Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil (/ˌfiː(ə)nə ˈfɔɪl, -ˈfɔːl/ ^ⓘ FEE-(ə)-nə FOYL, -⁠FAWL; Irish: [ˌfʲiən̪ˠə ˈfˠaːlʲ]; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Irish: Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.

Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de Valera and his supporters after they split from Sinn Féin in order to take seats in the Oireachtas, which Sinn Féin refused to recognise, since 1927 Fianna Fáil has been one of Ireland's two major parties, along with Fine Gael since 1933; both are seen as centre-right parties, to the right of the Labour Party and Sinn Féin. The party dominated Irish political life for most of the 20th century, and, since its foundation, either it or Fine Gael has led every government. Between 1932 and 2011, it was the largest party in Dáil Éireann, but latterly with a decline in its vote share; from 1989 onwards, its periods of government were in coalition with parties of either the left or the right.

Fianna Fáil's vote collapsed in the 2011 general election; it ended in third place, in what was widely seen as a political realignment in the wake of the post-2008 Irish economic downturn. By 2016, it had recovered enough to become the largest opposition party, and it entered a confidence and supply arrangement with a Fine Gael–led minority government. In 2020, after a number of months of political stalemate following the general election, Fianna Fáil agreed with Fine Gael and the Green Party to enter into an unprecedented coalition, with the leaders of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rotating between the roles of Taoiseach and Tánaiste.

Fianna Fáil is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and of Liberal International. From 2019 to 2022, Fianna Fáil was in partnership with the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland.