Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)
The Leader of the Opposition (Irish: Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in Ireland is the politician who, de facto, leads the Parliamentary Opposition in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann.
| Leader of the Opposition
Ceannaire an Fhreasúra | |
|---|---|
| Term length | While leader of the largest political party not in government |
| Inaugural holder | Thomas Johnson |
| Formation | 6 December 1922 |
When in the Dáil, the Leader of the Opposition sits on the right-hand side of the Ceann Comhairle and directly opposite of the Taoiseach.
To date there have been 17 Opposition Leaders, 9 of whom have been Taoiseach. The current Leader of the Opposition is Mary Lou McDonald TD of the Sinn Féin party since June 2020.
Leader of the Opposition
- Leaders who later became Taoiseach are indicated in bold.
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) |
Portrait | Constituency | Term of office | Party | Taoiseach[nb 1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | ||||||||
| 1. | Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) |
|
Clare | 9 January 1922 | 8 June 1922 | Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty) | Arthur Griffith (1922) | ||
| 2. | Thomas Johnson (1872–1963) |
|
Dublin County | 9 September 1922 | 11 August 1927 | Labour Party | W. T. Cosgrave (1922–32) | ||
| (1) | Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) |
|
Clare | 11 August 1927 | 9 March 1932 | Fianna Fáil | |||
| 3. | W. T. Cosgrave (1880–1965) |
|
Cork Borough | 9 March 1932 | January 1944 | Cumann na nGaedheal | Éamon de Valera (1932–48) | ||
| Fine Gael | |||||||||
| 4. | Thomas F. O'Higgins (1890–1953) |
|
Leix–Offaly | January 1944 | 9 June 1944 | ||||
| 5. | Richard Mulcahy (1886–1971) |
|
Tipperary | 9 June 1944 | 18 February 1948 | ||||
| (1) | Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) |
|
Clare | 18 February 1948 | 13 June 1951 | Fianna Fáil | John A. Costello (1948–51) | ||
| 6. | John A. Costello (1891–1976) |
.jpg)
|
Dublin South-East | 13 June 1951 | 2 June 1954 | Fine Gael | Éamon de Valera (1951–54) | ||
| (1) | Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) |
|
Clare | 2 June 1954 | 20 March 1957 | Fianna Fáil | John A. Costello (1954–57) | ||
| (6) | John A. Costello (1891–1976) |
|
Dublin South-East | 20 March 1957 | 21 October 1959 | Fine Gael | Éamon de Valera (1957–59) | ||
| Seán Lemass (1959–66) | |||||||||
| 7. | James Dillon (1902–1986) |
|
Monaghan | 21 October 1959 | 21 April 1965 | ||||
| 8. | Liam Cosgrave (1920-2017) |
|
Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | 21 April 1965 | 14 March 1973 | ||||
| Jack Lynch (1966–73) | |||||||||
| 9. | Jack Lynch (1917–1999) |
.jpg)
|
Cork City North-West | 14 March 1973 | 5 July 1977 | Fianna Fáil | Liam Cosgrave (1973–77) | ||
| 10. | Garret FitzGerald (1926–2011) |
.jpg)
|
Dublin South-East | 5 July 1977 | 30 June 1981 | Fine Gael | Jack Lynch (1977–79) | ||
| Charles Haughey (1979–81) | |||||||||
| 11. | Charles Haughey (1925–2006) |
|
Dublin North-Central | 30 June 1981 | 9 March 1982 | Fianna Fáil | Garret FitzGerald (1981–82) | ||
| (10) | Garret FitzGerald (1926–2011) |
|
Dublin South-East | 9 March 1982 | 14 December 1982 | Fine Gael | Charles Haughey (1982) | ||
| (11) | Charles Haughey (1925–2006) |
|
Dublin North-Central | 14 December 1982 | 10 March 1987 | Fianna Fáil | Garret FitzGerald (1982–87) | ||
| 12. | Alan Dukes (born 1945) |
|
Kildare | 10 March 1987 | 20 November 1990 | Fine Gael | Charles Haughey (1987–92) | ||
| 13. | John Bruton (born 1947) |
|
Meath | 20 November 1990 | 15 December 1994 | ||||
| Albert Reynolds (1992–94) | |||||||||
| 14. | Bertie Ahern (born 1951) |
|
Dublin Central | 15 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | Fianna Fáil | John Bruton (1994–97) | ||
| (13) | John Bruton (born 1947) |
|
Meath | 26 June 1997 | 9 February 2001 | Fine Gael | Bertie Ahern (1997–2008) | ||
| 15. | Michael Noonan (born 1943) |
.jpg)
|
Limerick East | 9 February 2001 | 6 June 2002 | ||||
| 16. | Enda Kenny (born 1951) |
.jpg)
|
Mayo | 6 June 2002 | 9 March 2011 | ||||
| Brian Cowen (2008–11) | |||||||||
| 17. | Micheál Martin (born 1960) |
|
Cork South-Central | 9 March 2011 | 27 June 2020 | Fianna Fáil | Enda Kenny (2011–2017) | ||
| Leo Varadkar (2017–2020) | |||||||||
| 18. | Mary Lou McDonald (born 1969) |
.jpg)
|
Dublin Central | 27 June 2020 | Incumbent | Sinn Féin | Micheál Martin (2020–present) | ||
Leader Of The Opposition (Ireland) Media
en:Éamon de Valera
-
en:Éamon de Valera
Photograph of the Irish politician TF O'Higgins in 1933
-
en:Éamon de Valera
Irish politician and member of Fine Gael John A. Costello in 1948
Éamon de Valera, President of Ireland, in 1960s (43915959314)
-
Irish politician and member of Fine Gael John A. Costello in 1948
.jpg)
Notes
- ↑ President of Dáil Éireann to 6 December 1922. President of the Executive Council to 29 December 1937.
