FitzGerald and Fine Gael Triumph
Garret FitzGerald undertook a huge overhaul of the Party' s organisation, broadening its appeal and establishing Young Fine Gael as the first independent Irish political youth organisation.
Garret FitzGerald
As Fianna Fáil mishandled the economy, Fine Gael was successful at Local and European elections and went on to achieve the best set of election results in its history in the 1981 and 1982 elections.
Fine Gael went into coalition with the Labour Party for a brief period between 1981 and 1982, and then again between late 1982 and 1987. The FitzGerald Government sought to grapple with the country' s high inflation and ballooning budget deficit, while also seeking progress to end the continuing Troubles in Northern Ireland. Amongst the Government' s achievements were:
- A huge reduction in the rate of inflation
- The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement
- The opening of the DART service, alleviating Dublin' s chronic lack of public transport
But FitzGerald will perhaps be best remembered for his attempts to reform Ireland' s Constitution in order to reflect the diversity of opinion within the State.
Though the Government' s attempts to change the law on divorce, for example, were, at the time, unsuccessful, they laid the groundwork for the successful constitutional reform that took place in the 1990s.
The 1987 General Election was fought against a backdrop of high unemployment and emigration that had steadily crept up through the 1970s and 1980s.
Fine Gael won 51 seats and was back in opposition, proud of its achievements in Government but mindful of the need to ensure electoral success in the future.