Offaly]]
| 2008–[[2011 Irish general election|2011]]<br />([[28th Government of Ireland]])
|-
| [[Micheál Martin]]
| {{CSS image crop|Image =Micheál Martin TD (cropped).jpg|bSize = 60|cWidth = 60|cHeight = 80|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| {{nowrap|2011–present}}
| [[Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency)|Cork South-Central]]
| [[2020 Irish general election|2020]]–2022; [[2024 Irish general election|2025]]–present <br />([[32nd Government of Ireland|32nd]] and [[35th Government of Ireland]])
|}

===Deputy leader===
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Period
! Constituency
!Leader
|-
| [[Joseph Brennan (Fianna Fáil politician)|Joseph Brennan]]
| 1973–1977
| [[Donegal–Leitrim (Dáil constituency)|Donegal–Leitrim]]
|Jack Lynch
|-
| [[George Colley]]
| 1977–1982
| [[Dublin Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Central]]
|Jack Lynch
Charles Haughey
|-
| [[Ray MacSharry]]
| 1982–1983
| [[Sligo–Leitrim (Dáil constituency)|Sligo–Leitrim]]
| rowspan="3" |Charles Haughey
|-
| [[Brian Lenihan Snr]]
| 1983–1990
| [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]]
|-
| [[John Wilson (Irish politician)|John Wilson]]
| 1990–1992
| [[Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency)|Cavan–Monaghan]]
|-
| [[Bertie Ahern]]
| 1992–1994
| [[Dublin Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Central]]
|Albert Reynolds
|-
| [[Mary O'Rourke]]
| 1995–2002
| [[Longford–Westmeath (Dáil constituency)|Longford–Westmeath]]
| rowspan="2" |Bertie Ahern
|-
| [[Brian Cowen]]
| 2002–2008
| [[Laois–Offaly (Dáil constituency)|Laois–Offaly]]
|-
| [[Mary Coughlan (politician)|Mary Coughlan]]
| 2008–2011
| [[Donegal South-West (Dáil constituency)|Donegal South-West]]
|Brian Cowen
|-
| [[Mary Hanafin]]
| 2011
| [[Dún Laoghaire (Dáil constituency)|Dún Laoghaire]]
| rowspan="5" |Micheál Martin
|-
| [[Brian Lenihan Jnr]]
| 2011
| [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]]
|-
| [[Éamon Ó Cuív]]
| 2011–2012
| [[Galway West (Dáil constituency)|Galway West]]
|-
| [[Dara Calleary]]
| 2018–2020
| [[Mayo (Dáil constituency)|Mayo]]
|-
| [[Jack Chambers (politician)|Jack Chambers]]
| 2024–present
| [[Dublin West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin West]]
|}

===Seanad leader===
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Period
! Panel
|-
| [[Eoin Ryan Snr]]
| 1977–1982
| [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]]
|-
| [[Mick Lanigan]]
| 1982–1990
| [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]]<small> (1982–89)</small><br />[[Nominated members of Seanad Éireann|Nominated member of Seanad Éireann]] <small>(1989–90)</small>
|-
| [[Seán Fallon (politician)|Seán Fallon]]
| 1990–1992
| [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]]
|-
| [[G. V. Wright]]
| 1992–1997
|[[Nominated members of Seanad Éireann|Nominated member of Seanad Éireann]]
|-
| [[Donie Cassidy]]
| 1997–2002
| [[Labour Panel]]
|-
| [[Mary O'Rourke]]
| 2002–2007
| [[Nominated members of Seanad Éireann|Nominated member of Seanad Éireann]]
|-
| [[Donie Cassidy]]
| 2007–2011
| [[Labour Panel]]
|-
| [[Darragh O'Brien]]
| 2011–2016
| [[Labour Panel]]
|-
| [[Catherine Ardagh]]
| 2016–2020
| [[Industrial and Commercial Panel]]
|-
| [[Lisa Chambers]]
| 2020–present
| [[Cultural and Educational Panel]]
|}

==Electoral results==
Fianna Fáil was the most electorally successful party in 20th-century [[Democracy in Europe|democratic Europe]].<ref name="v040">{{cite book | last=Carty | first=R. Kenneth | title=The Government Party | chapter=Europe's Greatest Electoral Machine | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2022-03-24 | isbn=978-0-19-285848-1 | doi=10.1093/oso/9780192858481.003.0003 | pages=32–48 | url=https://academic.oup.com/book/41415/chapter-abstract/352732149?redirectedFrom=fulltext | quote=Fianna Fáil was democratic Europe's most electorally successful political party of the twentieth century. }}</ref>
===Dáil Éireann===
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%; text-align:center;"
|-
! Election
! Leader
! 1st pref<br />votes
! %
! Seats
! ±
! Government
|-
! [[June 1927 Irish general election|Jun 1927]]
| rowspan="12"| [[Éamon de Valera]]
| 299,486
| 26.2 (#2)
| {{Composition bar|44|153|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 44
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[September 1927 Irish general election|Sep 1927]]
| 411,777
| 35.2 (#2)
| {{Composition bar|57|153|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 13
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1932 Irish general election|1932]]
| 566,498
| 44.5 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|72|153|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 15
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1933 Irish general election|1933]]
| 689,054
| 49.7 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|77|153|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 5
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1937 Irish general election|1937]]
| 599,040
| 45.2 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|69|138|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 8
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1938 Irish general election|1938]]
| 667,996
| 51.9 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|77|138|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 8
| {{yes2|FF majority}}
|-
! [[1943 Irish general election|1943]]
| 557,525
| 41.9 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|67|138|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 10
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1944 Irish general election|1944]]
| 595,259
| 48.9 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|76|138|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 9
| {{yes2|FF majority}}
|-
! [[1948 Irish general election|1948]]
| 553,914
| 41.9 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|68|147|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 8
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1951 Irish general election|1951]]
| 616,212
| 46.3 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|69|147|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 1
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1954 Irish general election|1954]]
| 578,960
| 43.4 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|65|147|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 4
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1957 Irish general election|1957]]
| 592,994
| 48.3 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|78|147|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 13
| {{yes2|FF majority}}
|-
! [[1961 Irish general election|1961]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Seán Lemass]]
| 512,073
| 43.8 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|70|144|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 8
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1965 Irish general election|1965]]
| 597,414
| 47.7 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|72|144|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 2
| {{yes2|FF majority}}
|-
! [[1969 Irish general election|1969]]
| rowspan="3"| [[Jack Lynch]]
| 602,234
| 45.7 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|75|144|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 3
| {{yes2|FF majority}}
|-
! [[1973 Irish general election|1973]]
| 624,528
| 46.2 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|69|144|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 6
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1977 Irish general election|1977]]
| 811,615
| 50.6 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|84|148|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 15
| {{yes2|FF majority}}
|-
! [[1981 Irish general election|1981]]
| rowspan="5"| [[Charles Haughey]]
| 777,616
| 45.3 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|78|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 6
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[February 1982 Irish general election|Feb 1982]]
| 786,951
| 47.3 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|81|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 3
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[November 1982 Irish general election|Nov 1982]]
| 763,313
| 45.2 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|75|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 6
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1987 Irish general election|1987]]
| 784,547
| 44.1 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|81|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 6
| {{yes2|FF minority}}
|-
! [[1989 Irish general election|1989]]
| 731,472
| 44.1 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|77|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 4
| {{yes2|FF–[[Progressive Democrats|PD]]}}
|-
! rowspan=2| [[1992 Irish general election|1992]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Albert Reynolds]]
| rowspan=2| 674,650
| rowspan=2| 39.1 (#1)
| rowspan=2| {{Composition bar|68|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| rowspan=2| {{decrease}} 9
| {{yes2|FF–[[Labour Party (Ireland)|LP]]}} {{small|(1992–1994)}}
|-
| {{no2|Opposition}} {{small|(1994–1997)}}
|-
! [[1997 Irish general election|1997]]
| rowspan="3"| [[Bertie Ahern]]
| 703,682
| 39.3 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|77|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 9
| {{yes2|FF–PD}}
|-
! [[2002 Irish general election|2002]]
| 770,748
| 41.5 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|81|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 4
| {{yes2|FF–PD}}
|-
! [[2007 Irish general election|2007]]
| 858,565
| 41.6 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|77|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 4
| {{yes2|FF–[[Green Party (Ireland)|GP]]–PD}}
|-
! [[2011 Irish general election|2011]]
| rowspan="4"| [[Micheál Martin]]
| 387,358
| 17.5 (#3)
| {{Composition bar|20|166|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 57
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[2016 Irish general election|2016]]
| 519,356
| 24.3 (#2)
| {{Composition bar|44|158|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 23
| {{partial2|Confidence and supply}}
|-
! [[2020 Irish general election|2020]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/electoralProcess/electionResults/dail/2020/2020-05-01_33rd-dail-general-election-results_en.pdf|title=33rd DÁIL GENERAL ELECTION 8 February 2020 Election Results (Party totals begin on page 68)|website=Houses of the Oireachtas|access-date=2020-05-08|archive-date=15 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515140252/https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/electoralProcess/electionResults/dail/2020/2020-05-01_33rd-dail-general-election-results_en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 484,315
| 22.2 (#2)
| {{Composition bar|38|160|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 6
| {{yes2|FF–[[Fine Gael|FG]]–[[Green Party (Ireland)|GP]]}}
|-
! [[2024 Irish general election|2024]]
| 481,417
| 21.9 (#1)
| {{Composition bar|48|174|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 10
| {{yes2|FF-[[Fine Gael|FG]]-Ind}}
|}

=== Presidential elections ===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%;"
|-
! Election
! Candidate
! 1st pref.<br />votes
! %
! +/–
! Position
|-
| align="center" | [[1938 Irish general election|1938]]
| align="center" colspan="5" | Supported [[Douglas Hyde]] as an independent
|-
| align="center" | [[1945 Irish presidential election|1945]]
| align="center" | '''[[Seán T. O'Kelly]]'''
| align="center" | '''537,965'''
| align="center" | '''49.5%'''
| align="center" | —
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[1952 Irish presidential election|1952]]
| align="center" colspan="5" | Supported Seán T. O'Kelly as an independent
|-
| align="center" | [[1959 Irish presidential election|1959]]
| align="center" rowspan="2" | '''[[Éamon de Valera]]'''
| align="center" | '''538,003'''
| align="center" | '''56.3%'''
| align="center" | —
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[1966 Irish presidential election|1966]]
| align="center" | '''558,861'''
| align="center" | '''50.5%'''
| align="center" | {{Decrease}} 5.8
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[1973 Irish presidential election|1973]]
| align="center" | '''[[Erskine Hamilton Childers|Erskine H. Childers]]'''
| align="center" | '''635,867'''
| align="center" | '''52%'''
| align="center" | {{Increase}} 1.5
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[1974 Irish presidential election|1974]]
| align="center" | '''[[Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh]]'''
| align="center" | Unopposed
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[1976 Irish presidential election|1976]]
| align="center" | '''[[Patrick Hillery]]'''
| align="center" | Unopposed
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | N/A
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[1983 Irish presidential election|1983]]
| align="center" colspan="5" | Supported Patrick Hillery as an independent
|-
| align="center" | [[1990 Irish presidential election|1990]]
| align="center" | [[Brian Lenihan Snr|Brian Lenihan]]
| align="center" | 694,484
| align="center" | 44.1%
| align="center" | —
| align="center" | 2
|-
| align="center" | [[1997 Irish presidential election|1997]]
| align="center" | '''[[Mary McAleese]]'''
| align="center" | '''574,424'''
| align="center" | '''45.2%'''
| align="center" | {{Increase}} 1.1
| align="center" | 1
|-
| align="center" | [[2004 Irish presidential election|2004]]
| align="center" colspan="5" | Supported Mary McAleese as an independent
|-
| align="center" | [[2018 Irish presidential election|2018]]
| align="center" colspan="5" | Supported [[Michael D. Higgins]] as an independent
|}

===European Parliament===
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%; text-align:center;"
! Election
! Leader
! 1st pref<br />Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/−
! EP Group
|-
! [[1979 European Parliament election in Ireland|1979]]
| [[Jack Lynch]]
| 464,451
| 34.68 (#1)
| {{composition bar|5|15|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| New
| [[European Progressive Democrats|EPD]]
|-
! [[1984 European Parliament election in Ireland|1984]]
| rowspan=2 |[[Charles Haughey]]
| 438,946
| 39.18 (#1)
| {{composition bar|8|15|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 3
| rowspan=2 |[[European Democratic Alliance|EDA]]
|-
! [[1989 European Parliament election in Ireland|1989]]
| 514,537
| 31.51 (#1)
| {{composition bar|6|15|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
! [[1994 European Parliament election in Ireland|1994]]
| [[Albert Reynolds]]
| 398,066
| 35.00 (#1)
| {{composition bar|7|15|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 1
| [[Union for Europe|UFE]]
|-
! [[1999 European Parliament election in Ireland|1999]]
| rowspan=2 |[[Bertie Ahern]]
| 537,757
| 38.64 (#1)
| {{composition bar|6|15|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 1
| rowspan=2 |[[Union for Europe of the Nations|UEN]]
|-
! [[2004 European Parliament election in Ireland|2004]]
| 524,504
| 29.45 (#2)
| {{composition bar|4|13|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
! [[2009 European Parliament election in Ireland|2009]]
| [[Brian Cowen]]
| 440,562
| 24.08 (#2)
| {{composition bar|3|12|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 1
| rowspan=2 |[[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group|ALDE]]
|-
! [[2014 European Parliament election in Ireland|2014]]
| rowspan=3 |[[Micheál Martin]]
| 369,545
| 22.31 (#1)
| {{composition bar|1|11|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
! [[2019 European Parliament election in Ireland|2019]]
| 277,705	
| 16.55 (#2)
| {{composition bar|2|13|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 1
| rowspan=2 |[[Renew Europe|RE]]
|-
! [[2024 European Parliament election in Ireland|2024]]
| 356,794
| 20.44 (#2)
| {{composition bar|4|14|hex={{party color|Fianna Fáil}}}}
| {{increase}} 2
|}

==Front bench==
{{Main|Fianna Fáil Front Bench}}

==Ógra Fianna Fáil==
{{Main|Ógra Fianna Fáil}}
Ógra Fianna Fáil serves as the party's official youth wing.

==Fianna Fáil and Northern Ireland politics==
On 17 September 2007, Fianna Fáil announced that the party would for the first time organise in Northern Ireland. The then Foreign Minister [[Dermot Ahern]] was asked to chair a committee on the matter: "In the period ahead Dermot Ahern will lead efforts to develop that strategy for carrying through this policy, examining timescales and structures. We will act gradually and strategically. We are under no illusions. It will not be easy. It will challenge us all. But I am confident we will succeed".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/dott/ba170907.htm |title=Speech by Bertie Ahern at a Fianna Fáil conference, (17 September 2007) |last=Ahern |first=Bertie |publisher=[[University of Ulster]] Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN) website |date=17 September 2007 |access-date=24 June 2013 |archive-date=6 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606022057/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/dott/ba170907.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The party embarked on its first ever recruitment drive north of the border in September 2007 in northern universities, and established two 'Political Societies', the [[William Drennan]] [[Cumann]] in Queens University, Belfast, and the Watty Graham Cumann in UU Magee, Derry, which subsequently became official units of Fianna Fáil's youth wing, attaining full membership and voting rights, and attained official voting delegates at the 2012 Ard Fheis. On 23 February 2008, it was announced that a former [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP) councillor, Colonel [[Harvey Bicker]], had joined Fianna Fáil.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7260556.stm |work=BBC News |title=Fianna Fáil confirms UUP recruit |date=23 February 2008 |access-date=2 May 2010 |archive-date=19 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419103733/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7260556.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bertie Ahern announced on 7 December 2007 that Fianna Fáil had been registered in Northern Ireland by the [[Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)|UK Electoral Commission]].<ref name="rte-ukelcomm">{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/fianna-f%C3%A1il-leader-confirms-party-will-run-candidates-in-the-north-in-2019-1.1734326 |title=FF officially recognised in Northern Ireland |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=22 March 2014 |access-date=22 March 2014 |archive-date=22 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322064103/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/fianna-f%C3%A1il-leader-confirms-party-will-run-candidates-in-the-north-in-2019-1.1734326 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The party's Ard Fheis in 2009 unanimously passed a motion to organise in Northern Ireland by establishing forums, rather than cumainn, in each of its six counties. In December 2009, Fianna Fáil secured its first Northern Ireland Assembly MLA when [[Gerry McHugh]], an independent MLA, announced he had joined the party.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8387810.stm |work=BBC News |title=Assembly Member Joins Fianna Fail |date=1 December 2009 |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226124046/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8387810.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Mr. McHugh confirmed that although he had joined the party, he would continue to sit as an independent MLA. In June 2010, Fianna Fáil opened its first official office in Northern Ireland, in Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The then Taoiseach Brian Cowen officially opened the office, accompanied by Ministers Éamon Ó Cuív and Dermot Ahern and Deputies Rory O'Hanlon and Margaret Conlon. Discussing the party's slow development towards all-Ireland politics, Mr. Cowen observed: "We have a very open and pragmatic approach. We are a constitutional republican party and we make no secret of the aspirations on which this party was founded. It has always been very clear in our mind what it is we are seeking to achieve, that is to reconcile this country and not being prisoners of our past history. To be part of a generation that will build a new Ireland, an Ireland of which we can all be proud".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.crossexaminer.co.uk/archives/4509 |work=Crossmaglen Examiner |title=Taoiseach opens Fianna Fáil Party Office in Crossmaglen |date=27 June 2010 |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-date=23 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923120736/http://www.crossexaminer.co.uk/archives/4509 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Fianna Fáil has not contested any elections in Northern Ireland since its registration and recognition there in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7133848.stm |work=BBC News |title=Fianna Fáil accepted as NI party |date=7 December 2007 |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728075707/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7133848.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> At the party's 2014 Ard Fheis, a motion was passed without debate to stand candidates for election north of the border for the first time in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highlandradio.com/2014/03/22/fianna-fail-ard-fheis-passes-two-significant-donegal-north-east-motions |publisher=Highland Radio |title=Fianna Fail Ard Fheis passes two significant Donegal North East motions |access-date=25 July 2015 |date=22 March 2014 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307013551/http://www.highlandradio.com/2014/03/22/fianna-fail-ard-fheis-passes-two-significant-donegal-north-east-motions/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since 24 January 2019, the party have been in partnership with the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6998543.stm |title=Fianna Fáil 'will organise in NI' |publisher=[[bbc.co.uk]] |date=17 September 2007 |access-date=8 December 2007 |archive-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728075651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6998543.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> formerly the main [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]] party in Northern Ireland, but now smaller than [[Sinn Féin]]. There had long been speculation about the eventual partnership for several years prior. This was initially met with a negative reaction from [[Seamus Mallon]], former Deputy Leader of the SDLP, who stated he would be opposed to any such merger. Former leader of the SDLP [[Margaret Ritchie (politician)|Margaret Ritchie]] originally stated publicly that she opposed any merger, announcing to the Labour Party Conference that such a merger would not happen on her "watch". On 10 January 2019, Richie stated that she now supported a new partnership with Fianna Fáil.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46831690|title = Ritchie backs SDLP-Fianna Fáil alliance|work = BBC News|date = 2019-01-10|last1 = McClafferty|first1 = Enda|access-date = 25 January 2019|archive-date = 1 February 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190201054403/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46831690|url-status = live}}</ref>

Both Fianna Fáil and the SDLP currently have shared policies on key areas including addressing the current political situation in Northern Ireland, improving public services in both jurisdictions of Ireland, such as healthcare, housing, education, and governmental reform, and bringing about the further unity and cooperation of the people on the island and arrangements for a future poll on [[Irish reunification]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://sluggerotoole.com/2019/01/24/fianna-fail-and-sdlp-announce-joint-partnership/|title = Fianna Fail and SDLP announce joint partnership|date = 2019-01-24|access-date = 25 January 2019|archive-date = 25 January 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190125230456/https://sluggerotoole.com/2019/01/24/fianna-fail-and-sdlp-announce-joint-partnership/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46967829|title = SDLP and FF 'to unveil shared policies'|work = BBC News|date = 2019-01-23|access-date = 25 January 2019|archive-date = 26 January 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190126003314/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46967829|url-status = live}}</ref>

In September 2022, SDLP party leader [[Colum Eastwood]] announced the end of its partnership with Fianna Fáil, saying that the SDLP needed to move forward by "standing on its own two feet".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-63075543|title=SDLP signals end of partnership with Fianna Fáil|work=[[BBC News]]|date=29 September 2022|access-date=22 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sdlp-ends-three-year-partnership-with-fianna-fail-as-party-examines-poor-assembly-election-results-42025139.html|title=SDLP ends three-year partnership with Fianna Fail as party examines poor Assembly election results|work=[[Belfast Telegraph]]|date=28 September 2022|access-date=22 October 2022}}</ref>

==Representation in European institutions==
Fianna Fáil joined the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party|Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]] (ALDE) party on 16 April 2009, and the party's [[Members of the European Parliament]] (MEPs) sat in the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group|ALDE Group]] during the [[Seventh European Parliament|7th European Parliament]] term from June 2009 to 1 July 2014. The party is a full member of the [[Liberal International]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://liberal-international.org/our-members/regions/europe/|title=Our Members—Europe|publisher=Liberal International|access-date=4 May 2019|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023753/https://liberal-international.org/our-members/regions/europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to this, the party was part of the Eurosceptic [[Union for Europe of the Nations]] parliamentary group between 1999 and 2009.<ref name="Gillissen">{{cite book|first=Christophe|last=Gillissen|title=Ireland: Looking East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QoKaFhA-unwC&pg=PA157|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-90-5201-652-8|page=157–|access-date=21 May 2019|archive-date=1 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101151200/http://books.google.com/books?id=QoKaFhA-unwC&pg=PA157|url-status=live}}</ref>

Party headquarters, over the objections of some MEPs, had made several attempts to sever the party's links to the European right, including an aborted 2004 agreement to join the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party|European Liberal Democrat and Reform]] (ELDR) Party, with whom it already sat in the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Council of Europe]] under the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]] (ALDE) banner. On 27 February 2009, Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced that Fianna Fáil proposed to join the ELDR Party and intended to sit with them in the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group|Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]] (ALDE) Group in the European Parliament after the [[2009 European Parliament election|2009 European elections]].<ref name="FFfull-text-taoiseach-brian-cowen-at-the-official-opening-of-72nd-fianna-fail">[http://www.fiannafail.ie/feature/entry/full-text-taoiseach-brian-cowen-at-the-official-opening-of-72nd-fianna-fail/ "Full Text: Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the official Opening of 72nd Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis&nbsp;– Part 1"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303163833/http://www.fiannafail.ie/feature/entry/full-text-taoiseach-brian-cowen-at-the-official-opening-of-72nd-fianna-fail/ |date=3 March 2009 }}, Fianna Fáil website, posted 27 February 2009</ref>

In October 2009, it was reported that Fianna Fáil had irritated its new Liberal colleagues by failing to vote for the motion on press freedom in [[Italy]] (resulting in its defeat by a majority of one in the Parliament) and by trying to scupper their party colleagues' initiative for [[LGBT rights by country or territory|gay rights]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Andrew|last=Willis|url=http://euobserver.com/9/28912|title=Irish leader feeling the heat in EU liberal group|publisher=Euobserver.com|date=29 October 2009|access-date=22 November 2010|archive-date=10 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710205105/http://euobserver.com/9/28912|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2010, a report by academic experts writing for the votewatch.eu site found that FF "do not seem to toe the political line" of the ALDE Group "when it comes to budget and civil liberties" issues.<ref name=votewatch>{{cite web |url=http://www.votewatch.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/votewatch_report_voting_behaviour_in_the_new_european_parliament.pdf |title=Voting behaviour in the new European Parliament: the first six months, EP7, 1st Semester: July–December 2009 |publisher=Votewatch.eu |access-date=26 January 2010 |archive-date=28 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128132517/http://www.votewatch.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/votewatch_report_voting_behaviour_in_the_new_european_parliament.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Ireland|2014 European elections]], Fianna Fáil received 22.3% of first-preference votes but only returned a single [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]], a reduction in representation of two MEPs from the previous term. This was due to a combination of the party's vote further dropping in Dublin and a two candidate strategy in the Midlands North West constituency, which backfired, resulting in sitting MEP [[Pat "the Cope" Gallagher]] losing his seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstalk.ie/Luke-Ming-Flanagan-will-take-the-first-seat-in-Midlands-North-West|title=Luke Ming Flanagan takes first seat in Midlands North West|work=newstalk.com|access-date=25 July 2015|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226124122/https://www.newstalk.com/news/luke-ming-flanagan-will-take-the-first-seat-in-midlands-north-west-699481|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/elections/european-elections/midlands-north-west|title=Elections 2014 Midlands North West Constituency|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=25 July 2015|archive-date=23 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823225349/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/elections/european-elections/midlands-north-west|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/pat-the-cope-gallagher-fianna-fail-european-elections-1357940-Mar2014|title=Pat 'The Cope': Fianna Fáil's European election strategy could be 'dangerous'|first=Hugh|last=O'Connell|work=TheJournal.ie|date=12 March 2014 |access-date=25 July 2015|archive-date=15 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715035801/http://www.thejournal.ie/pat-the-cope-gallagher-fianna-fail-european-elections-1357940-Mar2014/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 23 June 2014, returning MEP [[Brian Crowley]] announced that he intended to sit with the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|European Conservatives and Reformists]] (ECR) rather than the ALDE group during the upcoming 8th term of the European parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0623/625874-fianna-fail-europe/|title=Crowley angers FF by joining conservative group|date=23 June 2014|work=RTÉ.ie|access-date=25 July 2015|archive-date=23 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623191808/http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0623/625874-fianna-fail-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> The following day on 24 June 2014 Crowley had the Fianna Fáil party whip withdrawn.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/24/fianna-fail-mep-brian-crowley-whip-withdrawn|title=Fianna Fáil MEP loses whip for joining rightwing European parliament bloc|first=Henry|last=McDonald|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=25 July 2015|date=24 June 2014|archive-date=5 September 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140905111710/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/24/fianna-fail-mep-brian-crowley-whip-withdrawn|url-status=live}}</ref> He has since been re-added to Fianna Fáil's website.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiannafail.ie/people/brian-crowley/|title=Brian Crowley|access-date=1 October 2017|archive-date=2 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002005936/https://www.fiannafail.ie/people/brian-crowley/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the [[European Committee of the Regions]], Fianna Fáil sits in the [[Renew Europe in the European Committee of the Regions|Renew Europe]] CoR group, with two full and two alternate members for the 2020–2025 mandate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://memberspage.cor.europa.eu/#/?mandate=mem&language=en&country=IE&v=1610988015469|title=Members Page v9.6.3.0|access-date=18 January 2021|archive-date=30 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230124440/https://memberspage.cor.europa.eu/#/?mandate=mem&language=en&country=IE&v=1610988015469|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://memberspage.cor.europa.eu/#/?mandate=alt&language=en&country=IE&v=1610988300766|title=Members Page v9.6.3.0|access-date=18 January 2021|archive-date=30 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230124440/https://memberspage.cor.europa.eu/#/?mandate=alt&language=en&country=IE&v=1610988300766|url-status=live}}</ref>  Kate Feeney is third vice-president of the Group.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bureau|url=https://reneweurope-cor.eu/bureau/|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Renew Europe CoR|language=en-GB|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513003820/https://reneweurope-cor.eu/bureau/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Conservatism}}
*[[:Category:Fianna Fáil politicians|Fianna Fáil politicians]]
*[[List of political parties in Northern Ireland]]
*[[List of political parties in the Republic of Ireland]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}<references group="nb"/>
==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
*Joe Ambrose (2006) ''Dan Breen and the IRA'', Douglas Village, Cork : Mercier Press, 223 p., {{ISBN|9780367891671}}
*Bruce Arnold (2001) ''Jack Lynch: Hero in Crisis'', Dublin : Merlin, 250p.  {{ISBN|1-903582-06-7}}
*Tim Pat Coogan (1993) ''De Valera : long fellow, long shadow'', London : Hutchinson, 772 p., {{ISBN|0-09-175030-X}}
*Joe Joyce and Peter Murtagh (1983) ''The Boss: Charles J. Haughey in government'', Swords, Dublin : Poolbeg Press, 400 p., {{ISBN|0-905169-69-7}}
*Stephen Kelly (2013),''Fianna Fáil, Partition and Northern Ireland'', Kildare : Irish Academic Press {{ISBN|978-0716531869}}
* Stephen Kelly (2016), ''A failed political entity': Charles J. Haughey and the Northern Ireland question, 1945–1992'', Kildare: Merrion Press {{ISBN|9781785370984}}
*F.S.L. Lyons (1985) ''Ireland Since the Famine'', 2nd rev. ed., London : FontanaPress, 800 p., {{ISBN|0-00-686005-2}}
*Dorothy McCardle (1968) ''The Irish Republic. A documented chronicle of the Anglo-Irish conflict and the partitioning of Ireland, with a detailed account of the period 1916–1923, etc.'', 989 p., {{ISBN|0-552-07862-X}}
*Donnacha Ó Beacháin (2010) ''Destiny of the Soldiers: Fianna Fáil, Irish Republicanism and the IRA, 1926–1973'', Gill and Macmillan, 540 p., {{ISBN|0-71714-763-0}}
*T. Ryle Dwyer (2001) ''Nice fellow : a biography of Jack Lynch'', Cork : Mercier Press, 416 p., {{ISBN|1-85635-368-0}}
*T. Ryle Dwyer (1999) ''Short fellow : a biography of Charles J. Haughey'', Dublin : Marino, 477 p., {{ISBN|1-86023-100-4}}
*T. Ryle Dwyer, (1997) ''Fallen Idol : Haughey's controversial career'', Cork : Mercier Press, 191 p., {{ISBN|1-85635-202-1}}
* Raymond Smith (1986) ''Haughey and O'Malley : The quest for power'', Dublin : Aherlow, 295 p., {{ISBN|1-870138-00-7}}
*Tim Ryan (1994) ''Albert Reynolds : the Longford leader : the unauthorised biography'', Dublin : Blackwater Press, 226 p., {{ISBN|0-86121-549-4}}
*Dick Walsh (1986) ''The Party: Inside Fianna Fáil'', Dublin : Gill & Macmillan, 161 p., {{ISBN|0-7171-1446-5|9780367891671}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website|fiannafail.ie}}
* [http://opac.oireachtas.ie/AWData/Library3/Library2/DL029085.pdf  'Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into the Beef Processing Industry']
* [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/683393-report-of-the-tribunal-of-inquiry-dunnes-payments.html Report of the McCracken Tribunal]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211502/http://www.planningtribunal.ie/images/finalReport.pdf Final report of the Mahon Tribunal]

{{Fianna Fáil}}
{{Political parties in Ireland}}
{{Political parties in Northern Ireland}}
{{European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party}}
{{Renew Europe}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fianna Fail}}
[[Category:Fianna Fáil| ]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:All-Ireland political parties]]
[[Category:Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties]]
[[Category:Christian democratic parties in Europe]]
[[Category:Conservative parties in Ireland]]
[[Category:Centrist parties in Europe]]
[[Category:Centre-right parties in Europe]]
[[Category:Irish republican parties]]
[[Category:Parties represented in the European Parliament]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1926]]
[[Category:Political parties in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Political parties in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Pro-European political parties in Ireland]]
[[Category:Social conservative parties]]