Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party, more commonly known as Fianna Fáil (Irish pronunciation: [ˌfʲiənə ˈfɔːlʲ]) is a centrist to centre-rightIrish republican political party in Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál ("Fál" being a legendary name for Ireland). Historically Fianna Fáil has been seen as to the left of Fine Gael and to the right of the Labour Party and is generally seen as a classic "catch all" populist party - representing a broad range of people from all social classes with the belief in the coincidence of economic growth and social progress. Fianna Fáil has led governments including parties of the left (Labour Party and Green Party) and of the right (Progressive Democrats) and is often seen as a pragmatic party of the establishment. It is currently led by Micheál Martin.

Since the formation of the first Fianna Fáil government on 9 March 1932, the party has been in power for 61 of the last 79 years. Its longest continuous period in office was 15 years and 11 months (March 1932–February 1948). Its single longest period out of office, in that time, has been 4 years and 4 months (March 1973–July 1977). Seven of the party's eight leaders have served as Taoiseach. It was the largest party in Dáil Éireann at every general election from the 1932 general election until the 2011 general election, when it suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state, a loss described as "historic" in its proportions, where it saw its electoral support base diminished by 75%, as a reaction to the intervention, in the running of the Irish economy, of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank in November 2010. After the February 2011 election, it moved from being the largest party to the third-largest party in the 31st Dáil.

Brian Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.

Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May 2008 until 22 January 2011, when he resigned under political pressure after a failed and highly controversial attempt at a cabinet reshuffle.

He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency from 1984 to 2011. He previously served as Minister for Labour (1992–93), Minister for Energy (1993), Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (1993–94), Minister for Health (1997–2000), Minister for Foreign Affairs (2000–04) and Minister for Finance (2004–08) and also as Tánaiste (2007–08). He became leader of Fianna Fáil on the resignation of Bertie Ahern. On 7 May 2008, following the resignation of Ahern as Taoiseach, Cowen was nominated by Dáil Éireann to replace him and was appointed by the President later that day.

Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008.

Ahern served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011 and he represented the constituency of Dublin Central. Before he became Taoiseach, he served in the governments of Charles Haughey and Albert Reynolds as Minister for Labour (1987–91) and Minister for Finance (1991–94). He also served briefly as Tánaiste after the break-up of Albert Reynolds' coalition government.

In 1994, Ahern was elected sixth leader of Fianna Fáil. Under Ahern's leadership Fianna Fáil led three coalition governments. After Éamon de Valera, Bertie Ahern's term as Taoiseach is the longest. Ahern resigned as Taoiseach on 6 May 2008 and was succeeded by the then Minister for Finance Brian Cowen.

Ahern was born in Drumcondra, Dublin. This is an area within the Dublin Central constituency where he has lived all his life. Ahern is the youngest of five children of Con Ahern and Julia Ahern (née Hourihane), both natives of County Cork. Con Ahern and Julia Hourihane were married in October 1937 and settled at Church Avenue, Drumcondra, where they resided for the rest of their lives. The other four children are Maurice, Kathleen, Noel and Eileen. In Dublin, Ahern's father worked as a farm manager at All Hallows College, Drumcondra. Ahern's brother Noel is also involved in politics and represented Dublin North–West in Dáil Éireann.

John "Jack" Chambers (March 25, 1931–April 13, 1978) was a Canadian artist and filmmaker. Born in London, Ontario, Chambers' painting style shifted from surrealist-influenced to photo-realist. He began working with film in the 1960s, completing six by 1970. Stan Brakhage proclaimed Chambers' The Hart of London as "one of the greatest films ever made."

Chambers spent eight years (1953–1961) studying and working in Europe after studying at H.B. Beal Secondary School and the University of Western Ontario. While in Europe he met Pablo Picasso, who suggested he continue his studies in Barcelona. He called his own work "perceptual realism," a kind of surrealism based on his own dreams and memories and the existentialist philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. When he returned to London Chambers worked with fellow London native Greg Curnoe. In 1969 he was diagnosed with leukemia. For the rest of his life he painted more realistically, often depicting sites in London and the surrounding area. An example of this is 401 Towards London No. 1 (1968–1969), a view of Highway 401 heading westward towards London.

Micheál Martin (Irish pronunciation: [mʲiːçaːl̪ˠ]; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish politician who has been leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011. He is a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South–Central constituency. Prior to becoming party leader, Martin served as Minister for Education and Science (1997–2000), Minister for Health and Children (2000–04), Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2004–08) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–11).

As Minister for Health and Children in 2004, he introduced a ban on tobacco smoking in all Irish workplaces and established the Health Service Executive (HSE). Ireland was the first country to introduce a full workplace smoking ban. As Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2009, Martin travelled to Latin America for the first time, and made the first official visit to Cuba by an Irish government minister. That same year, he travelled to Khartoum following the kidnapping of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki. In 2010, he became the first Western foreign minister to visit Gaza since Hamas took control there in 2007. On 18 January 2011, Brian Cowen accepted his resignation as Foreign Minister. On 26 January 2011, Fianna Fáil announced that Micheál Martin had been elected as the eighth leader of the party, following Brian Cowen's resignation as party leader on 22 January 2011. In the 2011 general election, Martin led the party to its worst showing in its 85 year history with a loss of 57 seats and a drop in its share of the popular vote to 17.4%.