Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)
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The Leader of the Opposition (Irish: Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in the Republic of Ireland is the politician who, at least in theory, leads the Parliamentary Opposition bloc in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. The current incumbent is Enda Kenny TD of the Fine Gael Party.
By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party of the Opposition. Historically these two parties have nearly always been Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Immediately following the granting of independence in 1922, however, the leader of the Labour Party acted as Leader of the Opposition as Sinn Féin, and later Fianna Fáil, refused to recognise Dáil Éireann.
The Leader of the Opposition does not have a large official role, as most of the post's functions are honorific, ceremonial and nominal. He or she is invariably seen as the alternative Taoiseach to the present incumbent, and heads a rival alternative government known as the Front Bench, however, all the other non-government parties have their own front benches as well.
At present a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition occupies the government benches of the Dáil chamber. The Opposition side of the house consists of Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Sinn Féin, the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas, the Socialist Party and several Independent TDs.
[edit] The Current Dáil
The diagram below shows a rather fragmented opposition side of the Dáil:
[edit] Leaders of the Opposition
The bold print indicates politicians who went on to become Taoiseach.
