Elections for Dáil Éireann 1989

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(Turnout 68.5%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

44.15

29.29

9.48

5.49

4.97

1.50

1.21

3.92

FF

FG

ILP

PD

WP

GP

SF

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1987

 % p

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

± 0.00

+2.22

+3.03

-6.36

+1.18

+1.10

-0.64

-0.52

FF

FG

ILP

PD

WP

GP

SF

Otherwise.

Allocation of seats in the 31st Dáil (as of January 2016)

      

A total of 166 seats

• Independent: 5
• Otherwise: 8
• ILP : 15
• FG : 55
• PD : 6
• FF : 77

The elections for the Dáil Éireann 1989 took place on June 15, 1989 . The members of the 26th Dáil were determined.

Results 1989

The 166 parliamentarians met for the first time on June 29 and the term of office lasted 1259 days.

The new election in 1989 was called after a minority initiative by Fianna Fáil to provide a fund for AIDS patients was rejected. Although a new election would not have been necessary as this did not endanger Fianna Fáil's ability to govern, the Dáil was dissolved. Charles Haughey , leader of Fianna Fáil, decided to take this step for another reason: recent polls showed his party at a new high and there was a possibility of an absolute majority. There were also rumors that various Fianna Fáil members were trying to raise funds for themselves in this way. The rumors could not be proven at the time, but ten years later it was discovered that Ray Burke , Pádraig Flynn and Haughey themselves had received substantial election donations for personal use.

Fianna Fáil's hope of surprising the other parties with the new election was not fulfilled: the opposition coordinated their joint efforts very quickly. Cuts in the health sector became the dominant theme.

Alan Dukes , the new leader of Fine Gael , had kept Fianna Fáil in power for the past two years with his Tallaght strategy . Tallaght is a suburb of Dublin where Dukes gave a speech to the Chamber of Commerce on September 2, 1987. The most important statement from him was: If the government does the right things, I don't want to fight it and block it for partisan reasons.

Although the election took place on the same day as the European elections , the turnout was only 68.50%. Perhaps it was also due to a tired electorate, it was the 5th election in 8 years.

The election result (4 lost seats) was a defeat for Fianna Fáil, who wanted an absolute majority, as the election was actually unnecessary. But the Progressive Democrats also lost over half of their MPs. The formation of a government then proved difficult, as expected. Many within Fianna Fáil hoped to continue minority government through the Tallaght Strategy , but Fine Gael blocked it so that it seemed impossible to form a new government. The situation seemed so hopeless that Charles Haughey formally resigned as Taoiseach . For the first time in Irish history, no government or Taoiseach could be established at the first Dáil meeting. Only 27 days later did negotiations between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats lead to the formation of a government.

Political party	leader	Distribution of seats			By-elections (0)
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Charles J. Haughey	77	−4	46.39%
Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	55	+4	33.13%
Labor Party	Michael O'Leary	15th	+3	9.04%
Workers' party	Proinsias De Rossa	7th	+3	4.22%
Progressive Democrats	Desmond O'Malley	6th	−8	3.61%
Green Party / Comhaontas glass		1	+1	0.60%
Independent		5	+1	3.01%
		166	± 0

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.