To understand Irish politics, you must understand Fianna Fáil. For decades, Ireland’s political system stood out from other European countries by eschewing the traditional left-right dimension, and central to that uniqueness was the dominance of Fianna Fáil. In 2011, in the context of the financial crisis, Fianna Fáil’s support collapsed and with it Ireland’s stable and unchanging party system. In its wake, elections in Ireland have become extremely volatile and unpredictable. In pre-crisis elections, 28 per cent of voters would change party from one election to the next, while in each of the three post-crisis elections over 40 per cent…

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