Information AboutFine Gael |
Fine Gael - The United Ireland Party, usually referred to as '''Fine Gael''' ( in the Republic Of Ireland with a membership of over 34,000, and is the largest Opposition party in Dáil Éireann . Fine Gael was founded on 3 September 1933 following the merger of its predecessor party Cumann Na NGaedhael , the Centre Party and the Army Comrades Association . Its origins are based in the struggle for Irish independence and the Pro-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War , identifying in particular Michael Collins as the founder of the movement. Today, Fine Gael describes itself as a party of the progressive centre though, with core values focussed on fiscal rectitude, individual rights and responsibilites and free enterprise. They are strongly pro-EU integration and opposed to violent Irish Republicanism . Fine Gael is the only member-party of the European People's Party (EPP) in Ireland. Its MEPs sit in the EPP-ED Group. LEADERS
''The leader is the President of the party'' CORE POLICIES , founding father of the pro-treaty movement, that would become Fine Gael]] Fine Gael, since the days of Cumann na nGaedheal, identified itself with the "law-and-order" tag. In Government the party has often utilised the forces of the State to combat lawlessness and Subversion . Owing to its origins in the pro-treaty faction of Sinn Féin, Fine Gael sees itself as the protector of the State's institutions. The Fine Gael party claims the pro-treay leader Michael Collins as its founding father. He remains a symbol for the party, and his anniversary is celebrated each year, on August 22nd at Beal Na Bláth and Glasnevin by senior and rank and file party members. Fine Gael has, since its inception, been a party of fiscal rectitude, advocating pro-enterprise policies while integrity in public life is a core value of the party. Fine Gael is perhaps the most pro-European integrationist party in the Republic of Ireland, advocating participation in European Common Defence. Many members also support membership of NATO. Today the party is closely associated with a campaign highlighting a perceived 'rip-off culture' in Ireland. The party has refused to move explicitly to either Social Democracy or explicitly to the Centre-right , as currently the majority of members from both the Christian-democratic and social-democratic tendencies in the party are happy with the definition of the party as being of "the progressive centre". HISTORY In the face of intimidation of Cumann Na NGaedheal meetings by the Anti-treaty IRA and the rise in support for Éamon De Valera 's Fianna Fáil from 1926, a new strategy was required to strengthen the voice of the pro-Treaty tradition who now found themselves in opposition. As a result 'Fine Gael–The United Ireland Party' was founded as an independent party in 1933, following the merger of Cumann na nGaedheal, the Centre Party and the Army Comrades' Association (also known as the Blueshirts, a right wing movement). The merger brought together two strands of Irish nationalism namely the pro-treaty wing of revolutionary Sinn Fein and the old Home Rule party represented by Dillon and the Centre Party. In reality, the new party was a larger version of Cumann na nGaedhael, the party created in 1923 by the Pro-Treaty leaders of the Irish Free State under William T. Cosgrave . The new party sought to end the Economic War , improve relations with Britain while advocating a United Ireland within the framework of the Commonwealth. After a short hiatus under the disastrous leadership of General Eoin O'Duffy , Cosgrave returned to lead the new party, continuing in the leadership until 1944. During this time, the party reverted back to what it had been like during the days of Cumann na nGaedheal, much to the disappointment of those who had advocated a merger on the basis of creating a better organised party machine. Although the people who formed the party had been in government for ten years in the Irish Free State (1922-32), once Fianna Fáil under Eamon De Valera came to power in 1932, Fine Gael spent the next sixteen years in the doldrums, overshadowed by the larger party. Indeed at times, it went into what was thought to be terminal decline on the opposition benches. Cosgrave finally resigned as leader in 1944 and was replaced by General Richard Mulcahy The party's fortunes seemed to be on the rise as the new leader sought to cast away the legacy of a weak party organisation that Cosgrave had bequeathed to Fine Gael. By the time the 1948 election was called, a number of first time candidates had been selected, with four of these subsequently elected as TDs. The Inter-Party Governments When the votes were counted in the 1948 general election, FG had 31 seats. While not disastrous given the number of young candidates returned and that the purely party vote had been retained despite the loss of key personalities, it was still a result that showed little promise for the future. However, FF had not won an overall majority. Fine Gael found itself in government, when all the anti-Fianna Fáil parties between them won enough seats in that year's general election to oust Fianna Fáil and take power. However, some of the other parties in the new First Inter-Party Government considered Fine Gael's leader, General Richard Mulcahy , to be too controversial a potential Taoiseach . ]] Notably, Clann Na Poblachta (under former anti-Treaty IRA chief of staff, Sean MacBride ), were opposed to him because of his role as Chief of Staff of the Irish Army in the execution of republicans during the Irish Civil War . Mulcahy selflessly stepped aside and former Attorney-General John A. Costello was chosen to head the government, which lasted from 1948 to 1951. Costello was an effective chairman of a coalition comprising many different shades of opinion. That Government is remembered for establishing the Industrial Development Authority and the formal declaration of a republic in 1949. Also a record number of houses were built, improvements were made in the tourism industry and the health minister Noel Browne successfully tackled the Tuberculosis disease. Costello also headed the Second Inter-Party Government, which had a much stronger Fine Gael representation, from 1954 to 1957. Fine Gael's Foreign Minister Liam Cosgrave negotiated Ireland's entry to the United Nations in 1955 and, in doing so, defined Irish foreign policy for decades. ]] The party's Health Minister Tom O'Higgins introduced the Voluntary Health Insurance Board (VHI) and thus established Ireland's partly insurance-based health service that persists today. Fianna Fáil and de Valera were returned to power in 1957, banishing Fine Gael once more to the opposition benches. Costello's Government, although it decided against the re-introduction of internment, responded to the activities of Saor Uladh and the mainstream IRA by stepping up security measures against these groups, leading to the arrest of prominent republicans. In response to this and to a rapid deterioration in the state of the economy, Clann na Poblachta withdrew its support and Costello was left with no choice other than to call an election.Maguire, John ''Internment, the IRA and the Lawless Case in Ireland: 1957-61'' Journal of the Oxford University History Society, 2 (Michelmas 2004) pp 2-4. Available http://users.ox.ac.uk/~jouhs/michaelmas2004/maguire02.pdf (Last visited, 14 July 2006). The Just Society and Tom O'Higgins Out of government, Fine Gael again went into decline. In the mid-1960s, however, it launched a new policy statement, known as ''The Just Society'', advocating policies based on principles of social justice and equality. That document was the brainchild of Declan Costello , a Fine Gael TD and son of former Taoiseach John A. Costello, and reflected an emerging faction in the party that was being influenced by Social Democracy. This new strand of thinking in Fine Gael paved the way for the rise within the party of liberal thinkers such as Garret FitzGerald . Party leaders of the time remained conservative but the seeds of the 1980s revolution had been sown. In 1966, Fine Gael's young presidential candidate, Tom O'Higgins , came within 1% of defeating the apparently unbeatable sitting president, Eamon De Valera , in that year's presidential election. This was regarded as a substantial achievement as Fianna Fáil had persuaded RTÉ to provide no coverage of the campaign and the election was held in the year of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in which de Valera had played a prominent role. O'Higgins came from the emerging Social Democrat wing of the party. The National Coalition When James Dillon resigned as Fine Gael leader in 1965, Liam Cosgrave (the son of Cumann Na NGaedheal founder W.T Cosgrave ) was chosen to replace him. The swift changeover was viewed as a means of keeping control of the party away from the emerging centre-left wing. In the wake of the Fianna Fáil Arms Crisis and Cosgrave's strong performances in opposition in defending the institutions of the State, the party was well-positioned to return to Government with the Labour Party (which had altered its 1960s anti-coalition stance). After a break of sixteen years, Fine Gael returned to power in 1973 , at the head of a ''National Coalition'' government with Labour, under Cosgrave's leadership, on the basis of a pre-election agreement between the two parties and active encouragement of each party's supporters to record Preferences for the other party's candidates. That government has generally been regarded as a well-meaning government containing much political talent, but was hit by frequent problems. Some of these were outside its control (for example the 1970s Oil Crisis ) and escalating violence in Northern Ireland , while others were its own direct creation — notably the public verbal attack on President Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh by an inebriated Minister for Defence, Patrick Donegan , in which the latter referred to the President as a "thundering disgrace". (Some witnesses to the speech recall the Minister as having employed a more forceful and colloquial adjective than "thundering.") President Ó Dálaigh's subsequent resignation in 1976, in response to Cosgrave's refusal to discipline his unruly subordinate, severely damaged the National Coalition's reputation. , who resigned following a clash with a Fine Gael minister.]] Cosgrave, like his father before him, showed a fierce determination to defend the institutions of state and would not compromise with extremists, instead working towards reconciliation. The National Coalition is noted for its attempts to build a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland through the Sunningdale Agreement . The Sunningdale Agreement collapsed after a Loyalist General Strike . However, it left a legacy of compromise that would lead to later Agreements aimed at bringing peace to the troubled region. The government's record in the area of civil liberties is more mixed, with allegations that an official blind eye was turned to the abuse in custody of republican suspects by a so-called "Heavy Gang" within the Garda Síochána , or police force. It was the Coalition's failure to address the economic problems of the day, however, with inflation, unemployment and national indebtedness all running at record levels, that led to its ultimate repudiation by the voters. In 1977 the Fine Gael/Labour government suffered a heavy defeat, with Fianna Fáil winning an unprecedented 20-seat majority in the 148-seat Dáil, a landslide under Proportional Representation . Garret FitzGerald Cosgrave resigned the leadership and was replaced by replaced him. Like FitzGerald, Dukes came from the wing of Fine Gael influenced by Social Democracy. The Rainbow Coalition From a highpoint in the 1980s, Fine Gael went into slight, then sharp decline. Despite Dukes launching the '' Tallaght Strategy '' in 1987, the party gained just four seats in the following general election. In 1990, its candidate in the Irish presidential election, Austin Currie , was pushed into a humiliating third place, behind the winner, Labour's Mary Robinson and Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan . This led to John Bruton replacing Alan Dukes as the party's leader. In 1989, political history was made when Fianna Fáil abandoned one of its "core principles", its opposition to coalition. Having failed in 1987 and 1989 to win outright majorities, Fianna Fáil entered into a coalition administration with the Progressive Democrats . Commentators predicted that that would leave Fine Gael isolated, with Fianna Fáil able to swap coalition partners to keep itself continuously in power. That indeed seemed the case when, after the 1992 general election, Fianna Fáil replaced the Progressive Democrats with the Labour Party. However the Fianna Fáil-Labour coalition disintegrated in 1994, allowing Bruton to emerge as Taoiseach of a three-party '' Rainbow Coalition '', involving Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left . This was in spite of a pre-election promise in 1992 from Bruton that Fine Gael would not enter government with the post-Marxist Democratic Left. There have been contradictions in the Fine Gael self image. The party of law and order was born from the Irish revolution, the party of stability flirted with the Blueshirts in the 1930s while there has been times when it has shared power with Leftist parties such as Clann na Poblachta and Democratic Left. Fine Gael had gained two seats at bye-elections (one from Fianna Fáil and one from the PDs) and Democratic Left two (one from Fianna Fáil and one from Labour): List Of Irish By-elections - 27th Dáil Éireann (1992-1997) .) This Government's first policy initiative was the introduction of divorce which was ratified in a referendum by a narrow majority. John Bruton gained respect for his leadership during the campaign on Divorce. The Government also oversaw the first period of unprecedented economic growth, job creation on a massive scale and Ireland's first budget surplus in over twenty five years. The Irish economy continued to thrive under Fine Gael and Labour with the introduction of the 12.5% rate of corporation tax and a modest cut in income tax. However, the Provisional IRA ceasefire ended in 1996, stalling the peace process. Many nationalists blamed the approach taken by Taoiseach John Bruton for this setback. The three parties worked well together and fought the 1997 election on a united platform. However, despite positive opinion polls throughout its time in office, the Government was narrowly defeated in the 1997 general election. Fine Gael gained nine seats but Labour lost heavily and the Rainbow Coalition was replaced by a Fianna Fáil- Progressive Democrats coalition under Bertie Ahern . Meltdown The party had little answer as popular Taoiseach Bertie Ahern cemented his title as the '' Teflon Taoiseach'' (a reference to his uncanny ability to emerge unscathed from controversy after controversy). The party, facing a hostile media and criticism of Bruton's style of leadership, ditched him in 2001 in place of what was seen as the ''dream ticket'' of former Minister Michael Noonan for leader and former minister Jim Mitchell for deputy leader. However the dream proved to be a nightmare, as Fine Gael suffered its worst-ever election result in the 2002 general election, declining from 54 TDs to 31. Many of its best TDs, including most of its front bench, in particular Deputy Leader Jim Mitchell, lost their seats. Noonan resigned on the night of the election result, and was replaced by former Trade and Tourism Minister Enda Kenny in the subsequent Leadership Election . With the scale of the collapse, questions were asked as to whether the party had a future. Recovery under Enda Kenny However, under its new leader Fine Gael staged a remarkable recovery in local and European elections held on 11 June 2004. Those elections were very much the acid test as to whether the party would compete seriously at a national level again. Most observers believed that modest losses in these elections would constitute a victory for Fine Gael. However, the party ran a highly successful campaign and managed to make significant gains. It became the largest Irish party in the European Parliament by winning 5 seats (compared to just 4 seats for the ruling Fianna Fáil party), while it came within 9 seats of becoming the largest party in local government. The recovery for Fine Gael was complete when it gained 20 seats at the 2007 General Election. The party ran an energetic and vibrant campaign which was boosted by the so called "Alliance For Change" agreed with the Labour party in Mullingar during 2005. The election did not sweep the party back into power but did bring in a new generation of young Fine Gael TDs who can shape the party's fortunes into the future. PRE-ELECTION PACT Since the endorsement by the Labour Party conference in Tralee , of a pre-election voting transfer pact with Fine Gael in 2005, Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte, the Labour party leader increasingly co-operated in parliamentary and public matters in the run up to the 2007 election. Following on from the Mullingar Accord, an election pact agreed after the 2004 Local and European elections, the two party leaders worked party rank and file into support of a second Rainbow Coalition of sorts. In the run up to the Irish General Election earlier this year, they began to draw up mutually acceptable and compatible policy documents. Fine Gael regained many of the seats it lost during the disastrous 2002 campaign going from 32 to 51. An Irish Times poll showed Fine Gael support to be just over 28% preceeding the election, a percentage that indeed transferred into its predicted seat gains. However, this is approximately the same percentage level of support as achieved by John Bruton in the 1997 General Election. CURRENT STATE OF THE FINE GAEL Fine Gael has 51 Dail seats currently. In the Irish General Election Of 24 May 2007 Fine Gael made gains of 20 seats. YOUNG FINE GAEL Logo]] Fine Gael have an active youth wing, Young Fine Gael . They were formed in 1977 by Garret FitzGerald and play an active part in the party's affairs and activities. IMPORTANT FIGURES Michael Collins , W.T Cosgrave , Kevin O'Higgins , Eoin O'Duffy , Richard Mulcahy , John A. Costello , James Dillon , Liam Cosgrave , Tom O'Higgins , Garret FitzGerald , Peter Barry , Alan Dukes , John Bruton , Nora Owen , Michael Noonan , Jim Mitchell Fine Gael in Europe Fine Gael Members Of The European Parliament elected in June 2004:
Fine Gael MEPs are part of the Group Of The European People's Party (Christian Democrats) And European Democrats (EEP-ED) group in the European Parliament. FINE GAEL FRONT BENCH
PARTY ORGANISATION BY CONSTITUENCY ADDITIONAL READING
EXTERNAL LINKS SEE ALSO FOOTNOTES |
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