1989 Irish general election

The 1989 Irish general election was held on Thursday, 15 June, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 25 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 26th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 29 June. However, a new Taoiseach and a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats government were not appointed until 12 July.

1989 Irish general election

15 June 1989
165 of 166 seats in Dáil Éireann 84 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	68.5% 4.8pp
First party Second party Third party   FG Leader Charles Haughey Alan Dukes Dick Spring Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Party Leader since 7 December 1979 21 March 1987 November 1982 Leader's seat Dublin North-Central Kildare Kerry North Last election 81 seats, 44.1% 51 seats, 27.1% 12 seats, 6.5% Seats won 77 55 15 Seat change 4 4 3 Popular vote 731,472 485,307 156,989 Percentage 44.1% 29.3% 9.5% Swing 0.1% 2.2% 3.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   GP Leader Proinsias De Rossa Desmond O'Malley — Party Workers' Party Progressive Democrats Green Party Leader since 1988 21 December 1985 — Leader's seat Dublin North-West Limerick East — Last election 4 seats, 3.8% 14 seats, 11.9% 0 seats, 0.4% Seats won 7 6 1 Seat change 3 8 1 Popular vote 82,263 91,013 24,827 Percentage 5.0% 5.5% 1.5% Swing 1.2% 6.3% 1.1%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the three biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil Subsequent Taoiseach Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil

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

Campaign

The general election of 1989 was precipitated by the defeat of the minority Fianna Fáil government in a private members motion regarding the provision of funds for AIDS sufferers (haemophiliacs who had been infected with contaminated blood products by the HSE). While a general election was not necessary – the defeat was seen merely as an embarrassment for the government – the Dáil was dissolved nonetheless.

Charles Haughey, the Fianna Fáil leader, called the general election for another reason; opinion polls had shown that the party's strong performance in government had increased their popularity and an overall majority for Fianna Fáil could be a possibility. Also, rumours were current that the general election was called so that certain Fianna Fáil members could raise money privately for themselves. While these rumours were dismissed at the time, it was revealed more than ten years later that Ray Burke, Pádraig Flynn and Haughey himself had received substantial personal donations during the campaign.[1]

While it was thought that the general election would catch the opposition parties unprepared, they co-ordinated themselves and co-operated very quickly. Further cuts in spending, particularly in the health service, became the dominant issue. Alan Dukes was fighting his first (and as events would prove, his only) general election as leader of Fine Gael. His "Tallaght Strategy" had kept Fianna Fáil in power, governing as a minority, since 1987.

The general election was held on the same day as the elections to the European Parliament, and turnout was 68.5%.

Results

26th Irish general election – 15 June 1989[2][3][4]
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Charles Haughey	77	4	46.4	731,472	44.1	0
	Fine Gael	Alan Dukes	55	4	33.1	485,307	29.3	2.2
	Labour Party	Dick Spring	15	3	9.1	156,989	9.5	3.1
	Workers' Party	Proinsias De Rossa	7	3	4.2	82,263	5.0	1.2
	Progressive Democrats	Desmond O'Malley	6	8	3.6	91,013	5.5	6.3
	Green Party	None	1	1	0.6	24,827	1.5	1.1
	Democratic Socialist	Jim Kemmy	1	0	0.6	9,836	0.6	0.2
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	0	0	0	20,003	1.2	0.7
	Communist Party	James Stewart	0	0	0	342	0.0	—
	Independent	N/A	4	1	2.4	54,761	3.3	0.7
Spoilt votes						20,779	—	—
Total			166	0	100	1,677,592	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						2,448,810	68.5%	—

• Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition government formed.

Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (6,961 votes, 1 seat), Army Wives (6,966 votes) and Gay candidates (517 votes).

Notes:

No by-elections had taken place during the previous Dáil. One seat in Sligo–Leitrim had been vacant at the dissolution of the previous (25th) Dáil caused by the resignation of the Fianna Fáil member Ray MacSharry.[5]

While Fianna Fáil had hoped to achieve an overall majority, the party actually lost seats. The result was a disaster for Fianna Fáil, particularly when the election was so unnecessary. Fine Gael made a small gain, but nothing substantial. The Progressive Democrats did badly, losing over half their deputies. The Labour Party and the Workers' Party gained working class votes from Fianna Fáil, but failed to make the big breakthrough, while Sinn Féin polled even worse than its 1987 result. The Green Party won its first seat when Roger Garland was elected for Dublin South.

Forming a government proved to be extremely difficult. Many in Fianna Fáil had hoped that the minority government could continue where it left off, particularly if the "Tallaght Strategy" continued. However, Fine Gael refused to support the government and so a deadlock developed. The prospect of forming a government seemed remote, so much so that Charles Haughey was forced to formally resign as Taoiseach. For the first time in Irish history a Taoiseach and a government had not been appointed when the new Dáil met. However, twenty-seven days after the general election, Fianna Fáil entered into a coalition government for the first time in its history – with the Progressive Democrats.

Voting summary

First preference vote Fianna Fáil   44.15% Fine Gael   29.29% Labour   9.48% Progressive Democrats   5.49% Workers'   4.97% Green   1.50% Sinn Féin   1.21% Others   0.61% Independent   3.31%

Seats summary

Assembly seats Fianna Fáil   46.39% Fine Gael   33.13% Labour   9.03% Workers'   4.22% Progressive Democrats   3.61% Green   0.60% Democratic Socialist   0.60% Independent   2.41%

Dáil membership changes

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

• 14 outgoing TDs retired
• 1 vacant seat at election time
• 150 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also Seán Treacy, the outgoing Ceann Comhairle who was automatically returned)
  • 124 of those were re-elected
  • 26 failed to be re-elected
• 41 successor TDs were elected
  • 32 were elected for the first time
  • 9 had previously been TDs
• There were 4 successor female TDs, replacing 5 outgoing, thus reducing the total by 1 to 13
• There were changes in 30 of the 41 constituencies contested

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

Constituency	Departing TD	Party		Change	Comment	Successor TD	Party
Carlow–Kilkenny	Kieran Crotty		Fine Gael	Retired		John Browne		Fine Gael
	Martin Gibbons		Progressive Democrats	Lost seat		Phil Hogan		Fine Gael
Cavan–Monaghan	Tom Fitzpatrick		Fine Gael	Retired		Bill Cotter		Fine Gael
Clare	No membership changes
Cork East	Patrick Hegarty		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Paul Bradford		Fine Gael
Cork North-Central	Liam Burke		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Gerry O'Sullivan		Labour Party
Cork North-West	Donal Moynihan		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Laurence Kelly		Fianna Fáil
	Donal Creed		Fine Gael	Retired	Son of outgoing TD	Michael Creed		Fine Gael
Cork South-Central	Batt O'Keeffe		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Micheál Martin		Fianna Fáil
Cork South-West	No membership changes
Donegal North-East	Hugh Conaghan		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Jim McDaid		Fianna Fáil
Donegal South-West	No membership changes
Dublin Central	Michael Keating		Progressive Democrats	Retired		Pat Lee		Fine Gael
Dublin North	John Boland		Fine Gael	Retired	Owen – Former TD	Nora Owen		Fine Gael
	G. V. Wright		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Seán Ryan		Labour Party
Dublin North-Central	George Birmingham		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Ivor Callely		Fianna Fáil
Dublin North-East	No membership changes
Dublin North-West	No membership changes
Dublin South	John Kelly		Fine Gael	Retired	Fennell – Former TD	Nuala Fennell		Fine Gael
	Anne Colley		Progressive Democrats	Lost seat		Roger Garland		Green Party
Dublin South-Central	Frank Cluskey		Labour Party	Vacant seat		Eric Byrne		Workers' Party
	Mary Mooney		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	O'Connell – Former TD	John O'Connell		Fianna Fáil
Dublin South-East	Michael McDowell		Progressive Democrats	Lost seat	Doyle – Former TD	Joe Doyle		Fine Gael
Dublin South-West	Seán Walsh		Fianna Fáil	Lost Seat		Pat Rabbitte		Workers' Party
Dublin West	Patrick O'Malley		Progressive Democrats	Lost seat		Austin Currie		Fine Gael
Dún Laoghaire	Barry Desmond		Labour Party	Retired		Eamon Gilmore		Workers' Party
	Geraldine Kennedy		Progressive Democrats	Lost seat		Brian Hillery		Fianna Fáil
Galway East	No membership changes
Galway West	John Donnellan		Fine Gael	Retired		Pádraic McCormack		Fine Gael
Kerry North	Denis Foley		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	McEllistrim – Former TD	Tom McEllistrim		Fianna Fáil
Kerry South	Michael Begley		Fine Gael	Lost seat	Moynihan – Former TD	Michael Moynihan		Labour Party
Kildare	Paddy Power		Fianna Fáil	Retired		Seán Power		Fianna Fáil
Laois–Offaly	No membership changes
Limerick East	No membership changes
Limerick West	John McCoy		Progressive Democrats	Retired		Michael Finucane		Fine Gael
Longford–Westmeath	Henry Abbott		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Louis Belton		Fine Gael
	Patrick Cooney		Fine Gael	Retired		Paul McGrath		Fine Gael
Louth	No membership changes
Mayo East	No membership changes
Mayo West	Denis Gallagher		Fianna Fáil	Retired		Martin O'Toole		Fianna Fáil
Meath	Michael Lynch		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Mary Wallace		Fianna Fáil
Roscommon	Seán Doherty		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Tom Foxe		Independent
	Liam Naughten		Fine Gael	Lost seat	Connor – Former TD	John Connor		Fine Gael
Sligo–Leitrim	Ray MacSharry		Fianna Fáil	Resigned[6]		Gerry Reynolds		Fine Gael
Tipperary North	No membership changes
Tipperary South	Brendan Griffin		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Theresa Ahearn		Fine Gael
	Seán McCarthy		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Michael Ferris		Labour Party
Waterford	Brian Swift		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Brendan Kenneally		Fianna Fáil
	Martin Cullen		Progressive Democrats	Lost seat		Brian O'Shea		Labour Party
Wexford	Hugh Byrne		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Séamus Cullimore		Fianna Fáil
	Avril Doyle		Fine Gael	Lost seat	D'Arcy – Former TD	Michael D'Arcy		Fine Gael
Wicklow	Gemma Hussey		Fine Gael	Retired	Timmins – Former TD	Godfrey Timmins		Fine Gael

See also

• Government of the 26th Dáil
• Members of the 19th Seanad
• Members of the 26th Dáil
• Ministers of State of the 26th Dáil

References

1. Page 87 of Foot in Mouth: Famous Irish Political Gaffes by Shane Coleman. ISBN 1842103768
2. "26th Dáil 1989 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
3. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
4. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1009-1017 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
5. "Dáil Éireann By Election Writs 1918–2005". ElectionsIreland.org.
6. Ray MacSharry became European Commissioner in 1988, but no by-election was held.

External links

• GuthanPhobail.net, Results (in Irish)