‘The Irish party system may once have been considered unique, but no longer.’

 Lipset Rokkan model

Socioeconomic differences that divide Western European countries, Ireland did not fit this definition in the early 1900s due to the partition dividing catholics and protestants, dublin was not the powerhouse of industry it is today, london was the center of everything.

R.K. Carty comparative analysis

comparative analysis of party longevity, Fianna Fail’s dominance was one of the longest in history

Kirchheimer

created the term “catch all party”, fianna fail was one of them

1918 election

Labour Party withdrew, this was the first election in which working-class men and women gained more access to voting, therefore, by not participating, the left could not obtain their target market and was significantly weak

Industrial revolution

Ireland skipped this stage for the most part, also weakening the left, as the industrial revolution created momentum around the working class and their rights in other Western European countries.

Emigration

Young people who would vote for the left were leaving Ireland, and only those who supported more centrist parties remained

R.K. Carty manifesto analysis

Noticed that there was hardly a difference between the manifestos of Fianna Fail and Fianna Gael.

2008 Financial Crisis

Fianna Fáil lost a significant proportion of votes in the 2011 election due to how they handled the crash as a form of punishment. Allowed other parties to step in and reshape the 2 and a half party system into a multi-party system.

Effective number of parties

How Ireland Voted 2024, the data collected from this work demonstrates that the effective number of parties has increased beyond the 2 and a half to over seven, removing Fianna Fails dominance and proving that the left is no longer weak, as multiple left wing parties are prominent in Irish politics today.

Cunningham and Marsh

concluded from their reaserarch that the combined vote of the left sits at over 40%.

McElroy and Mueller

plotted each party’s manifesto to determine if there was significant overlap in policy and what they concluded was that there was a wide range of perspectives represented in the current political climate.