In the week of Fianna Fail’s centenary Hugh and Pat are joined by reporter and historian Ronan McGreevy to trace the party’s origins and assess its legacy.
Ronan explains how in 1926, with frustration growing at Sinn Féin’s ineffectiveness, Éamon de Valera and allies such as Seán Lemass formed Fianna Fáil, rapidly building hundreds of cumainn. He looks at how the party first entered the Dáil, helped create a two-party system and ultimately won power.
The discussion also covers the party’s catch-all pragmatism, recent history of compromise with Fine Gael, and its mixed legacy of ties to corruption along with a commitment to democracy and state institutions.
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