The 21st Dáil was elected at the 1977 general election on 16 June 1977 and met on 5 July 1977. The members of

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland rea ...

, 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 The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...

(legislature) of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, are known as TDs. The 21st 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 of ...

from

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Ministe ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

. On 21 May 1981,

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 ...

Patrick Hillery Patrick John Hillery ( ga, Pádraig J. Ó hIrghile; 2 May 1923 – 12 April 2008) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the sixth president of Ireland from December 1976 to December 1990. He also served as vice-president of the Eur ...

dissolved the Dáil on the request of Taoiseach Charles Haughey. The 21st Dáil lasted days.

Composition of the 21st Dáil

In July 1977, Fianna Fáil, denoted with a bullet (), formed the

15th Government of Ireland 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious nu ...

, a majority government, led by

. In December 1979,

succeeded as Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach, forming the

16th Government of Ireland 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

Graphical representation

This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 21st Dáil from July 1977. This was not the official seating plan.

Ceann Comhairle

On the meeting of the Dáil, Joseph Brennan (FF) was proposed by Jack Lynch (FF) and seconded by

George Colley George Colley (18 October 1925 – 17 September 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1977 to 1981, Minister for Energy from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1979 to 1980, Minister for ...

(FF) for the position of

Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...

Seán Treacy Seán Allis Treacy ( ga, Seán Ó Treasaigh; 14 February 1895 – 14 October 1920) was one of the leaders of the Third Tipperary Brigade of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. He was one of a small group whose actions initiated tha ...

(Lab) was proposed by

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

(FG) and seconded by

Joseph Bermingham Joseph Bermingham (9 May 1919 – 11 August 1995) was an Irish Labour Party politician. Bermingham was born in Castlemitchell, County Kildare. He was educated at the Christian Brothers school in Athy and the O'Brien Institute in Dublin. Ber ...

(Lab) for the position. Brennan was elected by a vote of 84 to 60. Brennan died on 13 July 1980. On 15 October 1980, Pádraig Faulkner (FF) was appointed Ceann Comhairle on a temporary basis. On 16 October 1980, Faulkner was proposed by Jack Lynch for the position on a permanent basis, and was elected without a vote.

TDs by constituency

The list of the 148 TDs elected is given in alphabetical order by Dáil constituency.

Changes

On 11 February 1981, a motion to move the writ for the vacancy in Tipperary North was rejected on a vote of 40 to 66.

References

External links

Houses of the Oireachtas: Debates: 21st Dáil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Members of the 21st Dail 21st Dáil 21