24th Government of Ireland

Government of the 27th Dáil 24th Government of Ireland
Date formed	15 December 1994
Date dissolved	26 June 1997
People and organisations
Head of government	John Bruton
Deputy head of government	Dick Spring
Head of state	Mary Robinson
Total no. of ministers	15
Member parties	Fine Gael Labour Party Democratic Left
Status in legislature	Rainbow Coalition
Opposition leader	Bertie Ahern (Fianna Fáil)
History
Legislature term(s)	27th Dáil
Predecessor	23rd Government
Successor	25th Government

The 24th Government of Ireland (15 December 1994 – 26 June 1997) was the 2nd Government of the 27th Dáil. Known as the Rainbow Coalition, it was a coalition of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left. The Labour Party had formed the 23rd Government with Fianna Fáil after the 1992 general election, but left in 1994 following a number of scandals, particularly over the beef industry and the alleged mishandling of the prosecution of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth. After Albert Reynolds was replaced by Bertie Ahern as Fianna Fáil leader, there was speculation that Labour would rejoin Fianna Fáil in government, but instead it joined with two opposition parties. By-election gains since 1992 meant the three now had enough TDs for an overall majority. This was the first time in Irish political history that a party had left a governing coalition and gone into government with opposition parties without first holding a general election.

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