Fine Gael

I

Introduction

Fine Gael (Irish Gaelic for “tribe of the Gaels”), major political party in Ireland, formed in September 1933 from the merger of the Cumann na nGaedheal Party, the Centre Party, and the quasi-fascist Blueshirt organization. Cumann na nGaedheal, the largest component of the new party, was derived from that part of revolutionary Sinn Fein that accepted the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, which established the Irish Free State, and won the ensuing Irish Civil War (1922-1923). Despite its revolutionary origins, during the 1920s Cumann na nGaedheal came to represent the interests of the propertied classes. The Centre Party, like Cumann na nGaedheal, drew support from large land-owning farmers who had supported the Irish Nationalist Party before it was superseded by Sinn Fein in 1928. The Blueshirts were an Irish manifestation of the 1930s Europe-wide phenomenon of shirted movements, some of which, like the Black Shirts in Italy, were explicitly fascist (see Fascism).

II

Early Years of Fine Gael

Fine Gael was formed in reaction to the accession to power in the Irish Free State of Eamon de Valera and his Fianna Fáil party. De Valera and his followers had been on the losing side in the Irish Civil War, but had reorganized after 1926 as Fianna Fáil, and won two general elections in a row in 1932 and 1933. Once in power, de Valera’s administration appeared to ignore attacks on their political opponents by the Irish Republican Army, and in response to this the Blueshirts organized themselves as an unofficial auxiliary to the regular police force. De Valera also stopped, in 1932, the payment of agreed annuities to the British exchequer for Irish lands purchased before independence. In response, the British government placed tariffs on Irish imports to Britain. The result of what was termed the economic war was particularly disastrous to the interests represented by the Centre and Cumann na nGaedheal parties, and together with the Blueshirts they founded a party with the express purpose of defeating de Valera in government.

At its inception Fine Gael adopted a corporatist policy, advocating close collaboration between employers and workers under the direction of the state, and appointed the head of the Blueshirts, General Eoin O’Duffy, as leader. O’Duffy, a former engineer, army general, and police commissioner, had no political experience. When in 1934 his commitment to parliamentary democracy came into question, he was forced to resign, and the Blueshirts were suppressed within the party.

Fine Gael offered a lackluster opposition to what seemed an undefeatable Fianna Fáil, which won six general elections in a row. Under the leadership of William Thomas Cosgrave, the party went into decline and was saved from extinction substantially by its participation in the inter-party governments of 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, which interrupted Fianna Fáil’s domination of government. In both inter-party governments Fine Gael found itself in coalition with its ideological opposites in the Labour Party and the radical republican party An Cumann Poblachta. In 1949 the first inter-party government led by Fine Gael’s John Aloysius Costello declared Ireland a republic, which contradicted the party’s hitherto pro-Commonwealth position.

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During the 1960s, there developed within Fine Gael support for liberal and social democratic ideas. The conservatism that had characterized the party, however, remained the dominant political ethos while Fine Gael remained under the leadership of Liam Cosgrave. From the 1960s there existed a tension and dichotomy within the party between its liberal social-democratic and traditional conservative wings.

III

Transformation of Fine Gael

When Garret FitzGerald succeeded Cosgrave as leader of Fine Gael in 1977, he transformed the party, bringing in supporters of his liberal agenda from outside the party’s traditional support base. FitzGerald’s new Fine Gael formed coalition governments in 1981 and 1982 to 1987 with the Labour Party. With FitzGerald’s resignation in 1987, the liberal baton was handed on to Alan Dukes. Dukes was defeated in a leadership contest following Fine Gael’s dismal performance in the 1990 presidential election. His successor, John Bruton, formed a coalition government with the Labour and Democratic Left parties in 1994, which continued the Northern Ireland peace process set in train by Fianna Fáil and Labour under Albert Reynolds.

Bruton’s coalition lasted until 1997, when declining popularity, a scandal involving cash donations to members of parliament, and severe criticism of his Northern Ireland policy by Fianna Fáil led the prime minister to call elections for June 6. In the elections, Bruton’s three-party coalition government was able to win only 75 seats in the 166-seat lower house of parliament. A coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats won 81 seats. Although no party came away with an overall majority, Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern became the new prime minister. Ahern led Fianna Fáil to victory again in 2002 and 2007. In 2002 Fine Gael made its worst showing since 1948, winning only 31 seats. In 2007 Fine Gael fared much better, securing 51 seats, but its coalition partners lost seats, and Fianna Fáil maintained its edge.

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