Days of blue loyalty: The politics of membership of the Fine Gael party

by Michael Gallagher, Michael Marsh

Days of Blue Loyalty is the first book ever written about the members of an Irish political party. It contains a wealth of information on hitherto unknown aspects of Irish political life. The book is a study of the members of the Fine Gael party, based on a large-scale survey. A 22-page questionnaire was mailed to a representative sample of the membership in every constituency in the country, and over 1,700 completed questionnaires were received. Days of Blue Loyalty analyses members' responses to this survey. Comparable surveys have been conducted in other countries, and information on these can be found at Institute for the Study of Political Parties at the University of Sheffield, England,).

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Ben Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I would have liked more out of this book at some times, give how obtuse political parties are this book gives a significant level of insight into the working of one in Ireland.

While the numbers are undoubtfully outdated with current members taking far different views on the issues discussed, as a snapshot in time this book is entertaining and enlightening for someone with an academic interest in politics or who enjoys political history.