2008 Fianna Fáil Leadership Election
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2008 Fianna Fáil Leadership Election
The 2008 Fianna Fáil leadership election began on 2 April 2008, when party leader and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced his resignation. Brian Cowen, the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance was the clear favourite to succeed him. Candidates Standing *Brian Cowen – Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Declined to stand * Dermot Ahern – Minister for Foreign Affairs * Mary Hanafin – Minister for Education and Science *Micheál Martin – Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment * Brian Lenihan – Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Outcome On 2 April Mary Hanafin declined to comment on whether she would be standing for the leadership and Brian Lenihan had ruled himself out of the race. By 4 April all of the Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by ...
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Brian Cowen
Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen served as a TD for the constituency of Laois–Offaly from 1984 to 2011 and served in several ministerial roles between 1992 and 2011, including as Minister for Finance from 2004 to 2008 and Tánaiste from 2007 to 2008. Cowen was elected leader of Fianna Fáil in May 2008, upon the resignation of Bertie Ahern, and was nominated by Dáil Éireann to replace him as Taoiseach. Weeks after taking office, his administration faced the Irish financial and banking crises. He received substantial criticism for his failure to stem the tide of either crisis, ultimately culminating in the Irish Government's formal request for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which was widely regarded in Ireland as a national humiliation. His leadership subsequently saw public support for Fianna Fáil plunge to reco ...
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Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from December 2022 to January 2025. He has been leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011 and a Teachta Dála, TD for Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency), Cork South-Central since 1989. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition (Ireland), Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2020 and held various cabinet offices under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen. Born in Cork (city), Cork, Martin initially worked as a teacher before entering politics. He was elected to Cork City Council in 1985, and served as Lord Mayor of Cork from 1992 to 1993. In 1989 Irish general election, 1989, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann for Cork South-Central, a seat he has re ...
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History Of Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil was founded on 23 March 1926 when a group of Dáil deputies led by Éamon de Valera split from the original Sinn Féin. This happened because de Valera's motion calling for elected members be allowed to take their seats in the Dáil, if and when the controversial Oath of Allegiance was removed, failed to pass at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis. The new party adopted its name on 2 April of the same year. From the formation of the first Fianna Fáil government on 9 March 1932 until the 2011 general election, the party was in power for 61 of 79 years. Its longest continuous period in office was 15 years and 11 months (March 1932–February 1948). Its single longest period out of office, in that time, has been four years and four months (March 1973–July 1977). All eight of its party's leaders have served as Taoiseach. It was the largest party in Dáil Éireann at every general election from the 1932 general election until the 2011 general election, when it suffered the wor ...
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2008 In Irish Politics
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate with Greek and Latin , both of which stems are reflected by the English prefix oct(o)-, as in the ordinal adjective ''octaval'' or ''octavary'', the distributive adjective is ''octonary''. The adjective ''octuple'' (Latin ) may also be used as a noun, meaning "a set of eight items"; the diminutive ''octuplet'' is mostly used to refer to eight siblings delivered in one birth. The Semitic numeral is based on a root ''*θmn-'', whence Akkadian ''smn-'', Arabic ''ṯmn-'', Hebrew ''šmn-'' etc. The Chinese numeral, written (Mandarin: ''bā''; Cantonese: ''baat''), is from Old Chinese ''*priāt-'', ultimately from Sino-Tibetan ''b-r-gyat'' or ''b-g-ryat'' which also yielded Tibetan '' brgyat''. It has been argued that, as the cardinal num ...
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Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), 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 ge ...
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RTÉ News
RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative journalism and current affairs programming for RTÉ television, radio, online, podcasts, on-demand and for independent Irish language public broadcaster TG4. It is the largest and most popular news source in Ireland – with 77% of the Irish public regarding it as their main source of Irish and international news. It broadcasts in English language, English, Irish language, Irish and Irish Sign Language. The organisation is also a source of commentary on current affairs. The division is based at the RTÉ Television Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin, Donnybrook, Dublin; however, the station also operates regional bureaux across Ireland and the world. History Early history On 1 January 1926, 2RN, Ireland's first radio station, began broadcasting. ...
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Minister For Justice, Home Affairs And Migration
The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has overall responsibility for law and order in Ireland. The current Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is Jim O'Callaghan, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State: * Niall Collins, TD – Minister of State for International law, law reform and youth justice * Colm Brophy, TD – Minister of State for Migration History From 1919 until 1924 the position was known as the Minister for Home Affairs. In 1997, the functions of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform were transferred to this Minister, and it was renamed as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a title which it retained until 2010. The minister held the title of Minister for Justice and Equality from 2011 to 2020. As of 2020, the position is known as Minister fo ...
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Brian Lenihan Jnr
Brian Joseph Lenihan (21 May 1959 – 10 June 2011) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011, Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from March 2011 to June 2011, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of State for Children from 2002 to 2007. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency from 1996 until his death in 2011. Early and private life Born in Dublin in 1959, Lenihan grew up in Athlone, County Westmeath until the age of 12, attending the local Marist Brothers primary school. He was then educated at Belvedere College, where he was school captain, then at Trinity College Dublin where he obtained an LL.B. (first class). He was elected a foundation scholar of the college in 1979. While in Trinity, he was Treasurer of the College Historical Society. Lenihan was later awarded an LL.M. (first class) at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and was called to the Irish Bar by the ...
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Minister For Enterprise, Trade And Employment
The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. The current Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is Peter Burke, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State: * Niamh Smyth, TD – Minister of State for trade promotion, artificial intelligence and digital transformation * Alan Dillon, TD – Minister of State for small businesses and retail Overview The Minister heads one of the most important economic departments in the Irish Government, responsible for the implementation of policy in five key areas – Enterprise, Innovation, Growth; Quality, Work and Learning; Making Markets and Regulation work better; Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement; and the European Union. A large element of the work of the Department arises from Ireland's membership of a number of international organisations, in particular the European Union and the World Trade O ...
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Minister For Education And Youth
The Minister for Education and Youth () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Education and Youth. The current Minister for Education and Youth is Helen McEntee, TD. She is assisted by one Minister of State: * Michael Moynihan, TD – Minister of State for special education and inclusion Functions The minister engages in a wide range of activities relating to education in Ireland, including policy planning, quality assurance and the provision of a broad range of services. The department officially aims to: *Promote equity and inclusion *Promote lifelong learning *Plan for education that is relevant to personal, social, cultural and economic needs. In recent years some of these functions have been devolved to statutory authorities, in particular the Higher Education Authority, the National Qualifications Authority and the State Examinations Commission. Irish universities and colleges are to a large extent free of government control, ...
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