Leader None Ideology Green Politics Local Government 0 / 949 | Founded June 2010 Political position Left-wing | |
Fís Nua [fʲiʃ n̪ˠuə] is a minor political party in Ireland.
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The party was formed in June 2010, mainly by former members of the Green Party who were unhappy with that party's participation in the then coalition government with Fianna Fáil. Fís Nua intended to campaign on the issues of political transparency, environmental issues and social justice, and hoped to draw support from existing supporters of both the Greens and the Labour Party.
The party was registered on 4 February 2011, and on the following day it was announced that they would run six candidates in the 2011 general election.
"Fís Nua" means "New Vision" in Irish. (There is a separate organisation called New Vision, which also ran candidates in the 2011 general election.)
The party previously had one town councillor in Wicklow, Pat Kavanagh, who was elected as a member of the Green Party, but quit that party and ran in the 2011 election as a Fís Nua candidate. She then became an Independent politician before passing away.
General election
The party ran five candidates in the 2011 general election: one each in Dublin Central, Dublin South-East and Waterford and two in Wicklow. At the press launch on 5 February the party announced that it would also contest Cork South-West but their candidate failed to be nominated by the deadline of 9 February.
Although registered on 4 February 2011, the party's name did not appear on the ballot, as the Register of Political Parties in use was that in force on 1 February when the writ for the general election was issued.
All candidates polled less than 5% of the vote. Dublin South-East candidate, Peadar Ó Ceallaigh, polled the lowest first preference vote of all the candidates in the election and the second lowest on record.
Dublin West by-election
The party contested the Dublin West by-election held in October 2011. This was the first election at which the party's name appeared on the ballot paper. The party's candidate, Peadar Ó Ceallaigh, came last of the 13 candidates, securing 40 votes or 0.1% of the total first preferences.
2014
The party had candidates in each of the three constituencies for European Parliament elections, the Dublin West by-election for a seat in Dáil Éireann and also a number of candidates for local elections: all elections were held on Friday 23 May 2014.
Dublin West By-Election
The party's candidate was Daniel Boyne. Boyne received 113 first preference votes, this being 0.4% of the votes cast. He was last of the ten candidates and was eliminated after the first count.
General election
The party ran two candidates in the general election held on 26 February 2016. They were Niamh Ó Brien in Clare and Cordelia Nic Fhearraigh in Donegal. O'Brien came thirteenth of sixteen candidates, receiving 1,154 first preference votes, and was eliminated on the second count. Nic Fhearraigh came last of the sixteen candidates in Donegal, receiving 70 first preference votes, and was eliminated on the first count. Nic Fhearraigh, who made all her election communications through the Irish language, was one of the lowest-polling candidates in the country.