Irish general election, February 1982

Irish general election, February 1982

18 February 1982

165 of 166 seats in Dáil Éireann 84 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Charles Haughey Garret FitzGerald Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Leader since 7 December 1979 1977 Leader's seat Dublin North–Central Dublin South–East Last election 78 seats, 45.3% 65 seats, 36.5% Seats won 81 63 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 786,851 621,088 Percentage 47.3% 37.3% Swing 2.0% 0.8%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Michael O'Leary Tomás Mac Giolla Party Labour Party Sinn Féin (Workers' Party) Leader since 1981 1977 Leader's seat Dublin Central N/A Last election 15 seats, 9.9% 1 seat, 1.7% Seats won 15 3 Seat change 0 2 Popular vote 151,875 38,088 Percentage 9.1% 2.3% Swing 0.8% 0.6%

Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.

Taoiseach before election Garret FitzGerald Fine Gael Subsequent Taoiseach Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil

The Irish general election of February 1982 was held on 18 February 1982, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 27 January. The newly elected 166 members of the 23rd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 9 March when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.

The general election took place in 41 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann.

Campaign

The first general election of 1982 was caused by the sudden collapse of the Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government when the budget was defeated. The Minister for Finance John Bruton, attempted to put VAT on children shoes, a measure which was rejected by Jim Kemmy, a left-wing independent Teachta Dála and Joe Sherlock of the Workers' Party of Ireland. The Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald dissolved the Dáil immediately. However, while he was with President Patrick Hillery at Áras an Uachtaráin, a number of Fianna Fáil members attempted to ring the President, urging him not to grant a dissolution. If the President refused a dissolution, FitzGerald would have to resign and Fianna Fáil would be invited to form a government. The attempt to contact the President was highly unconstitutional, as the President can only take advice from the Taoiseach. In the event, a dissolution was granted and the general election campaign began in earnest.

The campaign was largely fought on economic issues. Spending cuts were a reality for whatever party won, but the scale of the cuts were played down by all parties. Fine Gael proposed to continue the policies that it had been implementing while in office. The Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey dismissed the need for budget cuts when the campaign first began, however, the reality soon became apparent and the party adopted similar policies that involved budget cuts.

Result

Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (11,732 votes, 1 seat).

• Fianna Fáil minority government formed.

Fianna Fáil emerged as the largest party and looked most likely to form a government. However, internal divisions within the party threatened Charles Haughey's nomination for Taoiseach. In the end a leadership challenge did not take place and Haughey was the party's nominee for Taoiseach. Haughey gained the support of the Independent Socialist TD Tony Gregory, the Independent Fianna Fáil TD Neil Blaney and the three Sinn Féin the Workers Party deputies and was appointed Taoiseach.

Dáil membership changes

The following changes took place as a result of the election:

• 7 outgoing TDs retired
• 1 vacant seat at election time
• 157 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also John O'Connell, the outgoing Ceann Comhairle who was automatically returned)
  • 136 of those were re-elected
  • 21 failed to be re-elected
• 29 successor TDs were elected
  • 21 were elected for the first time
  • 8 had previously been TDs
• There was 1 successor female TD, replacing 4 outgoing, thus the total decreased by 3 to 8.
• There were changes in 26 of 41 constituencies

Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.

See also

• Members of the 23rd Dáil
• Government of the 23rd Dáil

References

External links

• February 1982 election: Party leaders' debate RTÉ archives

Elections and referendums in the Republic of Ireland General elections 1918 1921 1922 1923 1927 (Jun) 1927 (Sep) 1932 1933 1937 1938 1943 1944 1948 1951 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1982 (Feb) 1982 (Nov) 1987 1989 1992 1997 2002 2007 2011 Next By-elections Seanad elections 1925 Presidential elections 1938 1945 1952 1959 1966 1973 1974 1976 1983 1990 1997 2004 2011 European elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 Local elections 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1920 1925 1928 1934 1942 1945 1950 1955 1960 1967 1974 1979 1985 1991 1999 2004 2009 2014 Referendums 1937 1959 1968 1972 (May) 1972 (Dec) 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1992 (Jun) 1992 (Nov) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 (Mar) 2002 (Oct) 2004 2008 2009 2011 2012 (May) 2012 (Nov) 2013 2015 See also: Elections in the Kingdom of Ireland Elections in Ireland as part of the UK Elections in Northern Ireland