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Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)

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Republic of Ireland

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The Leader of the Opposition (Irish: Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in the Republic of Ireland is the politician who, at least in theory, leads the Parliamentary Opposition in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. The current incumbent is Enda Kenny TD of the Fine Gael party.

By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party of the Opposition. Historically these two parties have nearly always been Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Immediately following the granting of independence in 1922, however, the leader of the Labour Party acted as Leader of the Opposition as Sinn Féin, and later Fianna Fáil, refused to recognise Dáil Éireann.

The Leader of the Opposition does not have a large official role, as most of the post's functions are honorific, ceremonial and nominal. He or she is invariably seen as the alternative Taoiseach to the present incumbent, and heads a rival alternative government known as the Front Bench, however, all the other non-government parties have their own front benches as well.

As of November 2007 a Fianna Fáil/Green Party/Progressive Democrats coalition occupies the government benches of the Dáil chamber. The Opposition side of the house consists of Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Sinn Féin, and four Independent TDs. Three of the Independent TDs have signed deals with the government pledging their support.

Current Dáil

This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 30th Dáil as of February 2010.

Leaders of the Opposition

The bold print indicates politicians who went on to become Taoiseach.