The Gang of 22 was a group of
Fianna Fáil TDs (members of parliament) who were opposed to the leadership of
Charles Haughey in the early 1980s. The very evident division within the Fianna Fáil
parliamentary party left a deep split in the organisation.
The origins of the "Gang of 22" was when
Desmond O'Malley
Desmond Joseph O'Malley (2 February 1939 – 21 July 2021) was an Irish politician who served as Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1977 to 1981 and 1989 to 1992, Leader of the Progressive Democrats from 1985 to 1993, Minister for Trade, ...
challenged Charles Haughey for the leadership of
Fianna Fáil in 1983. Disillusioned with the unwillingness of O'Malley,
George Colley and their supporters to act, a
motion of no confidence against Charles Haughey's leadership was put forward by
Charlie McCreevy
Charles McCreevy (born 30 September 1949) 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 fr ...
on his own initiative. This forced O'Malley's hand and he had to declare his intention to stand against Haughey. The vote failed by 55 votes to 22.
Those who made up the Gang of 22 were:
The name is a reference to the
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...
, a political faction in the
People's Republic of China who were imprisoned after the death of
Mao Zedong.
In September 1991 four backbench Fianna Fáil TDs:
Noel Dempsey,
Liam Fitzgerald
Liam Joseph Fitzgerald (born 1 September 1949) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician.
Fitzgerald was born in Doon, County Limerick and educated at the Christian Brothers school in Doon, St Patrick's College, Dublin and University College ...
,
M. J. Nolan
M. J. Nolan (born 25 January 1951) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny (Dáil constituency), Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 1982 to 1997 and 2002 to 2011. He also served as ...
and
Seán Power (known as the Gang of Four) put down a motion of no-confidence in Haughey's leadership in Power's name. This prompted
Albert Reynolds to resign from the Cabinet and launch a leadership challenge. He was supported by fellow Minister
Pádraig Flynn and Minister of State
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and subsequently
Noel Treacy
Noel Treacy (18 December 1951 – 2 February 2022) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency from 1982 to 2011. He served as Minister of State in a number of departments over his c ...
. The vote failed by 55 votes to 22.
This is a partial list:
References
{{Reflist
Charles Haughey
History of Fianna Fáil
Politics of the Republic of Ireland