The political framework of Ireland

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: President: Michael D. Higgins (since 29 October 2011, re-elected in October 2018)
Prime Minister: Michael Martin (since 23 January 2025)
Next Election Dates: Presidential elections: November 2025
Senate: March 2025
House of Representatives: November 2029
Current Political Context: After President Michael D. Higgins dissolved the 33rd Dáil on November 8 at Taoiseach Simon Harris' request, the general election for the 34th Dáil was conducted on November 29, 2024. With 48 seats, Fianna Fáil became the largest party, while Fine Gael, its ruling partner, only managed 38 seats. The two parties came within two seats of a majority with their combined 86 seats. Due to severe losses, the Green Party only managed to hold onto one seat, which was occupied by Roderic O'Gorman, its leader. Sinn Féin remained the second-largest party with 39 seats, while both the Social Democrats and Labour saw gains, each winning 11 seats, an increase of five. After weeks of talks, the long-dominant centre-right parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael agreed to form a coalition with the support of several independent lawmakers. On 23 January 2025, Micheál Martin was elected taoiseach and he will now hold that office until 2027 when Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris is due to take over.
Main Political Parties: The main parties currently represented in the parliament include:

- Fianna Fail: centre/centre-right, populist
- Sinn Fein: left-wing, democratic socialist and Irish republican party advocating for a united Ireland. It is the main opposition party
- Fine Gael: centre-right, socially moderate and fiscally conservative. Allied with Fianna Fail
- Labour: centre-left social-democratic party founded in 1912, advocating for workers' rights and social justice
- Social Democrats: centre-left party advocating for social justice and progressive social policies
- People Before Profit–Solidarity (PBPS): a left-wing electoral alliances formed by members of two socialist political parties, People Before Profit (PBP) and Solidarity
- Aont ú (Unity): conservative nationalist party promoting traditional values and advocating for Irish unity
- Green Party: centre-left, driven by green politics
- Independent Ireland: promoting non-affiliated, grassroots-driven governance and policies in Ireland.
Executive Power: The President, who serves as the Head of State in a largely ceremonial role, is elected for a 7-year term and can be re-elected only once. The Prime Minister (Taoiseach) is the Head of the Government. He is appointed by the president after being appointed by the lower house.
Legislative Power: Bicameral national Parliament (Oireachtas): House of Representatives (Dail Éireann) and Senate (Seanad). The Chamber of Deputies has 174 members elected by universal suffrage and the Senate is composed of 60 members (of which 49 indirectly elected and 11 appointed).

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:: 12/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:: Free
Political Freedom:: 1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

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