Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Republic of Ireland
Image:COA of Ireland.svg This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Ireland

Constitution Referendum
Oireachtas Seanad Éireann Cathaoirleach: Pat Moylan Dáil Éireann Ceann Comhairle: John O'Donoghue President: Mary McAleese Council of State Presidential Commission Government Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern Tánaiste: Brian Cowen Departments of State Minister of State Opposition Leader: Enda Kenny Civil Service Local Government Attorney General Courts Supreme Court Chief Justice High Court Court of Criminal Appeal Special Criminal Court Circuit Court District Court Elections Presidential (2004) European (2004) Parliamentary (2007) Constituencies By-elections Political Parties Politicians Counties of Ireland EU Politics Foreign relations See also Politics of Northern Ireland
Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal view • talk • edit

The Leader of the Opposition (Irish: Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in the Republic of Ireland is the politician who, at least in theory, leads the Parliamentary Opposition bloc in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. The current incumbent is Enda Kenny TD of the Fine Gael Party.

By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party of the Opposition. Historically these two parties have nearly always been Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Immediately following the granting of independence in 1922, however, the leader of the Labour Party acted as Leader of the Opposition as Sinn Féin, and later Fianna Fáil, refused to recognise Dáil Éireann.

The Leader of the Opposition does not have a large official role, as most of the post's functions are honorific, ceremonial and nominal. He or she is invariably seen as the alternative Taoiseach to the present incumbent, and heads a rival alternative government known as the Front Bench, however, all the other non-government parties have their own front benches as well.

At present a Fianna Fáil-Green Party/Comhaontas Glas-Progressive Democrats coalition occupies the government benches of the Dáil chamber. The Opposition side of the house consists of Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Sinn Féin, and several Independent TDs.

[edit] Leaders of the Opposition

The bold print indicates politicians who went on to become Taoiseach.

	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
1.	Thomas Johnson	December 6, 1922	August 11, 1927	Labour Party
2.	Éamon de Valera (1st time)	August 11, 1927	March 9, 1932	Fianna Fáil
3.	W. T. Cosgrave	March 9, 1932	January, 1944	Cumann na nGaedhael/ Fine Gael
4.	Thomas F. O'Higgins	January, 1944	June 9, 1944	Fine Gael
5.	Richard Mulcahy	June 9, 1944	February 18, 1948	Fine Gael
	Éamon de Valera (2nd time)	February 18, 1948	June 13, 1951	Fianna Fáil
6.	John A. Costello (1st time)	June 13, 1951	June 2, 1954	Fine Gael
	Éamon de Valera (3rd time)	June 2, 1954	March 20, 1957	Fianna Fáil
	John A. Costello (2nd time)	March 20, 1957	October 21, 1959	Fine Gael
7.	James Dillon	October 21, 1959	April 21, 1965	Fine Gael
8.	Liam Cosgrave	April 21, 1965	March 14, 1973	Fine Gael
9.	Jack Lynch	March 14, 1973	July 5, 1977	Fianna Fáil
10.	Garret FitzGerald (1st time)	July 5, 1977	June 30, 1981	Fine Gael
11.	Charles Haughey (1st time)	June 30, 1981	March 9, 1982	Fianna Fáil
	Garret FitzGerald (2nd time)	March 9, 1982	December 14, 1982	Fine Gael
	Charles Haughey (2nd time)	December 14, 1982	March 10, 1987	Fianna Fáil
12.	Alan Dukes	March 10, 1987	November 20, 1990	Fine Gael
13.	John Bruton (1st time)	November 20, 1990	December 15, 1994	Fine Gael
14.	Bertie Ahern	December 15, 1994	June 26, 1997	Fianna Fáil
	John Bruton (2nd time)	June 26, 1997	February 9, 2001	Fine Gael
15.	Michael Noonan	February 9, 2001	June 6, 2002	Fine Gael
16.	Enda Kenny	June 6, 2002	Incumbent	Fine Gael