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Politics of the Republic of Ireland | |
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| Polity type | Unitaryparliamentary democraticRepublic |
| Constitution | Constitution of Ireland |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Oireachtas |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Meeting place | Leinster House |
| Upper house | |
| Name | Seanad Éireann |
| Presiding officer | Mark Daly,Cathaoirleach |
| Appointer | Indirect Election |
| Lower house | |
| Name | Dáil Éireann |
| Presiding officer | Verona Murphy,Ceann Comhairle |
| Appointer | Election |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state | |
| Title | President of Ireland |
| Currently | Catherine Connolly |
| Appointer | Election |
| Head of government | |
| Title | Taoiseach |
| Currently | Micheál Martin |
| Appointer | President |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Government of Ireland |
| Current cabinet | 35th government |
| Leader | Taoiseach |
| Deputy leader | Tánaiste |
| Appointer | Election by Oireachtas |
| Headquarters | Government Buildings |
| Ministries | 18 |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary |
| Supreme Court | |
| Chief judge | Donal O'Donnell |
| Seat | Four Courts,Dublin |
| Court of Appeal | |
| Chief judge | Caroline Costello |
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Administrative geography | ||||||||
Ireland is aparliamentary,representative democratic republic and a member state of theEuropean Union. While thehead of state is the popularly electedPresident of Ireland, it is a largely ceremonial position, with real political power being vested in theTaoiseach, who is nominated by theDáil and is the head of thegovernment.
Executive power is exercised by thegovernment, which consists of no more than 15 cabinet ministers, inclusive of the Taoiseach andTánaiste (the deputy head of government).Legislative power is vested in theOireachtas, thebicameral national parliament, which consists ofDáil Éireann,Seanad Éireann and thePresident of Ireland. Thejudiciary isindependent of the executive and the legislature. The head of the judiciary is theChief Justice, who presides over theSupreme Court.
Ireland has amulti-party system.Fianna Fáil andFine Gael, historically opposed and competing entities, which both occupy the traditional centre ground, trace their roots to the opposing sides of theIrish Civil War. All governments since 1932 have been led by one or the other party, with Fianna Fáil having had sufficient support at many elections to govern alone. Fluctuations in seat levels allowed changes in governments through different coalitions. From 1932 to 2011, the parties were stable in their support, with Fianna Fáil the largest at each election, Fine Gael the second largest, and on all but two occasions, theLabour Party the third party. The last three elections, however, have each had more volatile results. At the2011 election, the largest parties in order were Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil;[1] at the2016 election, the largest parties in order were Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil andSinn Féin;[2] and at the2020 election, the largest parties were Fianna Fáil first in seats (second in votes), Sinn Féin second in seats (first in votes), and then Fine Gael. The result was historically good for Sinn Féin.[3]
In June 2020, leader of Fianna Fáil,Micheál Martin, became the new Taoiseach (head of government). He formed a historic three-party coalition consisting of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. It was the first time in history that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were in the same government. The previous Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael,Leo Varadkar, became the Tánaiste (deputy head of government). Martin led the country as Taoiseach until 17 December 2022, when he changed posts with Varadkar.[4]
TheEconomist Intelligence Unit rated Ireland a "full democracy" in 2022.[5][needs update] According to theV-Dem Democracy indices, Ireland was the 3rd most electoral democratic country in the world in 2024.[6]
The state operates under the Constitution of Ireland (Irish:Bunreacht na hÉireann) which was adopted in 1937 by means of a plebiscite. The constitution falls within theliberal democratic tradition. It defines the organs of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights. The Constitution can only beamended by means of a referendum. Important constitutional referendums have concerned issues such asabortion, thestatus of the Catholic Church,divorce, theEuropean Union andsame-sex marriage.
The head of state is the President of Ireland. In keeping with the state'sparliamentary system of government, the President exercises a mainly ceremonial role but does possess certain specific powers. The presidency is open to all Irish citizens who are at least 35. They are directly elected by secret ballot under thealternative vote. A candidate may be nominated for election as president by no fewer than 20 members of the Oireachtas or by four or more ofIreland's 31 County and City Councils. A retiring President may nominate themselves as a candidate for re-election. If only one valid candidate is nominated for election, for example if there is consensus among the political parties to nominate a single candidate, it is unnecessary to proceed to a ballot and that candidate is deemed elected. The President is elected to a seven-year term of office and no person may serve more than two terms.
In carrying out certain of their constitutional functions, the President is aided by theCouncil of State. There is no vice-president in Ireland. If for any reason the President is unable to carry out their functions, or if the Office of President is vacant, the duties of the President are carried out by thePresidential Commission.
The President may not veto bills passed by the Oireachtas but may, after consultation with the Council of State, refer them to theSupreme Court of Ireland for a ruling on whether they comply with the constitution. The President may refuse a request of the Taoiseach for a dissolution ofDáil Éireann, although no request for a dissolution has ever been refused.
Article 15 of theConstitution of Ireland established the Oireachtas as the national parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of thePresident of Ireland and two elected houses: Dáil Éireann (the House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann (the Senate). As the Oireachtas also consists of the President, the title of the two law-making houses is the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Dáil is by far the dominant house of the legislature.
Members of the Dáil are directly elected at least once in every five years under thesingle transferable vote form ofproportional representation from multi-seat constituencies. Membership of the house is open to all Irish citizens who are at least 21 and permanently resident in the State. The electorate consists of all Irish and British citizens resident in Ireland over the age of 18. Members of the Dáil are known asTeachta Dála or TDs. As of 2025, there are 174 TDs, of which one, theCeann Comhairle (presiding officer), is automatically returned at an election. The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance must be members of the Dáil. The Dáil is the only House which can introduce and amend money bills (i.e. financial and tax legislation). Since the early 1980s, no single party has had a majority in Dáil Éireann, so thatcoalition governments have been the norm.
The Seanad is a largely advisory body. It consists of sixty members called Senators. An election for the Seanad must take place no later than 90 days after a general election for the members of the Dáil. Eleven Senators are nominated by the Taoiseach while a further six are elected by certain national universities. The remaining 43 are elected from special vocational panels of candidates, the electorate for which consists of the 60 members of the outgoing Senate, the 174 TDs of the incoming Dáil and the 949 elected members of31 local authorities. The Seanad has the power to delay legislative proposals and is allowed 90 days to consider and amend bills sent to it by the Dáil (excluding money bills). The Seanad is only allowed 21 days to consider money bills sent to it by the Dáil. The Seanad cannot amend money bills but can make recommendations to the Dáil on such bills. No more than two members of a government may be members of the Seanad, and only twice since 1937 have members of the Seanad been appointed to government.
Executive authority is exercised by a cabinet known simply asthe Government. Article 28 of the Constitution states that the Government may consist of no less than seven and no more than fifteen members, namely theTaoiseach (prime minister), theTánaiste (deputy prime minister) and up to thirteen other ministers. TheMinister for Finance is the only other position named in the Constitution. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President, after beingnominated by Dáil Éireann. The remaining ministers are nominated by the Taoiseach and appointed by the President following their approval by the Dáil. The Government must enjoy the confidence of Dáil Éireann and, in the event that they cease to enjoy the support of the lower house, the Taoiseach must either resign or request the President to dissolve the Dáil, in which case a general election follows.
Ireland is acommon law jurisdiction. The judiciary consists of theSupreme Court, theCourt of Appeal and theHigh Court established by the Constitution and other lower courts established by statute law. Judges are appointed by the President after being nominated by the Government and can be removed from office only for misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only by resolution of both houses of the Oireachtas. The final court of appeal is the Supreme Court, which consists of the Chief Justice, nine ordinary judges and,ex officio the Presidents of the Court of Appeal and the High Court. The Supreme Court rarely sits as a full bench and normally hears cases in chambers of three, five or seven judges.
The courts established by the constitution have the power ofjudicial review and may declare to be invalid both laws and acts of the state which are repugnant to the constitution.
The Government, through the civil and public services and state-sponsored bodies, is a significant employer in the state; these three sectors are often called thepublic sector. Management of these various bodies vary, for instance in the civil service there will be clearly defined routes and patterns whilst among public services a sponsoring minister or theMinister for Finance may appoint a board or commission. Commercial activities, where the state involves itself, are typically through the state-sponsored bodies which are usually organised in a similar fashion to private companies.
A 2005 report on public sector employment, showed that in June 2005 the numbers employed in the public sector stood at 350,100; of these by sector they were 38,700 (civil service), 254,100 (public service) and 57,300 (state-sponsored). The total workforce of the state was 1,857,400 that year, thus the public sector represents approximately 20% of the total workforce.[7]
The civil service of Ireland consists of two broad components, theCivil Service of the Government and theCivil Service of the State. Whilst these two components are largely theoretical, they do have some fundamental operational differences. The civil service is expected to maintain the political impartiality in its work, and some sections of it are entirely independent of Government decision making.
Thepublic service is a relatively broad term and is not clearly defined and sometimes is taken to include the civil service. The public service proper consists of Government agencies and bodies which provide services on behalf of the Government but are not the core civil service. For instancelocal authorities,Education and Training Boards andGarda Síochána are considered to be public services.
Article 28A of the constitution of Ireland provides a constitutional basis for local government. The Oireachtas is empowered to establish the number, size and powers of local authorities by law. Under Article 28A, members of local authorities must be directly elected by voters at least once every five years.
Local government in Ireland is governed by a series of Local Government Acts, beginning with theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The most significant of these is theLocal Government Act 2001, which established a two-tier structure of local government. TheLocal Government Reform Act 2014 abolished the bottom tier, the town councils, leaving 31 local authorities. There are 26 County Councils (County Dublin having been divided into three council areas), 3 City Councils (Dublin,Cork andGalway), and 2 City and County Councils (Limerick andWaterford).
A number of political parties are represented in theDáil andcoalition governments are common. The Irish electoral system has been historically characterised as atwo-and-a-half party system, with two large catch-all parties, this being the centre-rightFine Gael and the centristFianna Fáil, dominating, and the "half-party", being Labour. This changed after the 2011 general election, following the large drop in support forFianna Fáil and the rise in support for other parties. Ireland's political landscape changed dramatically after the2020 general election, whenSinn Féin made gains to become the joint-largest party in the Dáil, making Ireland a three party system.
Fianna Fáil, a traditionallyIrish republican party founded in 1927 byÉamon de Valera, is the largest party in the Dáil and considered centrist in Irish politics. It first formed a government on the basis of apopulist 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 the2011 general election, going from 71 to 20 seats, its lowest ever. Its loss in support was mainly due to its handling of the2008 economic recession. It has since regained some support, but is yet to recover to its pre-2011 levels.
The second largest party isSinn 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 theWorkers' Party). Theoriginal Sinn Féin party played a major role in theIrish War of Independence and theFirst Dáil, and bothFine Gael andFianna 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 theProvisional IRA. The party is aRepublican 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 offirst-preference votes in the 2020 general election, but finished level with Fianna Fáil in overall seats oncevote transfers had been counted.
The third-largest party in the Dáil isFine Gael, which has its origins in the pro-Treaty faction ofMichael Collins in theIrish Civil War. Traditionally regarded as the party oflaw and order, it is associated with strong belief in pro-enterprise and reward. Despite expressions ofSocial Democracy by previous leader Garret FitzGerald, today, it remains aChristian democratic, economically liberal party along European lines, with a strongly pro-European outlook. Fine Gael was formed in 1933 out of a merger ofCumann na nGaedheal (which had split from the original Sinn Féin in 1922), theNational Centre Party and the paramilitaryBlueshirts 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 the2011 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-leftLabour Party which was founded byJames Connolly andJim 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 the2011 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 intocoalition 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 the2016 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 unpopularausterity measures to deal with theeconomic crisis.
The fifth-largest Dáil party is the centre-leftSocial Democrats. The Social Democrats were founded in 2015 and made gains at the 2020 and 2024 general elections.
ThePeople Before Profit–Solidarity electoral alliance, consisting ofPeople Before Profit andSolidarity, 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 torepealing the eighth amendment, has two TDs.[8]
A party which gained at the 2024 election, wasIndependent 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 theFianna Fáil–Fine Gael–Green Party coalition but unwilling to vote forSinn Féin.[9] It has 4 TDs and oneMEP.
Sixteen of the 174 TDs in the34th Dáil areIndependent.[10]
| Party | Representation (as of Nov. 2025) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oireachtas | European Parliament | Local councils | ||||
| Dáil Éireann | Seanad Éireann | |||||
| Fianna Fáil | 48 / 174 | 19 / 60 | 4 / 14 | 246 / 949 | ||
| Sinn Féin[e] | 39 / 174 | 6 / 60 | 2 / 14 | 99 / 949 | ||
| Fine Gael | 37 / 174 | 17 / 60 | 4 / 14 | 246 / 949 | ||
| Labour | 11 / 174 | 2 / 60 | 1 / 14 | 56 / 949 | ||
| Social Democrats | 11 / 174 | 1 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 33 / 949 | ||
| Independent Ireland | 4 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 1 / 14 | 24 / 949 | ||
| PBP–Solidarity[f] | 3 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 13 / 949 | ||
| Aontú | 2 / 174 | 1 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 8 / 949 | ||
| Green[g] | 1 / 174 | 1 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 23 / 949 | ||
| 100% Redress | 1 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 4 / 949 | ||
| Right to Change | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
| Inds. 4 Change | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
| Kerry Ind. Alliance | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
| National Party | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
| Workers and Unemployed | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
| Republican Sinn Féin[h] | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
| Independent Left[h] | 0 / 174 | 0 / 60 | 0 / 14 | 1 / 949 | ||
 | ||||||||||
| Party | Leader | First-preference votes | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | FPv%[i] | Swing (pp) | Cand.[12] | 2020 | Out. | Elected 2024 | Change | |||
| Fianna Fáil | Micheál Martin | 481,414 | 21.86 |  0.32 | 82 | 38[j] | 36 | 48[j] |  10 | |
| Sinn Féin | Mary Lou McDonald | 418,627 | 19.01 | 5.52 | 71 | 37 | 33 | 39 | 2 | |
| Fine Gael | Simon Harris | 458,134 | 20.80 | 0.06 | 80 | 35 | 32 | 38 | 3 | |
| Social Democrats | Holly Cairns | 106,028 | 4.81 | 1.91 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 5 | |
| Labour | Ivana Bacik | 102,457 | 4.65 | 0.27 | 32 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 5 | |
| Independent Ireland | Michael Collins | 78,276 | 3.55 | New | 28 | New | 3 | 4 | New | |
| PBP–Solidarity[k] •People Before Profit •Solidarity | Collective leadership •Richard Boyd Barrett •Collective leadership | 62,481 49,344 13,137 | 2.84 2.24 0.60 | 0.210.400.01 | 42 33 9 | 5 4 1 | 5 4 1 | 3 2 1 | 22 | |
| Aontú | Peadar Tóibín | 86,134 | 3.91 | 2.01 | 43 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Green | Roderic O'Gorman | 66,911 | 3.04 | 4.09 | 43 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 11 | |
| 100% Redress | Tomás Devine | 6,862 | 0.31 | New | 1 | New | 0 | 1 | New | |
| Irish Freedom | Hermann Kelly | 14,838 | 0.67 | 0.42 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| The Irish People[l] | Anthony Cahill | 7,626 | 0.35 | New | 21 | New | 0 | 0 | New | |
| National Party[l] | Disputed | 6,511 | 0.30 | 0.08 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| Inds. 4 Change | None | 5,166 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Ireland First[l] | Derek Blighe | 3,339 | 0.15 | New | 2 | New | 0 | 0 | New | |
| Right to Change | Joan Collins | 2,907 | 0.13 | New | 1 | New | 1 | 0 | New | |
| Liberty Republic | Ben Gilroy | 1,936 | 0.09 | New | 6 | New | 0 | 0 | New | |
| Party for Animal Welfare | Darren Furlong | 884 | 0.04 | New | 3 | New | 0 | 0 | New | |
| Rabharta | Lorna Bogue | 626 | 0.03 | New | 3 | New | 0 | 0 | New | |
| Centre Party[m] | Andrew Kelly | 548 | 0.02 | 0.23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| Independent[n] | — | 290,748 | 13.20 | 1.00 | 171 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 3 | |
| Vacant | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | |
| Total valid | 2,202,453 | 99.3 | ||||||||
| Spoilt votes | 15,849 | 0.7 | ||||||||
| Total | 2,218,302 | 100 | — | 686 | 160 | 160 | 174[j] | 14 | ||
| Registered voters/Turnout | 3,715,285 | 59.71 | 3.00 | |||||||
| Source :Houses Of the Oireachtas | ||||||||||
Ireland's foreign relations are substantially influenced by its membership of theEuropean Union, although bilateral relations with the United States and United Kingdom are also important to the country. It is one of the group of smaller nations in the EU, and has traditionally followed a non-aligned foreign policy.
Ireland tends towards independence in foreign policy, thus it is not a member ofNATO and has alongstanding policy of military neutrality.
This policy has helped theIrish Defence Forces to be successful in their contributions to UN peace-keeping missions since 1960 (in theCongo CrisisONUC) and subsequently inCyprus (UNFICYP),Lebanon (UNIFIL), Iran/Iraq Border (UNIIMOG),Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR &EUFOR Althea),Ethiopia andEritrea (UNMEE),Liberia (UNMIL),East Timor (INTERFET),Darfur andChad (EUFOR Tchad/RCA).
Northern Ireland has been a major factor in Irish politics since the island of Ireland was divided between Northern Ireland and what is now the Republic in 1920. The creation of Northern Ireland led to conflict between northernnationalists (mostlyRoman Catholic) who seek unification with the Republic andUnionists (mostlyProtestant) who opposed British plans for Irish Home Rule and wished for Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. After the formation ofNorthern Ireland in 1921 following its opt out from the newly formedIrish Free State, manyRoman Catholics andRepublicans were discriminated against. The abolition ofProportional Representation and thegerrymandering of constituency boundaries led to Unionists being over-represented at Stormont and at Westminster. EvenJames Craig who was prime minister ofNorthern Ireland boasted of hisProtestant Parliament for a Protestant People. In the 1960sNICRA was set up to end discrimination between Catholics and Protestants. There was a massive backlash to this from sections of theUnionist community. This conflict exploded into violence in the late sixties with the beginning of theTroubles, involving groups such as theProvisional IRA,loyalist paramilitaries, thepolice and theBritish army, the latter originally drafted in to protect Catholic communities from loyalist violence. These clashes were to result in the suspension of the Stormont Parliament and unsuccessful efforts by the British Government to encourage a power-sharing Executive in Northern Ireland which were only realised following theGood Friday Agreement in 1998. The Troubles caused thousands of deaths in Northern Ireland but also spilled over into bombings and acts of violence in England and the Republic.
Since its foundation it has been the stated long-term policy of governments of what is now the Republic to bring an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland and to bring about aunited Ireland. Northern Ireland has also, in the past, often been a source of tension between the Irish Government and the government of the United Kingdom. To find a solution to the Troubles the Irish Government became a partner in theGood Friday Agreement in 1998.
While Sinn Féin have long organised in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, Fianna Fáil did not register as a party inDerry until December 2007,[15] when it also began recruiting members atQueen's University,Belfast although both are extremely small.
Under theGood Friday Agreement andArticle 3 of the Constitution a North-South Ministerial Council and six North-South Implementation Bodies co-ordinate activities and exercise a limited governmental role within certain policy areas across the whole island of Ireland. The Implementation Bodies have limited executive authority in six policy areas. Meetings of the Council take the form of meetings between ministers from both the Republic's Government and theNorthern Ireland Executive. The council was suspended from 2002 to 2007. However, with the resumption of devolved government in Northern Ireland in May 2007, the council has now re-assumed its duties.
