A number of political parties are represented in the
Dáil and
coalition governments are common. The Irish electoral system has been historically characterised as a
two-and-a-half party system, with two large catch-all parties, this being the centre-right
Fine Gael and the centrist
Fianna Fáil, dominating, and the "half-party", being Labour. This changed after the 2011 general election, following the large drop in support for
Fianna Fáil and the rise in support for other parties. Ireland's political landscape changed dramatically after the
2020 general election, when
Sinn Féin made gains to become the joint-largest party in the Dáil, making Ireland a three party system.
Fianna Fáil, a traditionally
Irish republican party founded in 1927 by
Éamon de Valera, is the largest party in the Dáil and considered centrist in Irish politics. It first formed a government on the basis of a
populist programme of land redistribution and national preference in trade and republican populism remains a key part of its appeal. It has formed government seven times since Ireland gained independence: 1932–1948, 1951–1954, 1957–1973, 1977–1981, 1982, 1987–1994, 1997–2011, and 2020-Present.
Fianna Fáil was the largest party in the Dáil from 1932 to 2011. It lost a huge amount of support in the
2011 general election, going from 71 to 20 seats, its lowest ever. Its loss in support was mainly due to its handling of the
2008 economic recession. It has since regained some support, but is yet to recover to its pre-2011 levels. The second largest party is
Sinn Féin, established in its current form in 1970 as a breakaway faction from the original political party of the same name (the remaining part has had several changes of name since, and is now known as the
Workers' Party). The
original Sinn Féin party played a major role in the
Irish War of Independence and the
1st Dáil, and both
Fine Gael and
Fianna Fáil trace their origins to this party, having split from it in 1922 and 1926, respectively. The current-day party split from this older Sinn Féin in a dispute over political ideology and a perceived lack of support for the so-called “armed struggle” against British rule in Northern Ireland, and as a result the newer party has been historically linked to the
Provisional IRA. The party is a
Republican party which takes a strongly left wing stance on economics and social policy, placing it to the left of the Labour party. Sinn Féin received the highest share of
first-preference votes in the 2020 general election, but finished level with Fianna Fáil in overall seats once
vote transfers had been counted. The third-largest party in the Dáil is
Fine Gael, which has its origins in the pro-Treaty faction of
Michael Collins in the
Irish Civil War. Traditionally regarded as the party of
law and order, it is associated with strong belief in pro-enterprise and reward. Despite expressions of
Social Democracy by previous leader Garret FitzGerald, today, it remains a
Christian democratic, economically liberal party along European lines, with a strongly pro-European outlook. Fine Gael was formed in 1933 out of a merger of
Cumann na nGaedheal (which had split from the original Sinn Féin in 1922), the
National Centre Party and the paramilitary
Blueshirts organisation. In more recent years it has generally been associated with a liberal, progressive, outlook. Fine Gael has formed governments in the periods 1922–1932 (as Cumann na nGaedheal), 1948–1951, 1954–1957, 1973–1977, 1981–1982, 1982–1987, 1994–1997, and from 2011 to present. In the
2011 general election, Fine Gael won 78 seats, its highest ever total, and a massive increase from the previous election. The fourth-largest party in the Dáil is the centre-left
Labour Party which was founded by
James Connolly and
Jim Larkin in 1912. Labour has formal links with the trade union movement and has governed in seven coalition governments – six led by Fine Gael and one by Fianna Fáil. This recurring role as a junior coalition partner has led to Labour being classed as the "half" party in Ireland's "two-and-a-half party system". Labour won a record number of seats, 37, at the
2011 general election, becoming the second-largest party for the first time in its history, following the collapse in support for Fianna Fáil. In 2011, Labour went into
coalition with Fine Gael, who had also won a record number of seats. Labour retained its place as one of Ireland's three largest parties up until the
2016 general election, when it suffered the worst general election defeat in its history, gaining just 7 seats. Much of this was due to being part of a government that had introduced unpopular
austerity measures to deal with the
economic crisis. The fifth-largest Dáil party is the centre-left
Social Democrats. The Social Democrats were founded in 2015 and made gains at the 2020 and 2024 general elections. The
People Before Profit–Solidarity electoral alliance, consisting of
People Before Profit and
Solidarity, is the 7th-largest party grouping within Dáil Éireann. Formed in 2015, the group represents a left-wing, socialist viewpoint.
Aontú, a party formed in 2019 by Sinn Féin members who were opposed to
repealing the eighth amendment, has two TDs. A party which gained at the 2024 election, was
Independent Ireland, a party formed in November 2023. The leader,
Michael Collins has said that the party seeks to provide "a comfortable alternative" to voters unhappy with the
Fianna Fáil–
Fine Gael–
Green Party coalition but unwilling to vote for
Sinn Féin. It has 4 TDs and one
MEP. Sixteen of the 174 TDs in the
34th Dáil are
Independent.
Party details Party representation ==Foreign relations==