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The Republic of Ireland elects on national level a head of state — the president — and a legislature. The president is elected for a seven year term by Irish citizens resident in the Republic (see below). Residents of the Republic who are Irish citizens or British citizens may participate in elections to the national parliament. Residents who are citizens of any EU state may vote in European elections, while any resident, regardless of citizenship, may participate in local elections.

Oireachtas Éireann (the national parliament) has two chambers:

Dáil Éireann (the house of representatives or lower house) has 166 members, elected for a term of up to five years by a quota-based single transferable vote system in multi-seat constituencies.
Seanad Éireann (the Senate or upper house) has 60 members, 11 members nominated by the Taoiseach, 6 members elected by graduates of two universities and 43 members elected from five vocational panels, all in short time after the parliamentary elections.

Governments and elections have been dominated by two main parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The electoral system provides for a form of proportional representation, with the consequence that coalition government has become the norm in recent decades. At present there are seven parties in the Oireachtas and a number of non-party representatives.

[edit] General elections

[edit] Election results from 1923–37

Election	Date	President		Days
1923	27 August 1923	W. T. Cosgrave	Cumann na nGaedhael	1382
Jun 1927	9 June 1927			0098
Sep 1927	15 September 1927			1615
1932	16 February 1932	Éamon de Valera	Fianna Fáil	0343
1933	24 January 1933	Éamon de Valera	Fianna Fáil	1619

[edit] Election results since 1937

Election	Date	Taoiseach		Days
1937	1 July 1937	Éamon de Valera	Fianna Fáil	0351
1938	17 June 1938			1832
1943	23 June 1943			0342
1944	30 May 1944			1345
1948	4 February 1948	John A. Costello	Inter-Party (1st)	1211
1951	30 May 1951	Éamon de Valera	Fianna Fáil	1084
1954	18 May 1954	John A. Costello	Inter-Party (2nd)	1022
1957	5 March 1957	Éamon de Valera	Fianna Fáil	1674
1961	4 October 1961	Seán Lemass		1281
1965	7 April 1965	Seán Lemass		1533
1969	18 June 1969	Jack Lynch		1351
1973	28 February 1973	Liam Cosgrave	Fine Gael, Labour Party	1569
1977	16 June 1977	Jack Lynch	Fianna Fáil	1456
1981	11 June 1981	Garret FitzGerald	Fine Gael, Labour Party	0252
Feb 1982	18 February 1982	Charles Haughey	Fianna Fáil	0279
Nov 1982	24 November 1982	Garret FitzGerald	Fine Gael, Labour Party	1546
1987	17 February 1987	Charles Haughey	Fianna Fáil	0849
1989	15 June 1989	Charles Haughey	Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats	1259
1992	25 November 1992	Albert Reynolds	Fianna Fáil, Labour Party	1654
1992	15 December 1994	John Bruton	Fine Gael, Labour Party, Democratic Left	1654
1997	6 June 1997	Bertie Ahern	Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats	1806
2002	17 May 2002		Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats	1833
2007	24 May 2007		Fianna Fáil, Green Party, Progressive Democrats	0949+

[edit] Presidential elections

Main article: Irish presidential election

The President of Ireland is formally elected by the citizens of Ireland once in every seven years, except in the event of premature vacancy, when an election must be held within sixty days. The President is directly elected by secret ballot under the system of the Alternative Vote. While both Irish and UK citizens resident in the state may vote in elections to Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament), only Irish citizens, who must be at least eighteen years of age, may vote in the election of the President. The presidency is open to all citizens of the state who are at least 35. A candidate must, however be nominated by one of the following:

Twenty members of the Oireachtas (national parliament).
Four local authorities.
Themselves (in the case of an incumbent or former president that has served only one term).

Where only one candidate is nominated, he or she is deemed elected without the need for a ballot. For this reason, where there is a consensus among political parties, the President may be 'elected' without the occurrence of an actual ballot. No one may serve as President for more than two terms.

[edit] See also

Electoral calendar
Voting system
Proportional representation
Governments of Ireland
Politics of the Republic of Ireland
List of Irish by-elections
Irish general election timetable
Irish general election, 1918 - last all-Ireland general election
Irish elections, 1921 in Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland
Irish general election, 1922 leading to the Irish Free State
Elections in Northern Ireland
Dáil Election Summary

[edit] External links