Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)

The Leader of the Opposition (Irish: Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in Ireland is the politician who, de facto, leads the Parliamentary Opposition in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann.

Leader of the Opposition Ceannaire an Fhreasúra
Incumbent Mary Lou McDonald since 27 June 2020
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Thomas Johnson
Formation	6 December 1922

When in the Dáil, the Leader of the Opposition sits on the right-hand side of the Ceann Comhairle and directly opposite of the Taoiseach.

To date there have been 17 Opposition Leaders, 9 of whom have been Taoiseach. The current Leader of the Opposition is Mary Lou McDonald TD of the Sinn Féin party since June 2020.

Leader of the Opposition

• Leaders who later became Taoiseach are indicated in bold.

List of leaders of the opposition

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Constituency	Term of office		Party		Taoiseach[nb 1]
				From	To
1.	Éamon de Valera (1882–1975)		Clare	9 January 1922	8 June 1922		Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty)		Arthur Griffith (1922)
2.	Thomas Johnson (1872–1963)		Dublin County	9 September 1922	11 August 1927		Labour Party		W. T. Cosgrave (1922–32)
(1)	Éamon de Valera (1882–1975)		Clare	11 August 1927	9 March 1932		Fianna Fáil
3.	W. T. Cosgrave (1880–1965)		Cork Borough	9 March 1932	January 1944		Cumann na nGaedheal		Éamon de Valera (1932–48)
							Fine Gael
4.	Thomas F. O'Higgins (1890–1953)		Leix–Offaly	January 1944	9 June 1944
5.	Richard Mulcahy (1886–1971)		Tipperary	9 June 1944	18 February 1948
(1)	Éamon de Valera (1882–1975)		Clare	18 February 1948	13 June 1951		Fianna Fáil		John A. Costello (1948–51)
6.	John A. Costello (1891–1976)		Dublin South-East	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fine Gael		Éamon de Valera (1951–54)
(1)	Éamon de Valera (1882–1975)		Clare	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Fianna Fáil		John A. Costello (1954–57)
(6)	John A. Costello (1891–1976)		Dublin South-East	20 March 1957	21 October 1959		Fine Gael		Éamon de Valera (1957–59)
									Seán Lemass (1959–66)
7.	James Dillon (1902–1986)		Monaghan	21 October 1959	21 April 1965
8.	Liam Cosgrave (1920-2017)		Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown	21 April 1965	14 March 1973
									Jack Lynch (1966–73)
9.	Jack Lynch (1917–1999)		Cork City North-West	14 March 1973	5 July 1977		Fianna Fáil		Liam Cosgrave (1973–77)
10.	Garret FitzGerald (1926–2011)		Dublin South-East	5 July 1977	30 June 1981		Fine Gael		Jack Lynch (1977–79)
									Charles Haughey (1979–81)
11.	Charles Haughey (1925–2006)		Dublin North-Central	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Fianna Fáil		Garret FitzGerald (1981–82)
(10)	Garret FitzGerald (1926–2011)		Dublin South-East	9 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fine Gael		Charles Haughey (1982)
(11)	Charles Haughey (1925–2006)		Dublin North-Central	14 December 1982	10 March 1987		Fianna Fáil		Garret FitzGerald (1982–87)
12.	Alan Dukes (born 1945)		Kildare	10 March 1987	20 November 1990		Fine Gael		Charles Haughey (1987–92)
13.	John Bruton (born 1947)		Meath	20 November 1990	15 December 1994
									Albert Reynolds (1992–94)
14.	Bertie Ahern (born 1951)		Dublin Central	15 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fianna Fáil		John Bruton (1994–97)
(13)	John Bruton (born 1947)		Meath	26 June 1997	9 February 2001		Fine Gael		Bertie Ahern (1997–2008)
15.	Michael Noonan (born 1943)		Limerick East	9 February 2001	6 June 2002
16.	Enda Kenny (born 1951)		Mayo	6 June 2002	9 March 2011
									Brian Cowen (2008–11)
17.	Micheál Martin (born 1960)		Cork South-Central	9 March 2011	27 June 2020		Fianna Fáil		Enda Kenny (2011–2017)
									Leo Varadkar (2017–2020)
18.	Mary Lou McDonald (born 1969)		Dublin Central	27 June 2020	Incumbent		Sinn Féin		Micheál Martin (2020–present)

Notes

1. President of Dáil Éireann to 6 December 1922. President of the Executive Council to 29 December 1937.