Ireland's Fianna Fáil joined the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) on 16 April 2009. Fianna Fáil has long been a proponent of European integration and was openly uncomfortable about its European affiliation, with former leader Bertie Ahern often distancing his party from the right-wing positions of his groupmates and describing UEN as purely a "technical arrangement." Fianna Fáil very nearly joined ALDE during the group reshuffle after the 2004 European elections, and had also previously explored seeking membership in ELDR.