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1977 · members Republic of Ireland members · 1982
Irish general election, 1981
165 of 166 seats in Dáil Éireann
11 June 1981
First party Second party Third party
Charles J. Haughey.jpg Garretfitzgerald.jpg
Leader Charles Haughey Garret FitzGerald Frank Cluskey
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Party
Leader since 1979 1977 1977
Leader's seat Dublin North Central Dublin South East Dublin South Central (defeated)
Last election 84 seats, 50.6% 43 seats, 30.6% 16 seats, 11.6%
Seats won 77 65 15
Seat change –7 +22 –1
Percentage 45.3% 36.5% 9.9%
Swing –5.3% +5.9% –1.7%
Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party

TMacGiolla.jpg
Leader None Tomás Mac Giolla Noel Browne
Party Anti H-Block Sinn Féin (Workers Party) Socialist Labour Party
Leader since N/A 1977 1981
Leader's seat N/A N/A Dublin North Central
Last election N/A N/A N/A
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change +2 +1 +1
Percentage 3.1% 1.7% 0.3%
Swing +3.1% +1.7% +0.3%

Incumbent Taoiseach
Charles Haughey
Fianna Fáil

Taoiseach-elect
Garret FitzGerald
Fine Gael

The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.

The general election took place in 41 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 18 from 148 to 166.

Contents

[edit] Campaign

The general election of 1981 was the first one of five during the 1980s. The election also saw three new leaders of the three main parties fight their first general election. Charles Haughey had become Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil at the end of 1979, Garret FitzGerald was the new leader of Fine Gael and Frank Cluskey was in charge of the Labour Party.

Charles Haughey and Fianna Fáil seemed extremely popular with the electorate. He had wanted to call the general election for early in the year, however a series of events led to the postponement of the election until the summer. By that stage much of the earlier optimism in the party had filtered out. The party still offered a very attractive manifesto, promising the electorate more spending programmes. Fine Gael also put forward a series of tax-cutting plans. Both the main parties policies seemed completely unrealistic, particularly since the national debt of the country was spiralling out of control.

[edit] Result

22nd Irish general election – 11 June 1981[1][2]
Party Leader Seats ±  % of seats First Pref votes  % FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Charles Haughey 77 –7 46.3 45.3 –5.3
Fine Gael Garret FitzGerald 65 +22 39.2 36.5 +5.9
Labour Party Frank Cluskey 15 –1 9.0 9.9 –1.7
Anti H-Block None 2 +2 1.2 3.1 New
Sinn Féin (Workers Party) Tomás Mac Giolla 1 +1 0.6 1.7 New
Socialist Labour Party Noel Browne 1 +1 0.6 0.3 New
Independent N/A 4 ±0 2.4
Ceann Comhairle N/A 1 N/A 0.6 N/A N/A N/A
Total 166 +18 100 100
  • Fine Gael–Labour Party minority government formed.

When the votes were counted the result was inconclusive. Fianna Fáil lost seats as a result of sympathy to the Anti H-Block candidates and the attractive tax proposals of Fine Gael. It was the worst performance for Fianna Fáil in twenty years. Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Frank Cluskey lost his seat, necessitating a leadership change with Michael O'Leary succeeding Cluskey. A Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government came to power with Garret FitzGerald becoming Taoiseach.

[edit] First time TDs

A total of 50 TDs were elected for the first time:

[edit] Outgoing TDs

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "22nd Dáil 1981 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/results/general/22dail.cfm. Retrieved 20 June 2009. 
  2. ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/gdala.htm. Retrieved 20 June 2009. 



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