,
Lemass,
Aiken and
Boland Fianna Fáil was founded by
Éamon de Valera, a former leader of
Sinn Féin. 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 was removed. It failed to pass at the Sinn Féin
Ard Fheis, leading de Valera and a number of other members, including most of Sinn Féin's parliamentary talent, to split from Sinn Féin. His new party adopted its name on 2 April of the same year. While it was also opposed to the
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. It largely pre-empted voters of the aforementioned groups from the
Labour Party (with its almost identical economic and social policy) following its entry into the Dáil in 1927. Fianna Fáil would go on to style themselves for several decades as "the real Labour Party". The split within Sinn Féin on the Anglo-Irish Treaty resulted in pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty Sinn Féin factions running in the 1922 general election. There was a clear victory for the pro-Treaty side, 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. 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, 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 – February 1948). Its longest single period out of office in the 20th century was four years and four months (March 1973 – July 1977). All of the party's leaders have served as
Taoiseach. 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 Fine Gael's
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. His successors such as Lemass, however, were able to turn around Ireland's economic fortunes as well as prime the country for entry into the
European Economic Community, later the
European Union. 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. 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. 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. In the
2011 general election, it suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state. This loss was described as "historic" in its proportions and "unthinkable". The party sank from being the largest in the Dáil to the third-largest, losing 58 of its 78 seats. 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. Cowen's premiership was sharply criticised in the media, with
The Sunday Times describing Cowen's tenure as Taoiseach as "a dismal failure" and in 2011 the
Irish Independent calling Cowen the "worst Taoiseach in the history of the State."
Since 2011 Martin continued to lead Fianna Fáil past 2011; In the
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. In 2018 the party was divided internally over how to handle that year's
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, 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. On polling day the Yes side won, 66% to 33%. After the
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, 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. 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. 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. The result prompted
Jim O'Callaghan and
Cathal Crowe to question whether Martin should lead the party into its next general election. In February 2023, former leader Bertie Ahern rejoined the party, having left in 2012. Over the course of 2024, several sitting Fianna Fáil councillors and former party members left to join the right-wing
Independent Ireland party. 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==