Leader of Fianna Fáil Leader of Fianna Fáil The Leader of Fianna Fáil is the most senior politician within the Fianna Fáil political party in Ireland. Since 26 January 2011, the office has been held by Micheál Martin, following the resignation of Taoiseach Brian Cowen as leader of the party. The post of Leader of Fianna Fáil was officially created in 1926 when Éamon de Valera founded the party. De Valera had previously been leader of Sinn Féin and took the Anti-Treaty side during the Civil War. The new party essentially became a home for dissatisfied Sinn Féin TDs who had become disillusioned with
Political funding in Ireland Political funding in Ireland Political funding in Ireland has re-emerged as an issue of public policy quite recently when in 2012 the Electoral Act of 1997 was amended to cover basic needs of transparency and control. Details about the sources of political funds are rather scarce. Based on the information published for 1998 Murphy and Farrell contend that Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin were the parties which received the highest amounts of private funding. Fianna Fáil reported £432,501 and Sinn Féin total donations of £230,000. Whereas the bulk of the former funds were contributed by the business sector (e.g. hoteliers,