1974 Irish presidential election

The 1974 Irish presidential election resulted from the sudden death in office of President Erskine H. Childers. Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was elected unopposed as the fifth president of Ireland.

1974 Irish presidential election
17 November 1974
(Unopposed)
 
FF
Nominee Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Party Fianna Fáil
President before election

Erskine H. Childers
Fianna Fáil

 Elected President

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Independent

Nomination process

Under Article 12 of the Constitution of Ireland, a candidate for president could be nominated by:

Agreed candidate

Initially all parties privately agreed to nominate the late president's widow, Rita Childers.[1] Before she was informed of the plan, however, a mix-up led to the collapse of the arrangement.[2] A partially deaf Fine Gael Teachta Dála, identified in some reports as Tom O'Donnell,[3] confirmed the secret arrangement upon mishearing a journalist's question asking about the decision of a local council's nomination of Childers as President, having assumed that the cross-party decision was made public.[2] Fianna Fáil leader Jack Lynch, thinking the party was set up, subsequently withdrew from the agreement and nominated Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh instead.[2] The parties agreed to the new arrangement due to a number of external factors, including a sluggish economy and The Troubles.[2]

Ó Dálaigh had served as Attorney General from 1951 to 1953, as a judge of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1973, as Chief Justice from 1961 to 1973, and had been serving as a judge of the European Court of Justice from 1973 at the time of his nomination. All parties agreed to Ó Dálaigh's nomination. As no other candidate was nominated, it was not necessary to proceed to a ballot for his election.

Result
1974 Irish presidential election[4]
CandidateNominated by
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour Party

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was inaugurated as president on 19 December 1974.

gollark: I think we should have multiple (non-raffle) ways to get them.
gollark: In that case, remove every dragon except prizes and then no salt.
gollark: So.... massive trading imbalance is fine?
gollark: Compromise solution to prizes: each prize gets randomly sent to someone else's scroll as an adult each month.
gollark: Unfortunately, that name was taken.

References
  1. Regan, Mary (10 May 2010). "Rita Childers dies peacefully aged 95". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. "The best President we never had". Irish Independent. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  3. "Presidential campaigns are not getting dirtier - they are just more public". The Tuam Herald. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  4. "Presidential Elections 1938–2011" (PDF). Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. p. 30. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
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