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1954 Irish general election

Election to the 15th Dáil

Field	Value
election_name	1954 Irish general election
country	Ireland
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1951 Irish general election
previous_year	1951
election_date	18 May 1954
next_election	1957 Irish general election
next_year	1957
seats_for_election	147 seats in Dáil Éireann
majority_seats	74
turnout	76.5% 1.2 pp
previous_mps	14th Dáil
elected_mps	15th Dáil
image1
leader1	Éamon de Valera
party1	Fianna Fáil
leader_since1	26 March 1926
leaders_seat1	Clare
last_election1	69 seats, 46.3%
seats1	65
seat_change1	4
popular_vote1	578,960
percentage1	43.4%
swing1	2.9 pp
image2
leader2	Richard Mulcahy
leader_since2	1944
party2	Fine Gael
leaders_seat2	Tipperary South
last_election2	40 seats, 25.8%
seats2	50
seat_change2	8
popular_vote2	427,031
percentage2	32.0%
swing2	6.2 pp
image3
leader3	William Norton
leader_since3	1932
party3	Labour Party (Ireland)
leaders_seat3	Kildare
last_election3	16 seats, 11.4%
seats3	19
seat_change3	3
popular_vote3	161,034
percentage3	12.1%
swing3	0.7 pp
image4
leader4	Joseph Blowick
leader_since4	1944
party4	Clann na Talmhan
leaders_seat4	Mayo South
last_election4	6 seats, 2.9%
seats4	5
seat_change4	1
popular_vote4	51,069
percentage4	3.8%
swing4	0.9 pp
image5
leader5	Seán MacBride
leader_since5	1946
party5	Clann na Poblachta
leaders_seat5	Dublin South-West
last_election5	2 seats, 4.1%
seats5	3
seat_change5	1
popular_vote5	41,249
percentage5	3.1%
swing5	1.0 pp
map_image	{{Switcher
title	Taoiseach
before_election	Éamon de Valera
before_party	Fianna Fáil
posttitle	Taoiseach after election
after_election	John A. Costello
after_party	Fine Gael

| [[File:1954 Irish general election.svg|400px]] | Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency | [[File:Irish_general_election_1954.png|400px]] | Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency}}

The 1954 Irish general election to elect the 15th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 18 May, following the dissolution of the 14th Dáil on 24 April by President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general election took place in 40 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.

The 15th Dáil met at Leinster House on 2 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. De Valera failed to secure a majority, and John A. Costello was appointed Taoiseach, forming the second inter-party government, a minority coalition of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan.

Campaign

After the 1951 general election, Fianna Fáil had formed a minority single-party government. Shortly after the Minister for Finance, Seán McEntee, had delivered the 1954 budget, Éamon de Valera called a general election.

Fianna Fáil had the most to lose, their campaign concentrated on providing political stability for the next five years. They also put forward strong arguments against coalition governments. However, this would not suffice when the country's economy was worsening and unemployment and emigration were increasing.

The opposition parties of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the other minor parties offered the electorate an alternative to three years of Fianna Fáil rule.

Result

|seats_% = 44.2 |fpv_% = 43.4 |seats_% = 34.0 |fpv_% = 32.0 |seats_% = 12.9 |fpv_% = 12.1 |seats_% = 3.4 |fpv_% = 3.8 |seats_% = 2.0 |fpv_% = 3.1 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 0.1 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 0.1 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 0.1 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 0.0 |seats_% = 3.4 |fpv_% = 5.3 |}

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan formed the second inter-party government, a minority government, dependent on the support of Clann na Poblachta.

Changes in membership

First time TDs

Paudge Brennan
James Burke
Johnny Connor
Fintan Coogan Snr
Edward Cotter
Paddy Donegan
Nicholas Egan
Johnny Geoghegan
Brendan Glynn
Richard Gogan
Edward Kelly
Henry Kenny
Denis Larkin
Patrick Lindsay
Celia Lynch
John Moher
Maureen O'Carroll
John O'Donovan
Donogh O'Malley
James Tully

Retiring TDs

Patrick Boland
Peadar Duignan
Patrick Little
Patrick Maguire

Defeated TDs

Patrick Browne
Patrick Cawley
Michael ffrench-O'Carroll
Patrick O'Gorman
Matthew O'Reilly
James Reidy
Laurence Walsh

Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 8th Seanad.

Notes

References

{{cite Irish legislation. (1937). (1 November 1937)
"15th Dáil 1954: Clare".
(24 April 1954). "Dail will be dissolved today". [[The Irish Times]].
(26 April 1954). "Campaign begins with dissolution of the Dail". [[The Irish Times]].
(February 1955). "Election results and transfer of votes in general election (May, 1954) for fifteenth Dáil and bye-elections to fourteenth Dáil (1951-1954)". Dublin Stationery Office.
"15th Dáil 1954 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org.
"Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland.
(2010). "Elections in Europe: A data handbook". Nomos.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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