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1948 Irish general election

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(Redirected from Irish general election, 1948) Election to the 13th Dáil

1948 Irish general election
← 1944 4 February 1948 1951 →
← outgoing memberselected members →
147 seats in Dáil Éireann
74 seats needed for a majority
Turnout74.2% Increase 5.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
  De Valera, 1939 (cropped).jpg Gen. Richard Mulcahy cropped.jpg William Norton, circa 1945.png
Leader Éamon de Valera Richard Mulcahy William Norton
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour
Leader since 26 March 1926 1944 1932
Leader's seat Clare Tipperary South Kildare
Last election 76 seats, 48.9% 30 seats, 20.5% 8 seats, 8.8%
Seats won 68 31 14
Seat change Decrease8 Increase1 Increase6
Popular vote 553,914 262,393 115,073
Percentage 41.9% 19.8% 8.7%
Swing Decrease7.0 pp Decrease0.7 pp Decrease0.1 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Seán MacBride circa 1947.jpg CnaT James Everett, 1949.jpg
Leader Seán MacBride Joseph Blowick James Everett
Party Clann na Poblachta Clann na Talmhan National Labour Party
Leader since 1946 1944 1944
Leader's seat Dublin South-West Mayo South Wicklow
Last election New party 9 seats, 10.1% 4 seats, 2.7%
Seats won 10 7 5
Seat change Increase10 Decrease2 Increase1
Popular vote 174,823 73,813 34,015
Percentage 13.2% 5.6% 2.6%
Swing Increase13.2 pp Decrease4.5 pp Decrease0.1 pp
Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

Taoiseach after election

John A. Costello
Fine Gael

The 1948 Irish general election to the 13th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 4 February following the dissolution of the 12th Dáil on 12 January 1948 by the President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general election took place in 40 constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. A revision of Dáil constituencies under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 had increased the number of seats by 9 since the previous election. The election resulted in Fianna Fáil leaving government for the first time in 16 years and the formation of the first coalition government in Ireland.

The constituency of Carlow–Kilkenny voted on 8 February after the death during the campaign of Fine Gael candidate Eamonn Coogan TD. Another Fine Gael deputy in the same constituency, James Hughes, had died shortly before the dissolution.

The 13th Dáil met at Leinster House on 18 February to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach. John A. Costello was appointed leading the first inter-party government, a five-party minority coalition.

This election was the last one before Ireland's withdrawal from the British Commonwealth and the declaration of the Republic of Ireland, which came into effect on 18 April 1949 under The Republic of Ireland Act 1948.

Campaign

Fianna Fáil election posters from the campaign.

The general election of 1948 was called by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, in the hope of stopping the rise of a new party, Clann na Poblachta. In 1947 the rapid rise of Clann na Poblachta threatened the position of Fianna Fáil. The government of Éamon de Valera introduced the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 which increased the size of the Dáil from 138 to 147 and increased the number of three-seat constituencies from fifteen to twenty-two. The result was described by historian Tim Pat Coogan as "a blatant attempt at gerrymander which no Six County Unionist could have bettered."

Other issues were raised on the campaign that the parties had not foreseen. Fianna Fáil had enjoyed an uninterrupted sixteen years of dominance in government. Many people believed that the party had become stale and there was a strong desire for change. Although World War II had ended three years earlier, rationing continued, and massive inflation plagued the economy. A prolonged teachers' strike during the lifetime of the previous Dáil damaged the government due to its inability to settle the dispute. Bad weather added to the woes of the farmers, and poor harvests resulted in anger at the ballot box. Allegations that de Valera and Seán Lemass were involved in bribery and corruption raised questions about certain public officials.

Despite these issues, Fianna Fáil still expected to retain power. This prospect seemed very likely; however, an unlikely coalition was soon to be formed.

Result

Election to the 13th Dáil – 4 February 1948
Party Leader Seats ± % of
seats 		First pref.
votes 		% FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 68 –8 46.3 553,914 41.9 –7.0
Fine Gael Richard Mulcahy 31 +1 21.1 262,393 19.8 –0.7
Labour William Norton 14 +6 9.5 115,073 8.7 –0.1
Clann na Poblachta Seán MacBride 10 New 6.8 174,823 13.2 –
Clann na Talmhan Joseph Blowick 7 –2 4.7 73,813 5.6 –4.5
National Labour Party James Everett 5 +1 3.4 34,015 2.6 –0.1
Monetary Reform Oliver J. Flanagan 1 0 0.7 14,369 1.1 +0.3
Ailtirí na hAiséirghe 0 0 0 322 0.0 –0.5
Independent N/A 11 +1 8.2 94,271 7.2 –0.6
Spoilt votes 13,185 — —
Total 147 +9 100 1,336,628 100 —
Electorate/Turnout 1,800,210 74.2% —

Fianna Fáil dropped 8 seats but remained the largest party. Clann na Poblachta secured ten seats instead of the nineteen they would have received proportional to their vote. The other parties remained roughly the same, with Fine Gael only gaining an extra seat.

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil   41.85%
Fine Gael   19.83%
Clann na Poblachta   13.21%
Labour   8.69%
Clann na Talmhan   5.58%
National Labour   2.57%
Monetary Reform   1.08%
Ailtirí na hAiséirghe   0.02%
Independent   7.12%

Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil   46.26%
Fine Gael   21.09%
Labour   9.52%
Clann na Poblachta   6.80%
Clann na Talmhan   4.76%
National Labour   3.40%
Monetary Reform   0.68%
Independent   7.48%

Government formation

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Main article: 5th government of Ireland

The election left de Valera six seats short of a majority in the 147-seat Dáil. Fianna Fáil had long refused to enter a formal coalition with another party, instead preferring confidence and supply agreements with other parties when it was short of an outright majority. This time, however, de Valera was unable to reach an agreement with National Labour and the Independents to form a government.

It seemed unlikely that the other political parties could unite to oust Fianna Fáil. Between them, they only had one seat fewer than Fianna Fáil. If they could get the support of at least seven independents, they would be able to form a government. On paper, such a motley coalition appeared politically unrealistic. However, a shared dislike of Fianna Fáil and de Valera overcame all other difficulties to knock Fianna Fáil from power for the first time in 16 years.

As the largest party in the coalition, it was a foregone conclusion that Fine Gael would provide the nominee for Taoiseach. However, republicans such as Seán MacBride refused to serve under Fine Gael leader, Richard Mulcahy, the man who had been the commander of the National Army during the civil war. Since the other parties would have been 17 seats short of a majority (and indeed, would have been 11 seats behind Fianna Fáil) without MacBride, Mulcahy stepped aside in favour of John A. Costello, a relatively unknown politician and former Attorney General. Mulcahy, who remained leader of Fine Gael, became Minister for Education. William Norton, the leader of the Labour Party became Tánaiste and Minister for Social Welfare.

On paper, this new coalition government looked weak and seemed unlikely to last. It consisted of a patchwork collection of political parties. There were young and old politicians, republicans and Free Staters, conservatives and socialists. The government's survival depended on a united dislike of Fianna Fáil, the skill of Costello as Taoiseach and the independence of various ministers.

The coalition lasted over three years from February 1948 to May 1951.

Changes in membership

First time TDs

Re-elected TDs

Retiring TDs

Defeated TDs

Seanad election

The election was followed by an election to the 6th Seanad.

Notes

  1. ^ Including Frank Fahy (FF), returned automatically for Galway South as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral (Chairman of Dáil Éireann) Act 1937, as adapted by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947.

References

  1. Electoral (Chairman of Dail Eireann) Act 1937, s. 3: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 25 of 1937, s. 3). Enacted on 1 November 1937. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  2. Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947, s. 5: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 31 of 1947, s. 5). Enacted on 27 November 1947. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  3. "13th Dáil 1948: Galway South". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  4. ^ Coogan, Tim Pat (1993). De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow. London: Hutchinson. p. 637. ISBN 0-09-175030-X.
  5. "13th Dáil 1948 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  6. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  7. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
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