Elections for the Dáil Éireann 2016

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First preferences (turnout 65.2%)

 %

30th

20th

10

0

25.52

24.35

13.85

6.61

4.20

3.95

3.00

2.72

2.18

13.70

FG

FF

SF

ILP

IA

AAA-PBP

SD

GP

RI

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 2011

 % p

   8th

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

-10

-12

-14

-10.58

+6.90

+3.91

-12.84

+4.20

+1.75

+3.00

+0.87

+2.18

-0.50

FG

FF

SF

ILP

IA

AAA-PBP

SD

GP

RI

Otherwise.

Bottom line

          

A total of 158 seats

• I4C : 4th
• AAA-PBP : 6
• SF : 23
• IA : 6
• SD : 3
• GP : 2
• ILP : 7
• Independent: 13
• FF : 44
• FG : 50

The 32nd elections for the Dáil Éireann 2016 took place on February 26, 2016. The 158 MPs of the Irish House of Commons were elected.

Starting position

→ Main article : Elections for the Dáil Éireann 2011

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

         

A total of 165 seats

• Independent: 19
• Otherwise: 2
• SF : 14
• AAA-PBP : 4
• SD : 3
• RI : 3
• ILP : 33
• FG : 66
• FF : 21

In the last election, Prime Minister Enda Kenny's conservative Fine Gael became the strongest force for the first time. As in the past, it formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Labor Party, which also almost doubled its share of the vote. The Fianna Fáil , the strongest force for decades, lost more than half of its votes.

The main topic of the election campaign was economic policy. Ireland had been badly hit by the economic and financial crisis from 2007 onwards and between 2010 and 2013 had to put itself under the so-called euro rescue package and accept the conditions of its lenders to consolidate the state budget and reform economic policy. There was a sharp rise in national debt and unemployment. However, Ireland's economy recovered relatively soon and gained considerable momentum in some areas. In the third quarter of 2015, economic growth was 7%; unemployment fell under the current government from around 14% to 8.8%. From 2014 onwards, national debt and unemployment fell. In view of the improvement in the economic situation, more and more voices were heard calling for an end to the austerity policy . Of the larger parties, Sinn Féin in particular took this position .

Electoral process

The newly divided constituencies

The constitution prescribes elections by means of transferable individual votes , whereby at least three members must be elected in each constituency. Since 1947 there have only been constituencies with three to five members to be elected. Following a change in the law in 2013, the number of MPs fell from 166 to 158 and the number of constituencies from 43 to 40.

Output forecasts

date	source	Institute	FG	Lab	FF	SF	AAA -PBP	RI	SD	GP	IA	Independent	Others
February 26, 2016	RTÉ	Behavior & Attitudes	24.8	7.1	21.1	16.0	4.7	2.4	3.7	3.6	3.0	11.0	2.6
February 26, 2016	The Irish Times	Ipsos MRBI	26.1	7.8	22.9	14.9	3.6	2.3	2.8	3.5	k. A.	k. A.	16.1 (incl. Indep.)
February 25, 2011	Election 2011	-	36.1%	19.4%	17.4%	9.9%	2.2%	-	-	1.8%	-	k. A.	14.2% (incl. Independent)

Opinion polls

date	source	Institute	FG	Lab	FF	SF	AAA - PBP	RI	SD	GP	Others
February 23, 2016	Paddy Power	Red C	30th	7th	20th	15th	3	2	4th	3	16
February 22, 2016	The Irish Times	Ipsos MRBI	28	6th	23	15th	3	2	3	2	18th
February 21, 2016	Sunday Independent	Millward Brown	27	6th	23	19th	5	2	4th	2	14th
February 21, 2016	The Sunday Business Post	Red C	30th	8th	18th	16	3	2	4th	4th	15th
February 21, 2016	The Sunday Times	Behavior & Attitudes	30th	4th	22nd	15th	5	3	3	3	15th
February 16, 2016	The Irish Sun	Red C	26th	9	19th	17th	2	2	3	4th	18th
February 13, 2016	The Sunday Business Post	Red C	28	8th	18th	20th	3	1	4th	2	16
February 10, 2016	Paddy Power	Red C	30th	8th	18th	17th	4th	2	3	2	16
February 6, 2016	The Sunday Times	Behavior & Attitudes	28	8th	20th	17th	3	2	4th	3	15th
February 6, 2016	The Sunday Business Post	Red C	31	10	17th	17th	3	1	3	2	16
February 6, 2016	Sunday Independent	Millward Brown	27	6th	22nd	21st	3	1	1	1	18th
4th February 2016	The Irish Times	Ipsos MRBI	28	7th	21st	19th	4th	1	2	2	16
January 30, 2016	The Sunday Business Post	Red C	29	10	17th	19th	3	1	2	3	16
January 16, 2016	The Sunday Business Post	Red C	30th	9	19th	19th	3	2	1	2	15th
January 16, 2016	The Sunday Times	Behavior & Attitudes	31	6th	20th	16	3	2	1	3	20th
February 25, 2011	Election 2011	-	36.1%	19.4%	17.4%	9.9%	2.2%	-	-	1.8%	14.2%

Results

Overall result

Final results
Political party		Chairman	Voices 1st preference			Seats
			number	proportion of	+/-	Number candidates data	Elected 2011	before the election	Elected in 2016	+/-	proportion of
	Fine Gael	Enda Kenny	544.140	25.5%	▼ 10.6%	88	76	66	49	▼ 27	31.6%
	Fianna Fáil	Micheál Martin	519.356	24.3%	▲ 6.9%	71	19th	21st	44	▲ 25	27.8%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	295,319	13.8%	▲ 3.9%	50	14th	14th	23	▲ 9	14.6%
	Irish Labor Party	Joan Burton	140,898	6.6%	▼ 12.8%	36	37	33	7th	▼ 30	4.4%
	AAA – PBP • People Before Profit Alliance • Anti-Austerity Alliance	No	84,168 42,174 41,994	3.9% 2.0% 1.9%	▲ 1.7% ▲ 1.0% new	31 18 13	4 2 new	4th	6 3 3	▲ 2 ▲ 1 new	3.8% 1.9% 1.9%
	Independents 4 Change	No	31,365	1.5%	▲ 1.5%	5	-	4th	4th	▲ 4	2.5%
	Social Democrats	Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall Stephen Donnelly	64.094	3.0%	▲ 3.0%	14th	-	3	3	▲ 3	1.9%
	Green party	Eamon Ryan	57,999	2.7%	▲ 0.9%	40	0	0	2	▲ 2	1.3%
	Renua Ireland	Lucinda Creighton	46,552	2.2%	▲ 2.2%	26th	-	3	0	▬	0.0%
	Direct Democracy Ireland	Pat Greene	6,481	0.3%	▲ 0.3%	19th	-	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Workers' party	Michael Donnelly	3,242	0.2%	▲ 0.1%	5	0	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Catholic Democrats	Nora Bennis	2.013	0.1%		3	0	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Fís Nua	No	1,224	0.1%	▲ 0.1%	2	0	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Irish Democratic Party	Ken Smollen	971	<0.1%	▲ 0.0%	1	-	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Communist Party of Ireland	Lynda Walker	185	<0.1%		1	0	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Identity Ireland	Peter O'Loughlin	183	<0.1%		1	-	0	0	▬	0.0%
	Independent Alliance	No	88,930	4.2%	▲ 4.2%	21st	-	5	6th	▲ 6	3.8%
	Independent		249.285	11.7%	▲ 1.3%	136	14th	10	13	▼ 1	8.2%
	Ceann Comhairle	Seán Barrett	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	▬	0.6%
total			2,136,405	100%	-	552	166	165	158	▼ 8	100%
Valid votes			2,136,405	99.15%
Invalid and blank ballot papers			18,398	0.85%
Votes cast			2,154,803	100.00%
Number of eligible voters and turnout			3,305,110	65.1%

Voting cards

The following maps show the voting shares of the major parties by constituency.

Government formation

After several unsuccessful attempts, Enda Kenny was re-elected as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) on May 6, 2016 with 59 to 49 votes , with the support of several independent MPs with abstention from the second largest party Fianna Fáil. In addition to Fine Gael, independent MPs were represented in the new cabinet. Fianna Fáil pledged not to bring down the government. In return, the Fine Gael had to make concessions, especially for a controversial reform of the water supply. The tolerance agreement with Fianna Fail was initially limited to the end of 2018 and was extended to 2020 in December 2018. Enda Kenny was replaced by Leo Varadkar as head of government in June 2017 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Irish economic growth hits 7% as recovery outstrips targets. The Irish Times , December 10, 2015, accessed February 28, 2016 . 
2. ↑ www.welt.de/politik/ausland
3. ^ Ireland faced difficult government formation. tagesschau.de, February 28, 2016, accessed on February 28, 2016 . 
4. ↑ Constituency Commission Report 2012
5. ^ Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013
6. ^ RTÉ Exit Poll: Bad news for Govt parties (SAMPLING 26-02-2016). RTÉ, February 26, 2016, accessed on February 27, 2016 . 
7. ^ Irish Times exit poll shows Coalition well short of overall majority (SAMPLING 26/02). Irish Times, February 26, 2016, accessed February 26, 2016 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Socialist Party 1.2% and People Before Profit 1% in the 2011 election. Since 2014 the two have been united as the Anti Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit Party, initially abbreviated AAA-PBP and later simply AAA.
9. ↑ Fine Gael hold steady Labor on wane (SAMPLING 02/18-21/02). Paddy Power, February 23, 2016, accessed February 23, 2016 . 
10. ↑ RedC Research Full Data 23 Feb. (PDF) Red C Research, accessed on 24 February 2016 (English). 
11. ↑ "Other" includes Independent Alliance 2%.
12. ↑ FF rise in poll as Government stagnates (SAMPLING 19 / 02-20 / 02). Irish Times, February 21, 2016, accessed February 21, 2016 . 
13. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 4% and also 3% who said they wanted to vote for independents / others but were unsure who they wanted to vote for.
14. ↑ Fianna Fáil Make Major Gains on Fine Gael in Latest Poll (SAMPLING 17 / 02-18 / 02). Sunday Independent, February 20, 2016, accessed February 20, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Some Subtle Shifts. (PDF) Millward Brown, accessed February 25, 2016 . 
16. ↑ Millward Brown does not specify the Independent Alliance.
17. ↑ Fine Gael get ahead in the final stretch of campaign (SAMPLING 15 / 02-18 / 02). Sunday Business Post, February 20, 2016, accessed February 20, 2016 . 
18. ↑ RedC Research Full Data Feb. 21 (PDF) Red C Research, accessed on February 22, 2016 (English). 
19. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 3%.
20. ↑ Leaked B&A Poll Sees Labor Support Plummet to 4% (Sunday Times is 'bitterly disappointed' at leak and begins thorough investigation) (SAMPLING 15 / 02-16 / 02). The Irish Times, accessed February 20, 2016 . 
21. ^ Sunday Times / Behavior & Attitudes 16th February 2016 Opinion Poll. (PDF) Behavior & Attitudes, February 20, 2016, accessed on February 20, 2016 . 
22. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 5%, Workers' Party 1%.
23. ↑ Is this the Enda the road for Fine Gael? The Irish Sun, February 16, 2016, accessed February 16, 2016 . 
24. ↑ RedC Research Full Data Feb. 16 (PDF) Red C Research, accessed on February 17, 2016 (English). 
25. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 5%
26. ↑ Fine Gael and Labor slump by five points as Sinn Fein rise. Sunday Business Post, February 13, 2016, accessed February 14, 2016 . 
27. ↑ RedC Research Full Data Feb. 13 (PDF) RedC Research, accessed on February 15, 2016 (English). 
28. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 3%.
29. ^ Support for Fine Gael and Labor Falls. Irish Times, February 10, 2016, accessed February 10, 2016 . 
30. ↑ RedC FULL DATA. (PDF) Red C Research, February 10, 2016, accessed February 10, 2016 . 
31. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 4%.
32. ↑ ^{a b} Mixed messages for all parties in latest opinion polls. RTE News, February 6, 2016, accessed February 7, 2016 . 
33. ^ B and A FULL DATA. (PDF) Behavior and Attitudes, February 6, 2016, accessed on February 6, 2016 . 
34. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 4%, Workers' Party 1%.
35. ↑ RedC FULL DATA. (PDF) Red C Research, February 6, 2016, accessed February 6, 2016 . 
36. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 2%.
37. ↑ Pre-election poll shows nuanced opinion. The Sunday Independent, accessed February 7, 2016 . 
38. ^ Pre-election poll shows nuanced opinions. (PDF) Millward Brown, accessed February 10, 2016 . 
39. ↑ Poll shows Fine Gael is losing ground while Labor remains static. Irish Times, February 4, 2016, accessed February 4, 2016 . 
40. ↑ “Others” includes Independent Alliance 3%.
41. ^ Fianna Fail down as coalition holds steady ahead of election. Sunday Business Post, January 30, 2016, accessed January 30, 2016 . 
42. ↑ Polls show abrupt stop in steady rise of Fine Gael support. Sunday Business Post, January 16, 2016, accessed January 16, 2016 . 
43. ^ Polls show support for Fianna Fáil on the rise. RTÉ News, January 16, 2016, accessed on January 16, 2016 . 
44. ↑ BandA January 2016 Poll Data. (PDF) Volume A, January 16, 2016, accessed on February 6, 2016 (English). 
45. ↑ “Others” includes Workers' Party 2%, and Independent Alliance 3%.
46. ^ Election 2016 National Summary. RTE.ie, accessed on February 28, 2016 (English). 
47. ↑ Election 2016 Results | The Irish Times. The Irish Times, accessed February 28, 2016 . 
48. ^ ^{A b c} Michael Gallagher: Information about Ireland election February 26, 2016. In: Political Science Department. Trinity College Dublin, accessed February 26, 2016 . 
49. ↑ Allocation of seats at the time of the dissolution of the 31st Dáil
50. ↑ Election 2016: Results hub. Irish Times, accessed February 27, 2016 . 
51. ↑ Change in the number of seats between the 2016 and 2011 elections.
52. ↑ ^{a b} Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit (AAA – PBP) was formed in 2015 by the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA) and the People Before Profit Alliance (PBP) . The AAA was founded in 2012 by the Socialist Party . The figures for seats and votes given for 2011 correspond to those of the Socialist Party and the PBP.
53. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} The figures given under “Independent” for 2016 do not include the Independents 4 Change who form a registered party. It also excludes the Independent Alliance and Identity Ireland , which are not registered parties. Most of the candidates in these groups in 2011 were counted as “independents”.
54. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} The party was founded after the 2011 election.
55. ↑ 551 candidates set to contest election. In: RTÉ. February 11, 2016, accessed February 11, 2016 . 
56. ↑ Fischer Weltalmanach 2017, page 218
57. ↑ RTE: Fianna Fáil renews Confidence and Supply Agreement