Elections for Dáil Éireann 1981

← 1977Elections for
Dáil Éireann 1981Feb 1982 →

(Voter turnout 76.2%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

45.26

36.46

9.89

2.49

1.72

4.18

FF

FG

ILP

Anti H

SF

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1977

 % p

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

-5.37

+5.97

-1.74

+2.49

+0.02

-1.37

FF

FG

ILP

Anti H

SF

Otherwise.

     

A total of 166 seats

• Independent: 6
• Otherwise: 2
• ILP : 15
• FG : 65
• FF : 78

The elections for Dáil Éireann 1981 took place on June 11, 1981 . The members of the 22nd Dáil were determined.

The now 166 parliamentarians (18 more than in the previous election) met for the first time on June 30; their term of office was only 252 days.

The 1981 election was the first of five general election in the 1980s. Three new leaders of the three largest parties ran for her first election: Charles Haughey had been Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil since 1979 , Garret FitzGerald was the new first man at Fine Gael and Michael O'Leary at the Labor Party .

Fianna Fáil seemed very popular in 1981 and so Charles Haughey wanted to start the election early in the year, but various events delayed it until the summer. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's election manifestos promised tax cuts and additional subsidies, but seemed unrealistic, especially as national debt continued to grow and spiral out of control.

In the election, which took place during the 1981 hunger strike , several IRA and INLA members incarcerated in Maze and Armagh prisons in Northern Ireland ran as anti-H blocs . Two of them were elected but did not take their seats.

Political party	leader	Distribution of seats			By-elections (0)
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Charles J. Haughey	78	−6	46.99%
Fine Gael	Garret FitzGerald	65	+22	39.16%
Labor Party	Michael O'Leary	15th	−2	9.04%
Anti H block		2	+2	1.20%
Independent		6th	+2	3.61%
		166	+18

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The (+/-) comparisons each refer 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, exclusion 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.