I.

Introduction

Fianna Fáil (Irish Gaelic for “soldiers of destiny”), major political party in Ireland. It was founded in 1926 by those Republican members of Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty that created the Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The treaty temporarily ended the Irish struggle for independence. The treaty not only failed to establish full independence for Ireland but also made many other concessions to Britain. The split over acceptance of the treaty led to a split in Sinn Fein and eventually to the Irish Civil War in 1922 and 1923; the anti-Treaty faction was defeated.

II.

Formation of Fianna Fáil

From 1923 until 1927 Eamon de Valera led an anti-Treaty Sinn Fein party that refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Irish Free State or to take its seats in its parliament, the Dáil Éireann. By 1926 the Irish Free State had been accepted as legitimate by the majority of its electorate, while the anti-Treaty Sinn Fein remained a marginalized political element. The decision of de Valera and his followers to abandon abstentionism and to accept the principle of entering parliament split the anti-Treaty Sinn Fein, with the majority following de Valera into parliament as Fianna Fáil.

Fianna Fáil sought to deliver on the Republican agenda of the Irish revolution: the unification of Ireland, the restoration of the Irish language, and the creation of a culturally and economically self-sufficient republican state. Drawing on the radical republican wing of Sinn Fein and the military personnel of the defeated IRA, Fianna Fáil formed a dynamic political machine at every level of Irish society.

III.

In Power

In 1932 the party was elected to power and remained in government until 1948. On the domestic front, de Valera suppressed threats to the stability of the state from quasi-fascist Blueshirts and the IRA, which had supported him during earlier elections. Fianna Fáil also implemented much-needed social reforms, including slum clearance in the larger cities. In 1932 de Valera refused to pay agreed annuities to the British exchequer for land purchased by Irish farmers prior to independence in 1922. In retaliation, the British imposed tariffs on Irish goods. The ensuing “economic war” aided Fianna Fáil’s policy of self-sufficiency, and small Irish industries thrived behind the new tariff wall.

Fianna Fáil soon started to dismantle the Anglo-Irish Treaty settlement of 1921 by abolishing the oath of allegiance to the British Crown and ignoring its representative, the governor-general. In 1937, Fianna Fáil enacted its own more republican constitution, which failed to recognize the British Crown or Commonwealth of Nations. It also claimed jurisdiction over Northern Ireland, and gave the Roman Catholic Church special recognition within the state.

Under Fianna Fáil, Eire, as Ireland was named under the new constitution, remained neutral during World War II (1939-1945). De Valera led the party until 1959, when he was succeeded by Sean Lemass. The party presided in government over a decade of unprecedented economic growth during the 1960s and abandoned the economic isolationism of the 1930s by encouraging foreign investment in the economy. With the outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland in 1968, Fianna Fáil, despite its revolutionary and republican origins, adopted a largely non-interventionist policy.

Removed from office in 1973 in favor of a Fine Gael/Labour Party coalition, the party was returned with a huge majority in 1977 under John Mary (Jack) Lynch. Lynch was defeated in a leadership contest in 1979, and was succeeded by one of the most dynamic Irish ministers of the 1960s, Charles James Haughey. Haughey initially continued the policy of high borrowing and spending that typified 1970s Irish fiscal policy.

IV.

Coalition Governments

Haughey led two of the most controversial administrations in recent Irish political history in the early 1980s. After a series of scandals, Fianna Fáil was defeated in the 1982 general election. Unable to achieve an overall majority, Haughey entered into a coalition in the late 1980s, for the first time in the party’s history, with the Progressive Democrats. Haughey was forced to resign from office in 1992 and replaced by Albert Reynolds. Under Reynolds’ Fianna Fáil/Labour Party coalition government (1993-1994) the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process were facilitated. After the collapse of this coalition in November 1994, Reynolds was succeeded as Fianna Fáil leader by the former finance minister Bertie Ahern, and as prime minister by John Bruton, leader of the Fine Gael party.

Fianna Fáil remained in opposition until June 1997, when Bruton called elections due to declining popularity and a scandal involving large cash donations to members of parliament, including members of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. In the June 6 elections, a coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats won 81 seats in the 166-member lower house, compared to 75 seats won by the three-party coalition government headed by Fine Gael. Although neither party achieved an overall majority, Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern became the new prime minister. He formed a coalition government with the Progressive Democratic Party.

Ahern participated, along with British prime minister Tony Blair, in negotiations intended to bring peace to Northern Ireland. In 1998 he signed the Good Friday Agreement, a plan for power-sharing between Catholic and Protestant factions in Northern Ireland. The plan finally took effect in 2007. Ahern again led Fianna Fáil to victory in parliamentary elections in 2002 and 2007, although the party failed to win an absolute majority either time.