The 1989 Irish general election to the
26th Dáil was held on Thursday, 15 June, three weeks after the
dissolution of the
25th Dáil on 25 May by
President Patrick Hillery, on the request of
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Charles Haughey. The general election took place in 41
Dáil constituencies
There are 43 multi-member electoral districts, known as Dáil constituencies, to elect 174 Teachta Dála, TDs to Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, Republic of Ireland, Ireland's parliament, on the system of propor ...
throughout Ireland for 166 seats in
Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
, on the same day as the
European Parliament election.
The 26th Dáil met at
Leinster House on 29 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new
government of Ireland
The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...
. No government was formed on that date, but on 12 July, Haughey was re-appointed Taoiseach, forming the
21st government of Ireland, a
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
of
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
and the
Progressive Democrats.
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
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
sufferers (
haemophiliacs who had been infected with contaminated blood products by the health service). While a general election was not necessary – the motion was not a vote of confidence, and therefore defeat was merely an embarrassment for the government –
Charles Haughey, the Fianna Fáil leader, sought a dissolution of the Dáil.
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
Pádraig Flynn (born 9 May 1939) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Social Affairs from 1993 to 1999, Minister for Industry and Commerce and Minister for Justice from 1992 to 1993, Minister for ...
and Haughey himself had received substantial personal donations during the campaign.
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 election to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
, and turnout was 68.5%.
Results
Independents include
Independent Fianna Fáil (6,961 votes, 1 seat), Army Wives (6,966 votes) and Gay candidates (517 votes).
No by-elections had taken place during the previous Dáil. Two seats were vacant at the dissolution of the
25th Dáil: in Sligo–Leitrim, caused by the resignation of the Fianna Fáil member
Ray MacSharry, and in
Dublin South-Central, caused by the death of
Frank Cluskey.
While Fianna Fáil had hoped to achieve an overall majority, the party 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 worse than its 1987 result. The
Green Party won its first seat when
Roger Garland was elected for
Dublin South.
Voting summary
Seats summary
Government formation
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 for the first time in its history – with the Progressive Democrats, forming the
21st Government of Ireland, led by Haughey as Taoiseach. In February 1992, Haughey resigned and was succeeded as Taoiseach by
Albert Reynolds, forming the
22nd Government of Ireland, continuing in coalition with the Progressive Democrats.
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.
Seanad election
The Dáil election was followed by the election to the
19th Seanad.
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
GuthanPhobail.net Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish General Election, 1989
1989 in Irish politics
1989
26th Dáil
June 1989 in Europe
1989 elections in the Republic of Ireland