Page "Fianna Fáil" Paragraph 2

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, and 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.