Irish Political SystemEssay Preview: Irish Political SystemReport this essayThe Irish Political Party SystemIntroductionOne major reason why the Irish political party system has been very stable for the past 77 years is because it has effectively served the needs of the country. For the purpose of this paper the term effective will mean that the parties in combination have been able to meet the demands of the people and provide for a stable and democratic political system. The Irish party system and the major parties are very difficult to classify. The Irish party system does not conform to the typical patterns found in most other Western democracies. Three features in particular stand out in differentiating the Irish party system from others. The first is the lack of any “clear cleavage, rooted in Irish social structure” that underpins the party system (Gallagher, 1985, p. 1). The second feature is the fact that the two main parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, are very similar in their policies, both being conservative in their orientation. The third difference grows out of the strength of the two main parties–the ongoing weakness of the left (Gallagher, 1985, p. 1). These characteristics do indeed set the Irish party system off from more typical patterns.
The purpose of this paper is to show that the political system is stable by providing a brief background of the Irish political system, followed by a description of the three main political parties–Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Irish Labour Party, including their structure, ideology, and goals. Some of the more important minor parties that have influenced political life will be briefly considered as well. Finally, the three main parties will be compared in terms of supporters, competition for votes, and the coalitions that they have formed in the past and at the present time. The paper will conclude with a summary and show that one reason why the Irish party system is stable is because it has served the country effectively.
BackgroundThe basic divisions in the Irish party system go back to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that was signed in December, 1921 (Gallagher, 1985, p. 1; Gallagher, Laver, and Mair, 1995, p. 313). In the 19th century a succession of parties in Ireland had articulated a desire for greater autonomy for Ireland within the union of Great Britain and Ireland. They aimed for the restoration of an Irish parliament, such as the one that had existed for 18 years at the end of the previous century. A minority of the Irish wanted an end to the Union altogether, with an independent Irish Republic with no links to Great Britain. These two strands of nationalism co-existed uneasily with the former pursuing its aim ineffectually by parliamentary activity at Westminister while the latter equally ineffectually used campaigns of violence and, on occasion, attempted uprisings (Gallagher, 1985, pp. 2-3; Wallace, 1986, pp. 81-87).
In April of 1916 the Easter Rising in Dublin changed the Irish political situation forever (Ayearst, 1970, p. 34; Gallagher, 1985, p. 3). This effort to remove the British by force failed, but it set the stage for confrontation and conflict after World War I. The groups favoring autonomy within the United Kingdom had declined while the separatist party, Sinn Fein, gained increasing support. In the general election in December 1918 in the United Kingdom, Sinn Fein won 73 of the 105 Irish seats in the House of Commons. Sinn Fein now had an “undisputed hegemony in the twenty-six counties” of the south that were to become the Irish Free State (Gallagher, 1985, p. 3). These victors, instead of taking their seats at Wesminster, set up the Dail Eireann in Dublin in January of 1919 as the parliament of an independent Ireland.
The 1916 election was marked by large numbers of political and social pressure. There was an almost total revolt of all social classes opposing the policy of Ireland’s annexation. These were, by and large, Sinn Fein, Labour, and those belonging to the Labour Party in the U.K. We now see, however, what happened in London. Unsurprisingly, the reaction was very bitter. Sinn Fein attempted to use the British government as the “chicken and egg” to try to divide public opinion, and use them to weaken the opposition. This strategy didn’t work. The parties engaged in a political battle, but they were unable to find a way to convince the public that the “right” government, while it had been put out of power, did not provide the best protection for the interests of the working class. Many leading members of U.K. Labour Party, of this movement, felt that Labour’s anti-union, pro-union policy was only a small minority in the political system that was working for the British class, and that they should be crushed when a British government appeared with the British interests at stake.
The United Kingdom’s Great War (Finnish-Irish Democracy)
The English CivilWar, the first general conflict between Irish and British peoples of all classes in Europe, involved a massive series of British-Irish political alliances. In the early months of the war, Irish and British armies fought together for control of major land holdings. Ireland, as is well known, resisted an Anglo-Irish alliance with France as well as Austria in the First Great War and a second Anglo-Irish alliance with France in the First World War. And that was the last time that Ireland faced an Anglo-Irish conflict that was far from over.
The Great War was an epic struggle of political, economic, and military supremacy by two and a half million combatants of Irish, English, and British blood. The conflict pitted the Irish against the British in the struggle for power in the Anglo-Irish territories. This was due to the strength of the Irish in an alliance with the French in the first world war and, by extension, to the English-French and Spanish empires of the past century.
The United Kingdom was part of an Anglo-Irish Alliance that pitted its interests and interests with the interests of Irish and British people. These alliances included the Irish People’s Association, the Irish Labour Party, the Irish Students Association, the Anglo-Irish Federation of British Universities Federation, and the Anglo-Irish Labor Party (LBIB). All of these groups became the strongest political and economic power in the entire nineteenth century of the English-French alliance. This is a real war between the English class and Irish peoples, and that war was conducted in a strategic way, using Anglo-Irish forces at all times with the aim of crushing the Anglo-Irish alliance at the moment of British withdrawal.
To be sure, the Great War had the tragic conclusion that the Anglo-Irish alliance was doomed. In 1846, the British parliament had approved a treaty with Ireland that, as a consequence of a treaty of mutual aid to Ireland under its
After much fighting and conflict between the British military and paramilitary forces on the one hand and supporters of Irish independence on the other, the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed in December of 1921. The 26 southern counties became the Irish Free State with dominion status within the British Empire (Ayhearst, 1970, p. 38). The leaders of Sinn Fein were divided over whether to sign the treaty or not. The treaty failed to provide for a totally independent, all Ireland Republic (the six counties in Ulster–Northern Ireland–were not included in the Irish Free State). Divisions over the treaty were to become the basis for the current divisions in Irish politics to this day. Fianna Fail was descended from the groups that opposed accepting the treaty while Fine Gael has a direct line of descent from the supporters, reluctant though they were, of the treaty (Gallagher, 1985, p. 3; Steiner, 1997, p. 44). The disputes over the treaty eventually resulted in fighting between the supporters and opponents of the treaty. The groups accepting the treaty eventually won out, and in the spring of 1923, those opposing the treaty finally accepted the situation (Ayearst, 1970, pp. 40-41). The division over the treaty thus became the basis for the two major parties, which were structurally and historically internal factions of the old pan-nationalist party (Gallagher, 1985, p. 7). The third larger party, the Irish Labour party, is different in that it is not a product of the struggles over acceptance of the treaty. It was based in the Irish trade union movement and founded in the early years of the 20th century. It is the only current party that predates the treaty dispute, and it basically remained aloof from the debate (Manning, 1978, p. 69).
Irish Political PartiesFianna FailFianna Fail is the party that grew out of the treaty rejectionists, and it has been the largest political party in Ireland since 1932. At one time its members even claimed that they were a national movement and not just a political party. This claim is actually a credible statement since the party has had a deep impact on Irish society. Its influence has reached almost every area of Irish life (Allen, 1997, p. 1). Fianna Fail actually means Soldiers (or Warriors) of Destiny. It is symbolic of Irish legend and history with “the romantic appellation of a body of warriors and huntsmen who constituted a guard and task force of the ancient Irish high kings” (Ayearst, 1970, p. 66). Fianna Fails supporters come from all walks of life, as the party is rooted deeply in the Irish society. It draws support from upper class, middle class, and working class voters, as well as among rural voters, and there is a tradition of family loyalty to the party through generations of voters (Ayearst, 1970, p. 162). Thousands of working class voters have seen this party as their main hope for advancement (Allen, 1997, p. 6). Even the few Protestants in the Republic