1961 Irish general election

Campaign

At the general election of 1961, the three main parties were led by new leaders: Seán Lemass had taken charge of Fianna Fáil in 1959, making this the first time Fianna Fáil faced a general election campaign without Éamon de Valera (who had become President of Ireland in 1959). James Dillon had taken over at Fine Gael in 1959 also, while the Labour Party was now under the leadership of Brendan Corish.

Lemass announced the date of the election on 8 September, with the dissolution to take place a week later on 15 September. It was the shortest period between the dissolution and the election permitted in law.

While the election was caused by the "crisis" surrounding Ireland's application for membership of the European Economic Community and various other international affairs, little attention was paid to these matters during the campaign; the 1961 general election has become known as the dullest campaign on record, with the most important issue being the teaching of the Irish language in schools. Fianna Fáil fought the election on its record in government and a reforming theme; Fine Gael presented itself as the party of free enterprise. The Labour Party campaigned strongly against the "conservative" Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties. It also favoured major expansion in the public sector. It was the first and only general election contested by the National Progressive Democrats led by Noël Browne.

Result

|seats_% = 48.6 |fpv_% = 43.8 |seats_% = 32.6 |fpv_% = 32.0 |seats_% = 11.1 |fpv_% = 11.6 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 3.1 |seats_% = 1.4 |fpv_% = 1.5 |seats_% = 0.7 |fpv_% = 1.1 |seats_% = 1.4 |fpv_% = 1.0 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 0.1 |seats_% = 0 |fpv_% = 0.0 |seats_% = 4.2 |fpv_% = 5.6 |}

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

The 17th Dáil met on 11 October 1961. Fianna Fáil were short of a majority, with 70 of the 144 seats in the Dáil, but were able to form a new single-party government, the 10th Government of Ireland, with the support of Independent TDs.

Changes in membership

First-time TDs

• Lorcan Allen
• Mark Clinton
• George Colley
• Patrick Connor
• Paddy Harte
• Brian Lenihan
• Tom O'Donnell
• Séamus Pattison
• Eugene Timmons
• Seán Treacy

Re-elected TDs

• Seán Collins

Retiring TDs

• Patrick Giles
• Peadar Maher
• Richard Mulcahy
• Oscar Traynor

Defeated TDs

• Batt Donegan
• Gus Healy
• Denis Larkin
• Frank Loughman
• James O'Toole

Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 10th Seanad.

Notes

References

References

1. {{cite Irish legislation. (1937). (1 November 1937)
2. {{cite Irish legislation. (1961). (14 July 1961)
3. "17th Dáil 1961: Clare".
4. (9 September 1961). "General Election to be on October 4th: Short time for electioneering". [[The Irish Times]].
5. (9 September 1961). "President Dissolves 16th Dail Eireann". The Irish Times.
6. (May 1962). "Election results and transfer of votes in general election (October, 1961) for seventeenth Dáil and bye-elections to sixteenth Dáil (1957–1961)". Dublin Stationery Office.
7. "17th Dáil 1961 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org.
8. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland.
9. (2010). "Elections in Europe: A data handbook". Nomos.