Elections for Dáil Éireann February 1982

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Dáil Éireann February 1982Nov 1982 →

(Voter turnout 73.8%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

47.26

37.30

9.12

2.29

1.01

3.02

FF

FG

ILP

WP

SF

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1981

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

+2.00

+0.84

-0.77

+0.57

+1.01

-3.65

FF

FG

ILP

WP

SF

Otherwise.

     

A total of 166 seats

• Independent: 4
• Otherwise: 3
• ILP : 15
• FG : 63
• FF : 81

The February 1982 elections for Dáil Éireann took place on February 18, 1982 . The members of the 23rd Dáil were determined.

Results 1982 (February)

The 166 parliamentarians met for the first time on March 9 and the term of office lasted only 279 days.

The first election in 1982 was caused by the sudden collapse of the Fine Gael - Labor Party coalition when the budget was not passed, in which Treasury Secretary John Bruton also tried to impose VAT on children's shoes - a measure taken by some left-wing independents was rejected. The Taoiseach , Garret FitzGerald , then dissolved the Dáil. While he was with the president in Áras an Uachtaráin , some Fianna Fáil members tried to reach him and urge him not to agree to the dissolution. If so, FitzGerald would have had to resign and Fianna Fáil would probably have come to power. Since the attempt was against the constitution (the president may only be advised by the Taoiseach), the dissolution was approved and the election campaign could begin.

The election campaign revolved mainly around economic issues. Cuts were an issue for all parties, but their scope was downplayed by each party.

Fianna Fáil emerged again as the strongest party in the election and it was likely that she would be the ruling party, but internal differences threatened the election of Charles Haughey as Taoiseach. In the end, with the support of the Workers Party and an independent person, it was still possible to vote.

Political party	leader	Distribution of seats			By-elections (2)
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Charles J. Haughey	81	+3	48.80%			1
Fine Gael	Garret FitzGerald	63	−2	37.95%			1
Labor Party	Michael O'Leary	15th		9.04%
Sinn Féin the Workers Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	3	+3	1.81%
Independent		4th	−2	2.40%
Others (Anti H-Block)		0	−2
		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.