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The "Gang of 22" was a group of Fianna Fáil TDs (members of parliament) who were opposed to the leadership of Charles Haughey in the early 1980s. The very evident division within the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party left a deep split in the organisation.
The origins of the "Gang of 22" was when Desmond O'Malley challenged Charles Haughey for the leadership of Fianna Fáil in 1983. Disillusioned with the unwillingness of O'Malley, Colley and their supporters to act, a vote of no-confidence against Charles Haughey's leadership was called by Charlie McCreevy on his own initiative. This forced O'Malley's hand and he had to declare his intention to stand against Haughey. The vote failed by 55 votes to 22.
The complete list of those who made up the Gang of 22 was as follows:
- David Andrews
- Sylvester Barrett
- Thomas Bellew
- Séamus Brennan
- Hugh Byrne
- Sean Byrne
- George Colley
- Hugh Conaghan
- Pádraig Faulkner
- Tom Fitzpatrick
- Seán French
- Jim Gibbons
- Mary Harney
- Tom Meaney
- Charlie McCreevy
- Bobby Molloy
- Ciarán Murphy
- Willie O'Dea
- Dr. Martin O'Donoghue
- Desmond O'Malley
- Joe Walsh
- Pearse Wyse Joe Joyce & Peter Murtagh The Boss; Poolbeg, pp.361-2.
The name is a pun on the Gang of Four, a group of Communist leaders in the People's Republic of China who were imprisoned after the death of Mao Zedong.
References
- "Career built on highly popular Limerick base". The Irish Times. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.