I was doing some reading on FF, and it would appear that as much as this may offend some readers here, they're no where near the left-wing, almost socialist populists they were in the early days. Would this be accurate?

I've always felt an affinity toward FG, being that they were your lassiez-faire party. But it would appear from my reading that pretty much from Haughey on, FF has been pretty centrist and pro-business as well.

In light of that, what really separates the two parties these days? Tradition?

Sidenote: I was also stunned to hear that in a nation of approximately 3 million people, FF has the lion's share of party members, at 55,000. That's 0.25% of your population, a shockingly low number. Do most voters declare themselves unaffiliated, in spite of their leanings? Or is it like China, where only those with a vested interest one way or the other actually join a party? The reason I ask is because here in the States, in most jurisdictions, you have to declare a party affiliation (even independent or none) in order to register to vote. I think that encourages the large numbers of members in our two big parties.