The general election of 2011 in the Republic of Ireland: All changed utterly?

On 9 March 2011, the 31st Dáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament) convened for the first time and elected Enda Kenny of Fine Gael as Taoiseach (prime minister) by a margin of 117 votes to 27. Breaking with tradition, a depleted Fianna Fáil party did not propose an alternative candidate and abstained from the vote. Kenny's election brought to an end Fianna Fáil's 14 consecutive years in Cabinet on the back of three successful elections in 1997, 2002 and 2007. It reshaped a political system that Fianna Fáil had previously dominated for more than half a century, holding an apparently permanent plurality of votes and parliamentary seats since 1932 and spending more than 61 of the past 79 years in government.