Elections for Dáil Éireann 1977

← 1973Elections for
Dáil Éireann 19771981 →

(Voter turnout 76.3%)

 %

60

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

50.63

30.49

11.63

1.70

5.55

FF

FG

ILP

SF

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1973

 % p

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

+4.39

-4.59

-2.04

+0.56

+1.68

FF

FG

ILP

SF

Otherwise.

    

A total of 148 seats

• Independent: 4
• ILP : 17
• FG : 43
• FF : 84

The elections for the Dáil Éireann 1977 took place on June 16, 1977 . The members of the 21st Dáil were determined.

Result 1977

The 148 parliamentarians (4 more than in the previous election) met for the first time on July 5th and the term of office lasted 1456 days.

Despite some internal differences, the signs were good for a further term in office for the Fine Gael - Labor Party coalition. This was even reinforced by the so-called "Tullymander of the Constitution" (an English word composition from the surname of the person concerned Tully and the expression to gerrymander , which means "to manipulate something for his benefit"), when the Minister James Tully his Introduced a plan to reallocate all Irish constituencies to maximize the number of seats in the coalition. For example B. Dublin alone from 13 3-seat electoral districts, of which the coalition, it was hoped, could get 2 seats and so Finna Fáil only 1 seat remained. A similar principle was applied in rural areas, where the party was strongest.

For this reason, not even Fianna Fáil and her leader Jack Lynch initially believed that they could win this election. The party developed an election manifesto that promised the electorate some financial and economic incentives in the event of an election victory, e.g. B. the abolition of the property tax, the so-called car tax, and the promise to push the number of unemployed below 100,000. Lynch agreed to the program, believing (erroneously as it turned out later) that the party needed something spectacular to win the election. Fianna Fáil's election campaign was very American . Lynch traveled all over the country with his followers (motto: Get Jack back ) and, as it turned out, his popularity was the best selling point in the election.

Despite the very positive feedback and the hope that Fianna Fáil would win the election (towards the end of the election campaign), no one could foresee the extent of the victory. Fianna Fáil moved into the House of Commons with a 20-seat lead and the National Coalition suffered the biggest electoral defeat of any government in Irish history. After the election, the two heads of state and leaders of Fine Gael and the Labor Party, Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and Tánaiste Brendan Corish, resigned - also a first in Irish history.

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (2) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Jack Lynch	84	+15	56.76%	1		2	−1
Fine Gael	Liam Cosgrave	43	−11	29.06%		2		+2
Labor Party	Brendan Corish	17th	−2	11.48%	1			−1
Independent		4th	+2	2.70%
		148	+4

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.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ electionsireland.org.