Elections in Ireland (1951–1969)

The following list contains details of the previous elections in Ireland for the Dáil Éireann , the Irish House of Commons.

14.-19. Dáil Éireann

1951

The election for the 14th Dáil took place on May 30, 1951 . 147 parliamentarians met for the first time on June 13 and the term of office lasted 1084 days.

A new election was necessary in 1951 due to various crises within the multi-party government, mainly because of the “Mother and Child scheme”. Although the whole affair, in which Health Minister Noel Browne resigned, cannot be blamed for the complete failure of the government, it nonetheless increased the pressure between the various political parties. There were other problems in the country: rising prices (especially for milk) and a large wage gap.

Although the end of the first multi-party government had come, it had a number of accomplishments, shows that such a government can work, and brought a breath of fresh air to Irish politics.

The results after the election were difficult to interpret. While Fine Gael had to accept strong profits and Clann na Poblachta (due to internal disputes) strong losses, all other parties remained almost at the previous level. The Labor Party was able to overcome its internal difficulties and campaigned again together with the National Labor Party.

Although Fianna Fáil was again unable to secure enough seats for a one-party government, this time the coalition negotiations were successful and the party was able to form a government together with some independents.

     

A total of 147 seats

• Independent: 14
• Otherwise: 8
• ILP : 16
• FG : 40
• FF : 69

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (5) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Eamon de Valera	69	+1	46.94%	2	1	2	−1
Fine Gael	Richard Mulcahy	40	+9	27.21%	3	1	2	+2
Labor Party	William Norton	16	−3	10.88%	1			−1
Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	6th	−1	4.08%
Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride	2	−8	1.37%
Independent		14th	+2	9.52%			1
		147	± 0

1954

The election for the 15th Dáil took place on May 14, 1954 . The 147 parliamentarians met for the first time on June 2nd and the term of office lasted 1022 days.

The trigger for the election was the loss of the majority (due to lost by-elections) of the ruling Fianna Fáil party in the lower house. Eamon de Valera then decided to schedule a new election.

Finna Fáil had the most to lose in this election and so the party put on an extensive election program that had political stability as a core point for the next 5 years. But in recent years the economy has continued to shrink, and unemployment and emigration numbers have risen. The tenure from 1951 to 1954 is considered de Valera's worst. Although Fianna Fáil remained the strongest party, a multi-party government consisting of Fine Gael , Labor and Clann na Talmhan was formed for the second time in Irish history .

    

A total of 139 seats

• Independent: 5
• ILP : 19
• FG : 50
• FF : 65

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (5) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Eamon de Valera	65	−4	44.22%		3	2	+3
Fine Gael	Richard Mulcahy	50	+10	34.01%	2			−2
Labor Party	William Norton	19th	+3	12.93%	1			−1
Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	5	−1	3.40%
Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride	3	+1	2.04%			1
Independent		5	−9	3.40%			1
		147	± 0

1957

The election for the 16th Dáil took place on March 5, 1957 , about three weeks after the last Dáil was dissolved. The 147 parliamentarians met for the first time on March 20 and the term of office lasted 1674 days.

The choice was made because of a trade balance crisis. Fianna Fáil then initiated a vote of no confidence in the multi-party government of Fine Gael , Labor Party and Clann na Talmhan . Instead of running the risk of defeat, the Taoiseach John A. Costello dissolved the Dáil and set up new elections. The election campaign that followed was mostly about economic issues.

Fianna Fáil published a comprehensive policy framework in January, in which she took a critical stance on economic issues - including her own policy. Free trade was now a clearly stated goal of the party, regardless of its previous policy. Behind these new guidelines stood the party's second man, Seán F. Lemass . Eamon de Valera , now 75 years old, was standing for the last time in an election and campaigned vigorously. Fianna Fáil's message was simple: multi-party governments are unstable.

After the votes were counted, Fianna Fáil achieved an absolute majority and Eamon de Valera was Taoiseach for the last time .

     

A total of 147 seats

• Independent: 10
• Otherwise: 8
• ILP : 10
• FG : 40
• FF : 79

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (6) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Eamon de Valera	79	+14	53.74%	2	3	3	−1
Fine Gael	Richard Mulcahy	40	−10	27.21%	1	2		+1
Labor Party	William Norton	10	−9	6.80%
Sinn Féin		4th	+4	2.72%
Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	3	−2	2.04%
Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride	1	−2	0.69%
Independent		10	+5	6.80%	1	1
		147	± 0

1961

The election for the 17th Dáil took place on October 4, 1961 . The now 144 parliamentarians (three fewer than in the previous election) met for the first time on October 11 and the term of office lasted 1,281 days.

This election saw three new leaders at the top of the three largest parties. Seán F. Lemass took over the leadership of Fianna Fáil in 1959, making it Fianna Fáil's first choice without its founder, Eamon de Valera . Also in 1959 James Dillon took over the leadership of Fine Gael and now Brendan Corish was at the head of the Labor Party .

Although the new election was mainly triggered by a crisis surrounding Ireland's accession to the EU , this issue was only marginal in the election campaign. The entire election campaign is considered to be the most listless in Irish history to this day - the main theme was the teaching of the Irish language in schools.

     

A total of 144 seats

• Independent: 6
• Otherwise: 5
• ILP : 16
• FG : 47
• FF : 70

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (5) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Seán F. Lemass	70	−9	48.61%		1	1	+1
Fine Gael	James Dillon	47	+7	32.64%		1	2	+1
Labor Party	Brendan Corish	16	+6	11.11%	1		1	−1
Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	2	−1	1.39%	1			−1
National Progressive Democrats	Noel Browne	2	+2	1.39%
Clann na Poblachta	Joseph Barron	1		0.69%
Independent		6th	−3	4.17%
Others (Sinn Féin)		0	−4
		144	−3

1965

The election for the 18th Dáil took place on April 7, 1965 . The 144 parliamentarians met for the first time on April 21, and the term of office lasted 1533 days.

The 1965 election was necessary because the ruling Fianna Fáil party was lost . The victory of Eileen Desmond of the Labor Party in the constituency of Mid Cork and the lost seat led to a situation in which the further ability to govern was not given, so that the Taoiseach Seán F. Lemass dissolved the Dáil.

In the last few years the Republic of Ireland had experienced a great economic boom and so the ruling party Fianna Fáil went into the election campaign with its leader and the slogan "Let Lemass continue to rule". But Fine Gael also published a comprehensive election manifesto, in which the establishment of a new government agency was proposed, which should deal with economic future planning. But internally the party was not in agreement as many of the older, more conservative members did not support the new path.

    

A total of 144 seats

• Independent: 3
• ILP : 22
• FG : 47
• FF : 72

The election brought an absolute majority to Fianna Fáil and Seán F. Lemass remained Taoiseach. James Dillon , leader of Fine Gael, resigned immediately after the results were announced.

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (4) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Seán F. Lemass	72	+2	50.00%		3	3	+3
Fine Gael	James Dillon	47		32.64%	2	1		−1
Labor Party	Brendan Corish	22nd	+6	15.28%	2			−2
Independent		3	−3	2.08%
Others (Clann na Talmhan, National Progressive Democrats, Clann na Poblachta)		0	−5
		144	± 0

1969

The election for the 19th Dáil took place on June 18, 1969 . The 144 parliamentarians met for the first time on July 2nd and the term of office lasted 1351 days.

The 1969 election saw two new leaders of the strongest parties: Jack Lynch of Fianna Fáil became Taoiseach in 1966 and Liam Cosgrave a year earlier, in 1965, leader of Fine Gael . Brendan Corish ( Labor Party ) was the first man in his party for the third time in an election.

Finna Fáil had been in power since 1957 and, despite various media reports, was still popular with voters, and Jack Lynch turned out to be the party's greatest asset. His calm and carefree manner, in addition to the fact that the opposition parties were divided, attracted many first-time voters to Fianna Fáil.

Even Fine Gael had internal problems. There was still disagreement between the older, more conservative party members who supported the old principles and the younger generation who wanted to turn the party towards the left. The Labor Party, with the slogan “The 1970s will become socialist”, had been predicted to win bigger before the election, but Fianna Fáil knew how to weigh the Labor Party with fear of communism. A tactic that should pay off.

    

A total of 144 seats

• Independent: 1
• ILP : 18
• FG : 50
• FF : 75

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (4) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Jack Lynch	75	+3	52.08%	2	2	1
Fine Gael	Liam Cosgrave	50	+3	34.73%	1	2	1	+1
Labor Party	Brendan Corish	18th	−4	12.50%	1			−1
Independent		1	−2	0.69%
		144	± 0

Footnotes

1. The (+/-) comparisons relate to the previous election and do not take into account any seat shifts caused by by-elections.
2. If a member of parliament leaves (e.g. through resignation, expulsion or death), his seat must be reassigned in a by-election . This can lead to a loss or gain of seats for individual parties. The number in brackets indicates the number of post-election dates; several seats can be re-elected on one appointment. This list includes seat changes due to changes in the party of individual parliamentarians.

See also

• Elections in Ireland (1918-1949)