Voters reject austerity and question EU

FOR decades, Ireland had a pro-EU cartel at the centre of party politics.

Essentially, all of the parties of the centre left and the centre right, that were regularly in government, held pro-EU positions, including Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the PDs. The picture is more mixed for the Green Party but they have taken a more pro-EU stance in the last eight to 10 years.

The positive orientation of the parties towards the EU was reflected in the electorate with a significant majority holding favourable views on the EU.