The 16th Dáil was elected at the 1957 general election on 5 March 1957 and met on 20 March 1957. The members of Dáil Éireann, the

house of representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

of the Oireachtas (legislature) of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, are known as TDs. The 16th Dáil saw a change of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

from

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

in June 1959. On 8 September 1961

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Éamon de Valera dissolved the Dáil on the request of Taoiseach Seán Lemass. The 16th Dáil lasted days.

Composition of the 16th Dáil

In line with its policy of

abstentionism Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in ...

, the Sinn Féin TDs did not take their seats. Fianna Fáil, denoted with a bullet (), formed the

8th Government of Ireland 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

led by

. Following de Valera's

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

president of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

in June 1959,

formed the

9th Government of Ireland 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

Graphical representation

This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 16th Dáil from March 1957. This was not the official seating plan.

Ceann Comhairle

On the meeting of the Dáil, Patrick Hogan (Lab), who had served as Ceann Comhairle since 1951, was proposed by John A. Costello (FG) and seconded by

(FF) for the position. His election was approved without a vote.

TDs by constituency

The list of the 147 TDs elected, is given in alphabetical order by Dáil constituency.

Changes

References

External links

Houses of the Oireachtas: Debates: 16th Dáil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Members of the 16th Dail 16 16th Dáil