Fianna F�il
- the Republican Party, was founded by �amon de Valera in 1926. Its aims are to:
-
Secure in peace and agreement the unity and independence of Ireland and its
people
- Develop a distinctive national life in accordance with the diverse
traditions of the Irish people
- Guarantee religious and civil liberty and
equal opportunities
- Develop the resources and wealth of Ireland to their
full potential
- Protect the natural environment and heritage of Ireland
- Promote the family and a wider sense of social responsibility
- Maintain the
status of Ireland as a sovereign state, as a full member of the European Union
and the United Nations on the basis of Ireland's independent foreign policy
tradition
- Reform the laws and institutions of the state to make them
caring and responsive to the needs of the citizen.
Fianna F�il was in
government in 1932-1948, 1951-1954, 1957-1973, 1977-1981, in 1982, from 1987 to
December 1994 and at present.
Its leaders have been �amon de Valera, 1926-1959, Sean
Lemass, 1959-1966, Jack Lynch, 1966-1979, Charles Haughey, 1979-1992, Albert
Reynolds, 1992-1994, and the current Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, from November
1994.
Its achievements have included the consolidation of Irish independence,
promulgation of the Constitution in 1937, maintenance of Irish neutrality in
the Second World War, construction of a domestic industrial base,
redistribution of agricultural land, the introduction and extension of housing
and social assistance programmes, the opening up of Ireland to trade and
investment, negotiating entry into the EEC and participation in the EU,
including a massive increase in EU funding and the attraction of high
technology industry and financial services to Ireland. In the 1992 to 1994
Government, in which Fianna F�il was the main partner, the Joint Declaration on
peace in Northern Ireland was signed by the Taoiseach and the British Prime
Minister at Downing Street on 15 December, 1993.
Fianna F�il is a broad based
party with strong representation in both urban and rural Ireland. Since 1932 it
has consistently been the largest party in the D�il, and at the last election
in June, 1997 won 77 out of the 166 seats in D�il �ireann. Fianna F�il is part
of the Union for Europe in the European Parliament.
The Party's Head Office is
at 13 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2.