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Irish general election, 1951
146 of 147 seats in Dáil Éireann
30 May 1951
		First party	Second party	Third party
Leader		Éamon de Valera	Richard Mulcahy	William Norton
Party		Fianna Fáil	Fine Gael	Labour Party
Leader since		1926	1944	1932
Leader's seat		Clare	Tipperary	Kildare
Last election		67 seats, 41.9%	31 seats, 19.8%	19 seats, 13.9%[1]
Seats won		68	40	16
Seat change		+1	+9	–3
Percentage		46.3%	25.8%	11.4%
Swing		+4.4%	+6.0%	–2.5%
		Fourth party	Fifth party
Leader		Joseph Blowick	Seán MacBride
Party		Clann na Talmhan	Clann na Poblachta
Leader since		1944	1946
Leader's seat		Mayo South	Dublin South West
Last election		7 seats, 5.5%	10 seats, 13.3%
Seats won		6	2
Seat change		–1	–8
Percentage		2.9%	4.1%
Swing		–2.6%	–9.2%
Incumbent Taoiseach John A. Costello Fine Gael Taoiseach-elect Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil

The Irish general election of 1951 was held on 30 May 1951. The newly elected members of the 14th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 13 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.

The general election took place in 40 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann.

Contents 1 Campaign 2 Result 3 First time TDs 4 Re-elected TDs 5 Outgoing TDs 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Campaign

The general election of 1951 was caused by a number of crises within the First Inter-Party Government, most notably the Mother and Child Scheme. While the whole affair, which saw the resignation of the Minister for Health, Noel Browne, was not entirely to blame for the collapse of the government it added to the pressure between the various political parties. There were other problems facing the country such as rising prices, balance of payments problems and two farmer TDs withdrew their support for the government because of rising milk prices.

Although the first inter-party government was now coming to an end it had a number of achievements. It proved that the country could be led by a group other than Fianna Fáil. It also provided a fresh perspective after sixteen years of unbroken rule by that party.

The coalition parties fought the general election on their record on government over the previous three years, while Fianna Fáil argued strongly against coalition governments.

[edit] Result

14th Irish general election – 30 May 1951^[2][3]

Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Éamon de Valera	68	+1	46.2		46.3	+4.4
	Fine Gael	Richard Mulcahy	40	+9	27.2		25.8	+6.0
	Labour Party	William Norton	16	–3[1]	10.9		11.4	–2.5
	Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	6	–1	4.1		2.9	–2.6
	Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride	2	–8	1.4		4.1	–9.2
	Independent	N/A	14	+2	9.5		9.5
	Ceann Comhairle	N/A	1	N/A	0.7	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total			147	0	100		100	—

• Fianna Fáil minority government formed.

The election result was inconclusive. Fianna Fáil's support increased by 61,000 votes, however, the party only gained one extra seat. The coalition parties had mixed fortunes. Fine Gael were the big winners increasing to forty seats. The Labour Party patched up its differences with the National Labour Party and fought the election together but in spite of this the party lost seats. Clann na Poblachta were the big losers of the election. Three years earlier the party was a big political threat, but now the party was shattered.

Fianna Fáil had not won enough seats to govern alone. However, the party was able to form a government with the support of Noel Browne, the sacked Minister for Health, and other Independent deputies.

[edit] First time TDs

[edit] Re-elected TDs

• Laurence Walsh

[edit] Outgoing TDs

• John Friel (Lost seat)
• Patrick Gorry (Lost seat)
• James Kilroy (Lost seat)
• Michael Lydon (Lost seat)
• Michael Óg McFadden (Lost seat)
• Joseph Mongan (Deceased)
• Martin O'Sullivan (Lost seat)
• Robert Ryan (Lost seat)
• Richard Walsh (Retired)

[edit] See also

• Members of the 14th Dáil
• Government of the 14th Dáil
• Parliamentary Secretaries of the 14th Dáil

[edit] References

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