Fine Gael is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann and largest in terms of Irish members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Leo Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as party leader on 2 June 2017 and as Taoiseach on 14 June; Kenny had been leader since 2002, and Taoiseach since 2011.
Charles McCreevy is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010, Minister for Finance from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1993 to 1994 and Minister for Social Welfare from 1992 to 1993. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare constituency from 1977 to 2004.
Young Fine Gael (YFG) is the autonomous youth wing of Fine Gael, one of Ireland’s major centre-right political parties. It offers its members scope to assist in formulation of political policy, and the day-to-day running of the senior party. It is a founding member of the centre-right pan-European organisation, Youth of the European People's Party, also known as YEPP, which is the youth wing of the European People's Party.
Ireland for Europe was a civil society organisation set up after the defeat of the first Irish referendum to campaign in favour of the Treaty of Nice. Initially chaired by Adrian Langan, it was chaired by Ciarán Toland from October 2001. The campaign team was also led by Michelle O'Donnell (Secretary) and Kevin Byrne. Ireland for Europe joined the Irish Alliance for Europe in August 2002, forming the backbone of its volunteer canvassing campaign. The group has been inactive since the end of 2002.
The National Forum on Europe was established by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD, in the aftermath of the rejection of the Treaty of Nice by the Irish people in 2001. It exists to provide a forum for debate between senior politicians in Ireland and informed observers from abroad, to promote wider public participation and to inform the Irish public in a non-partisan and neutral manner about developments in the European Union.
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history. An additional 18 observers were pre-elected.
The European Referendum Campaign (ERC) was an independent, Europe-wide, cross party network of NGOs and individuals which intended to bring together campaigners to fight for democratic development within the European Union. Its sole objective was to gain as many referendums on the 2007 EU Lisbon Treaty in as many EU member states as possible. The ERC was supported by the NGO Mehr Demokratie, and by Democracy International, a split-off of Mehr Demokratie, whose people also created the European Citizens' Initiative. The ERC cooperated with the European political party EUDemocrats – Alliance for a Europe of Democracies, as inspired and presided by Jens-Peter Bonde.
The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that was put to a referendum in 2008. The purpose of the proposed amendment was to allow the state to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union.
Declan James Ganley is an English-born Irish entrepreneur, businessman, and political activist. He was the founder and leader of the Irish branch of the Libertas Party.
John McGuirk is an Irish writer and political commentator. He is the editor of Gript, a website that has been described as conservative, far-right, and right-wing. McGuirk is also a regular contributor to The Irish Catholic.
Cóir was a social Catholic, conservative Eurosceptic lobby group established to campaign against the Treaty of Lisbon which was approved by referendum in Ireland on 2 October 2009. The group claimed to have had approximately 2,600 campaign volunteers for the 6 months prior to the referendum.
The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2009 is an amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which permitted the state to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union. It was approved by referendum on 2 October 2009.
The Libertas Institute is a lobby group that along with others successfully campaigned for a "no" vote in the 2008 referendum in Ireland on the Treaty of Lisbon.
Libertas was a pan-European political party founded by Declan Ganley that took part in the 2009 European Parliament election in several member states of the European Union. It won one seat in France.
Libertas Ireland was a political party in Ireland. It contended the 2009 European Parliament elections in Ireland under a common banner with Declan Ganley's Libertas.eu. It shared a headquarters with Libertas.eu but was a national party in its own right for the purposes of Irish electoral law.
The ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon was officially completed by all member states of the European Union on 13 November 2009 when the Czech Republic deposited its instrument of ratification with the Italian government. The Lisbon Treaty came into force on the first day of the month following the deposition of the last instrument of ratification with the government of Italy, which was 1 December 2009.
The People's Pledge was a political campaign to secure a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union. It aimed to achieve this by asking voters to sign a pledge that they would use their vote to help secure a majority of Members of Parliament (MPs) in support of an in-out referendum on EU membership. The 1975 European Communities membership referendum was the last time such a vote had occurred in Britain.
The Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2012 amended the Constitution of Ireland to permit Ireland to ratify the 2012 European Fiscal Compact and to preclude measures taken under the Compact from being held to be inconsistent with the Irish constitution. It was approved by referendum on 31 May 2012, by 60.3% to 39.7%, on a turnout of 50% and was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins on 27 June 2012.
Euroscepticism is a minority view in Ireland. Opinion polls held in the country between 2016 and 2019 indicate between 70% and 90% support for continued membership of the European Union (EU).
James Reynolds is an Irish farmer, nationalist and far-right politician who has served as vice president of the National Party since 2016. Reynolds was active in farming politics, serving as chairman of the Longford branch of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) from 1999 to 2003 and subsequently as treasurer of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) until 2017. He co-founded the National Party with Justin Barrett in November 2016. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the party at the 2020 Irish general election, standing in the Longford-Westmeath constituency.
