How Did Ireland Have A Half Party System

Since the early decades of the state, it was said that Ireland had a ‘two and a half party’ party system. There are two main political parties in Ireland - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the minor party Labour which is a potential coalition party. The two historically largest political parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael arose from a split that occurred in Irish politics at the time of the 1922–1923 Civil War, at the time of the foundation of the state. Both descended from factions of the original Sinn Féin party: Fine Gael from the faction that supported the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and Fianna Fáil from the anti-Treaty faction. This enduring characteristic of the Irish party system is sometimes pejoratively referred to as "Civil War politics".
The search for vote revolved less around old issues of nationalism and the role of the Catholic Church and more around promises of economic and social progress. Lemass wanted to modernise Ireland. He encouraged the growth of industry. His government brought in free secondary education for all children, and Lemass was the first Taoiseach to meet the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1965. The effects of the economic modernisation of on the party system, began when Sean lemass decided to leave fianna fails leadership in the hands of jack lynch at the end of the 1960s. Lynch had to deal with the increasing violence in Northern Ireland as the Troubles broke out. He also wanted to continue Lemass' work and bring Ireland into the European Economic Community, which he did in 1973. Thus starting the whole party system. This produced a crisis of fianna fails collective incentives which would lead to breaking down dominant party system pattern. Lynch stepped down and was replaced by Charles
The Irish state also changed Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution to acknowledge both the existence of Northern Ireland and the desire of Irish nationalists for a united Ireland. Even in the wake of the post-Good Friday Agreement incorporation of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin into electoral politics, there remain several republican paramilitary groups who wish to use force to destabilise Northern Ireland – such as the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA. Irish security forces continue to be used to try to prevent attacks by such