ABSTRACT
Fianna Fáil is a party used to government, authority and influence in the domestic sphere. This has been to a large part secured by the vitality and strength of its local organization. The party has, in contrast, struggled to find its place in the sphere of European politics. Its main successes in the EU arena have arisen from its experience as Ireland’s governing party. This is reflected in the fact that the pro-Europeanism that exists within the party is pivoted on the belief that its leadership will defend national interests and negotiate good deals for Ireland in Brussels. These two ‘fundamentals’ in party support – localism and power – were thrown into doubt by the results of the 2008 Lisbon referendum and the 2009 European and local elections. This article draws on original, qualitative interviews with Fianna Fáil MEPs and party members across Ireland conducted in the wake of these election results. Using Ladrech’s (2002) model as an outline, it reveals the ways in which the party’s localism has delimited the effects of Europeanization. Furthermore, it argues that the crisis faced by the Fianna Fáil government in late 2009 represented the culmination of local/ central and national/European tensions within the party and beyond its control.
