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1981 Irish general election

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← outgoing memberselected members →
166 seats in Dáil Éireann 84 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.2% 0.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Charles Haughey Garret FitzGerald Frank Cluskey Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Leader since 7 December 1979 1977 1977 Leader's seat Dublin North-Central Dublin South-East Dublin South-Central (defeated) Last election 84 seats, 50.6% 43 seats, 30.5% 17 seats, 11.6% Seats won 78 65 15 Seat change 6 22 2 Popular vote 777,616 626,376 169,990 Percentage 45.3% 36.5% 9.9% Swing 5.3 pp 6.0 pp 1.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   SLP Leader Tomás Mac Giolla Noël Browne Party Sinn Féin The Workers' Party Socialist Labour Leader since 1977 1981 Leader's seat N/A Dublin North-Central Last election 0 seats, 1.7% New Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 New Popular vote 29,561 7,107 Percentage 1.7% 0.4% Swing 0.0 pp New
Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency
Taoiseach before election Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election Garret FitzGerald Fine Gael

The 1981 Irish general election to the 22nd Dáil was held on Thursday, 11 June, following the dissolution of the 21st Dáil on 21 May by President Patrick Hillery on the request of Taoiseach Charles Haughey. The general election took place in 41 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. The number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 18 from 148 under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1980.

The 22nd Dáil met at Leinster House on 30 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Garret FitzGerald was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 17th government of Ireland, a minority coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

Campaign

The general election of 1981 was the first one of five during the 1980s. The election also saw three new leaders of the three main parties fight their first general election. Charles Haughey had become Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil at the end of 1979, Garret FitzGerald was the new leader of Fine Gael and Frank Cluskey was leading the Labour Party.

Haughey and Fianna Fáil seemed extremely popular with the electorate in early 1981. He was expected to call the election at the time of the Fianna Fáil ardfheis on 14 February, but the Stardust fire caused the ardfheis to be postponed, and the Republican hunger strike in the Maze Prison began in March. By the dissolution in May, much of the earlier optimism in the party had filtered out. The Anti H-Block movement fielded abstentionist candidates in solidarity with the hunger strikers, undermining the Republican credentials of Fianna Fáil.

Fianna Fáil's manifesto promised more spending programmes and Fine Gael put forward a series of tax-cutting plans.

Result

Election to the 22nd Dáil – 11 June 1981
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First pref. votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Charles Haughey	78	–6	47.0	777,616	45.3	–5.3
	Fine Gael	Garret FitzGerald	65	+22	39.2	626,376	36.5	+6.0
	Labour	Frank Cluskey	15	–2	9.0	169,990	9.9	–1.7
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	1	+1	0.6	29,561	1.7	0
	Socialist Labour	Noël Browne	1	New	0.6	7,107	0.4	–
	Socialist Party	Eamonn O'Brien	0	New	0	571	0.0	–
	Communist	Eugene McCartan	0	0	0.0	358	0.0	–
	Independent	N/A	6	+2	3.6	106,632	6.2	+0.7
Spoilt votes						16,168	—	—
Total			166	+18	100	1,734,379	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						2,275,450	76.2%	—

Independents include Anti H-Block (42,803 votes, 2 seats) and Independent Fianna Fáil (13,546 votes, 1 seat).

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

Fianna Fáil lost seats as a result of sympathy to the Anti H-Block candidates and the attractive tax proposals of Fine Gael. It was the worst performance for Fianna Fáil in twenty years. Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Frank Cluskey lost his seat, necessitating a leadership change with Michael O'Leary succeeding Cluskey. A Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government came to power. Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed the 17th Government of Ireland, a minority coalition government, with Garret FitzGerald becoming Taoiseach.

Dáil membership changes

The following changes took place at this election:

• 20 outgoing TDs retired
• 18 additional seats added to the Dáil
• 127 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also Pádraig Faulkner, the outgoing Ceann Comhairle who was automatically returned)
  • 109 of those were re-elected
  • 18 failed to be re-elected
• 56 successor TDs were elected
  • 50 were elected for the first time
  • 6 had previously been TDs
• There were 7 successor female TDs, replacing 3 outgoing, increasing the total by 4 to 11.

Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only. Where a number of related constituency changes took place in an area, such as Cork, the outgoing constituency for retiring TDs and the allocation of new seats are approximations for presentation only. Outgoing TDs re-elected in a new constituency, with no related changes, are not recorded as a change

Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 15th Seanad.

Notes

1. ^ Including Pádraig Faulkner (FF), returned automatically for Louth as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act 1963, as amended.

References

1. Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1980, s. 1: Amendment of section 14 of Electoral Act 1963 (No. 40 of 1980, s. 1). Enacted on 23 December 1980. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
2. "22nd Dáil 1981: Louth". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
3. Penniman, Howard Rae; Farrell, Brian (1987). Ireland at the polls, 1981, 1982, and 1987: a study of four general elections. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Duke University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8223-0786-0.
4. "Election results and transfer of votes in general election (June, 1981) for twenty-second Dáil and bye-elections to twenty-first Dáil (1977–1981)" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. Dublin Stationery Office. September 1981. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
5. "22nd Dáil 1981 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
6. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
7. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.

Further reading

• Nealon, Ted; Brennan, Séamus, eds. (8 May 1981). Nealon's guide: 22nd Dáil & Seanad: election '81. Platform Press. ISBN 0-9505984-3-7.

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See also: Elections in the Kingdom of Ireland Elections in Ireland as part of the UK

• 1981 in Irish politics
• General elections in the Republic of Ireland
• 22nd Dáil
• June 1981 events in Europe
• 1981 elections in the Republic of Ireland
• 1981 Irish hunger strike