February 1982 Irish general election

The February 1982 Irish general election was held on Thursday, 18 February, 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.

February 1982 Irish general election

18 February 1982
165 of 166 seats in Dáil Éireann 84 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.8% 2.4pp
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 3 2 Popular vote 786,851 621,088 Percentage 47.3% 37.3% Swing 2.0% 0.8%   Third party Fourth party   Lab Leader Michael O'Leary Tomás Mac Giolla Party Labour Party Sinn Féin - The 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 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 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's shoes. This measure was rejected by Jim Kemmy, a left-wing independent Teachta Dála, and Joe Sherlock of Sinn Féin the Workers' Party. The Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald immediately sought a dissolution of the Dáil. However, while he was with President Patrick Hillery at Áras an Uachtaráin, a number of Fianna Fáil members attempted to telephone 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 need for realism soon became apparent, and the party adopted similar policies that involved budget cuts.

Result

23rd Irish general election – 18 February 1982[1][2][3]
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Charles Haughey	81	+3	48.8	786,951	47.3	+2.0
	Fine Gael	Garret FitzGerald	63	–2	38.0	621,088	37.3	+0.8
	Labour Party	Michael O'Leary	15	0	9.0	151,875	9.1	–0.8
	Sinn Féin - The Workers' Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	3	+2	1.8	38,088	2.3	+0.6
	Sinn Féin	Ruairí Ó Brádaigh	0	New	0	16,894	1.0	–
	Irish Republican Socialist		0	New	0	2,716	0.2	–
	Communist Party		0	0	0	462	0.0	0
	Independent	N/A	4	0	2.4	46,059	2.8	–0.9
Spoilt votes						14,367	—	—
Total			166	0	100	1,678,500	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						2,275,450	73.8%	—

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.

Voting summary

First preference vote Fianna Fáil   47.26% Fine Gael   37.30% Labour   9.12% Sinn Féin (Workers' Party)   2.29% Sinn Féin   1.01% Others   0.19% Independent   2.77%

Seats summary

Assembly seats Fianna Fáil   48.80% Fine Gael   37.95% Labour   9.04% Sinn Féin (Workers' Party)   1.81% Independent   2.41%

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, who replaced 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.

Constituency	Departing TD	Party		Change	Comment	Successor TD	Party
Carlow–Kilkenny	Tom Nolan		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	Gibbons: Former TD	Jim Gibbons		Fianna Fáil
Cavan–Monaghan	Kieran Doherty		Anti H-Block	Vacant[4]	Leonard: Former TD	Jimmy Leonard		Fianna Fáil
Clare	Madeline Taylor		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Donal Carey		Fine Gael
Cork East	Carey Joyce		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Michael Ahern		Fianna Fáil
Cork North-Central	No membership changes
Cork North-West	No membership changes
Cork South-Central	Hugh Coveney		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Jim Corr		Fine Gael
Cork South-West	Flor Crowley		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	Walsh:Former TD	Joe Walsh		Fianna Fáil
Donegal North-East	No membership changes
Donegal South-West	James White		Fine Gael	Retired		Dinny McGinley		Fine Gael
Dublin Central	Alice Glenn		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Tony Gregory		Independent
Dublin North	No membership changes
Dublin North-Central	Noël Browne		Socialist Labour Party	Retired		Richard Bruton		Fine Gael
Dublin North-East	Liam Fitzgerald		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Ned Brennan		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Loftus		Independent	Lost seat		Maurice Manning		Fine Gael
Dublin North-West	Hugh Byrne		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Proinsias De Rossa		Sinn Féin the Workers Party
Dublin South	No membership changes
Dublin South-Central	Fergus O'Brien		Fine Gael	Lost seat	Cluskey:Former TD	Frank Cluskey		Labour Party
Dublin South-East	Seán Moore		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	Quinn:Former TD	Ruairi Quinn		Labour Party
	Richie Ryan		Fine Gael	Retired		Alexis FitzGerald Jnr		Fine Gael
Dublin South-West	No membership changes
Dublin West	Eileen Lemass		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	Lawlor:Former TD	Liam Lawlor		Fianna Fáil
Dún Laoghaire	No membership changes
Galway East	No membership changes
Galway West	Mark Killilea Jnr		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Frank Fahey		Fianna Fáil
Kerry North	No membership changes
Kerry South	No membership changes
Kildare	Bernard Durkan		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Gerry Brady		Fianna Fáil
Laois–Offaly	No membership changes
Limerick East	Peadar Clohessy		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Willie O'Dea		Fianna Fáil
Limerick West	No membership changes
Longford–Westmeath	No membership changes
Louth	Paddy Agnew		Anti H-Block	Retired		Thomas Bellew		Fianna Fáil
Mayo East	No membership changes
Mayo West	No membership changes
Meath	Brendan Crinion		Fianna Fáil	Retired		Colm Hilliard		Fianna Fáil
	James Tully		Labour Party	Retired		Michael Lynch		Fianna Fáil
Roscommon	John Connor		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Liam Naughten		Fine Gael
Sligo–Leitrim	Joe McCartin		Fine Gael	Lost seat		Matt Brennan		Fianna Fáil
Tipperary North	Michael Smith		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat	Kennedy:Former TD	Michael O'Kennedy		Fianna Fáil
Tipperary South	Carrie Acheson		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Sean Byrne		Fianna Fáil
Waterford	Billy Kenneally		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Patrick Gallagher		Sinn Féin the Workers Party
Wexford	Brendan Corish		Labour Party	Retired	Browne:Former TD	Seán Browne		Fianna Fáil
Wicklow	Paudge Brennan		Fianna Fáil	Lost seat		Gemma Hussey		Fine Gael

See also

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

References

1. "23rd Dáil February 1982 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
2. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
3. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1009-1017 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
4. Doherty died in August 1981 but no by-election had been called by the time of the general election

External links

• February 1982 election: Party leaders' debate RTÉ archives