The Centre Party of Ireland, formerly Renua, is a fringe political party in Ireland.[12] The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine GaelTDLucinda Creighton as founding leader.[13] Prior to its launch it had used the slogan Reboot Ireland. The name Renua was intended to suggest both the English Renew and the Irish Ré Nua "New Era".[14] The party changed its name to the Centre Party of Ireland in 2023.[15][16]
Renua was founded primarily by former members of Fine Gael who left that party because they refused to endorse Fine Gael's pro-choice stance in relation to abortion.[17] Before the 2016 Irish general election, Renua had 3 members of the Dáil through defections, however, afterwards it was left with no national representation as none of its election candidates were successful.[17] In the immediate aftermath, all its most prominent founder-members either returned to Fine Gael or left politics.[17] However, by virtue of securing over 2% of the national vote, Renua received significant funding from the state, which allowed the party to continue to exist in a diminished form.[18] The party has continued to contest both national and local elections in Ireland since 2016 but has met with little to no success, and currently has no elected representatives.[19] In parallel, since 2016 the party's ideology has shifted from its initial centre-right position to a hard-right one.[10][11]
The forthcoming launch of a new political party was announced at a press conference on 2 January 2015 held by Creighton, Eddie Hobbs, a financial advisor and broadcaster, and John Leahy, an Independent member of Offaly County Council.[20]
Foundation of Renua Ireland
Lucinda Creighton was the party's primary founder and its first leader
The new party was launched in Dublin on Friday 13 March 2015, followed by media appearances by its leading members.[21] Creighton and party president Eddie Hobbs appeared on RTÉ's The Late Late Show to explain their policies. Hobbs denied he was planning to stand for election, although the party's website claimed that he would be a candidate.[22]
Its elected representatives on its foundation were TDs Lucinda Creighton, Billy Timmins and Terence Flanagan, SenatorsPaul Bradford and Mary Ann O'Brien, and Councillors John Leahy (Offaly) and Ronan McMahon. O'Brien, a Taoiseach's nominee to the Seanad, stated that she would not join the party until the general election campaign.[23] Financial advisor Eddie Hobbs was announced as party president, and later announced that he would not stand for election.[24][25]
Later recruits included councillors Patrick McKee (Kilkenny, elected for Fianna Fáil),[26] James Charity (Galway, elected as an Independent), Frank Durkan (Mayo, elected as an Independent),[27] and Keith Redmond (Fingal, elected for Fine Gael).[28] Charity, who had joined on 20 May 2015, left Renua on 30 July.[29] Journalist John Drennan joined as the party's director of communications and political strategy,[30] while financial commentator Karl Deeter became the party's Ethics Officer.[31]
The first Renua Ireland candidate to face election was Patrick McKee, in the Carlow–Kilkenny by-election on 22 May 2015.[32][33] He finished fourth, with 9.5% of the first-preference vote.[34][35]
Although the Irish abortion debate was what precipitated Creighton's defection from Fine Gael, the party initially stated that it was not taking a position on the issue and would allow members a free vote,[36] before later stating under Leahy's leadership that it was an anti-abortion party that will ask all representatives to oppose a repeal of the Eighth Amendment, which places the life of the unborn on an equal footing to the life of the mother.[37] After the passing of the abortion referendum, Renua stated it would support Vardakar's promise to keep abortion "safe, legal and RARE".[38]
In January 2016, Renua announced a list of 18 candidates and published a manifesto.[41][42] The main points of the manifesto included a flat personal tax rate of 23%,[43] and a three-strikes law that would require mandatory life sentences on a third conviction for serious crimes.[44] The flat tax rate was criticised by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and described by Labour's Kevin Humphreys as "too right-wing for Donald Trump".[43]
The party had 26 candidates at the 2016 general election.[45]
At the 2016 general election, incumbent TDs Billy Timmins, Terence Flanagan, and party leader Lucinda Creighton all lost their seats, leaving Renua with no representation in the Dáil.[46] Nevertheless, the party won over 2% of first-preference votes, which meant that it was entitled to €250,000 of annual state funding for the duration of the 32nd Dáil.[47] Following the defeat, Creighton insisted that Renua would continue and would field candidates for the next local elections in 2019.[48]
Aftermath
On 14 May 2016, in the aftermath of the general election and following the formation of the new government, Creighton resigned as leader of Renua.[49] Deputy Leader Billy Timmins had already resigned,[50] and president Eddie Hobbs resigned from the party in June 2016.[51]
At the party's AGM in September 2016, John Leahy, an Offaly County Councillor, was selected as party leader, and businesswoman Mailo Power was elected as party president.[52] In November 2016, Power resigned from the position of party president and from the party. By December 2016, Councillors Patrick McKee and Keith Redmond had both resigned from the party, leaving its leader John Leahy, and Ronan McMahon, a member of South Dublin County Council, as its only elected representatives. McMahon also subsequently resigned.
At the party's second AGM, held in Tullamore in November 2017, Leahy said the party was "ready to field 17 candidates" in any general election triggered by the imminent Dáil motion of no confidence in Frances Fitzgerald.[53] The 2017 AGM was addressed by John Waters.[54]
Renua attracted controversy when its official Twitter account tweeted the view that the 1955 Rosa Parks incident, or Montgomery bus boycott, generally considered an important event in the civil rights movement, was "orchestrated as part of an ongoing campaign" and that Parks was a "trained activist". The tweet in which the claims were made was subsequently deleted after the party received backlash on social media.[57][58] John Leahy later expressed regret that the tweet was deleted.[58]
2019 and 2020 elections
Renua ran 25 candidates in the 2019 local elections, which took place on 24 May 2019. Only Leahy was elected, topping the poll in the Birr area of Offaly County Council.[59] He resigned from the party soon after the election.[60]
In February 2020, the party fielded 11 candidates in the 2020 general election.[61][62] Its candidates received a total of 5,473 first preferences votes (0.3%), and none were elected.
Standards in Public Office Commission
In November 2020, the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) announced that Renua were one of five political parties who failed to provide them with a set of audited accounts for 2019, in breach of statutory obligations.[63] As of early 2021, SIPO reportedly confirmed that the party had "still not filed its accounts".[64]
Rebranding as Centre Party of Ireland
The party rebranded as the Centre Party of Ireland in April 2023.[15][65]
Policies
Renua has a policy programme published in addition to its election manifesto of 2016.[66] It claims policies are centred around an evidence-based approach regardless of where that policy may be viewed ideologically. It cites proposals for State-funded community childcare schemes, capping state pensions at €100,000, and replacing defined-benefit pensions with defined-contribution pensions as examples.[67]
The party has stated that "we would be strongly against further integration of the EU, particularly with relation to taxation or military affairs, and believe strongly that the EU works best when member countries are recognised fully as sovereign countries coming voluntarily together to promote economic cooperation rather than as a stepping stone to a federal Europe."[68]
Fine Gael is a liberal-conservative and Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Simon Harris succeeded Leo Varadkar as party leader on 24 March 2024.
Billy Timmins is an Irish former politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 1997 until the 2016 general election. He was the deputy leader of Renua from the foundation of the party in March 2015 until May 2016. He previously sat as an Independent TD, having lost the Fine Gael parliamentary party whip in July 2013.
Fergus O'Dowd is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency since the 2002 general election. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in September 2020. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport from 2017 to 2020 and as a Minister of State from 2011 to 2014.
Paul Bradford is an Irish former politician who served as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 1987 to 1989 and 2002 to 2016. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork East constituency from 1989 to 2002.
Eddie Hobbs is an Irish financial advisor, writer, campaigner and former television presenter and author.
Lucinda Creighton is an Irish businesswoman and former politician, who served as Minister of State for European Affairs from 2011 to 2013. She was leader of Renua from its March 2015 foundation until May 2016, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) representing Dublin South-East from 2007 to 2016.
Terence Flanagan is an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Dublin City Councillor from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-East constituency from 2007 to 2016.
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John Drennan is an Irish political journalist and writer. He is a columnist for the Sunday Independent, an occasional TV panelist and a frequent contributor to radio shows. From County Laois he was educated at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth where he studied for an arts degree and worked as a part-time postman to fund his shooting and fishing hobbies. A gun enthusiast and writer of dole diaries, Drennan was openly affiliated with Fine Gael for many years and often referred to himself warmly as an "Old Blueshirt".
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↑ Jason Kennedy; Denise Calnan; Sam Griffin (13 March 2015). "Renua Ireland's eventful first day". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
↑ Murphy, Sue (26 January 2019). "Lucinda Creighton officially launches her new political party, Renua Ireland". Newstalk. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2016. we will be the only political party in Ireland and across Europe that has an open party position on Abortion... we do not believe party politics in Ireland has a place for issues of conscience
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