Word: fianna
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...general polling, the long-ruling Fianna Fail Party suffered its worst setback in 50 years, losing at least 10 of its 77 seats in the 166-member Dail, while the big winner was the Labour Party, which more than doubled its parliamentary roster. It remained unclear whether the new coalition government will be headed by Fianna Fail's Albert Reynolds, the current Prime Minister, or Labour's Dick Spring, now Ireland's most popular politician...
When "the Troubles" flared anew in 1969, children who were under 16 and too young for the I.R.A. rushed to join the Na Fianna Eirann, a group created in the early 1900s as an Irish patriot's answer to Baden-Powell's John Bullish Boy Scouts. Members did a lot more than sing folk songs and hike; they fought, and the authorities made no distinction between Fianna and I.R.A. suspects. Fianna members had their own uniform, and the black shirts, berets and sunglasses gave even small children a scary paramilitary look. The youngsters became a macabre part of the pageantry...
...I.R.A. broke up the formal structure of the Fianna after the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British intelligence forces had too often managed to squeeze information out of its members. The numbers of Fianna children who were killed, not just in riots or military operations, but in accidents as well, were also bad for public relations...