The 1954 Irish general election was held on Tuesday, 18 May to elect the 15th Dáil. The newly-elected members assembled at Leinster House on 2 June when the new

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 offi ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

were appointed. The general election took place in 40 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in the lower house of parliament,

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 r ...

Campaign

The general election of 1954 was caused by the loss of an overall majority for the ruling

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...

party in the Dáil. Rather than be voted down on a vote in the Dáil,

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 governm ...

decided to call a general election and let the people decide. 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. On the other hand, the opposition parties of

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

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

Result

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

, the Labour Party and

Clann na Talmhan Clann na Talmhan (, "Family/Children of the land"; formally known as the ''National Agricultural Party'') was an Irish agrarian political party active between 1939 and 1965. Formation and growth Clann na Talmhan was founded on 29 June 1939 in ...

formed the

Second Inter-Party Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

, a minority government, dependent on the support of Clann na Poblachta.

Changes in membership

First time TDs

Paudge Brennan Patrick Brennan (18 February 1922 – 10 June 1998) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who sat for 25 years as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency, and was briefly a Senator. Brennan first stood for election to Dáil Éireann as ...

* James Burke * Johnny Connor *

Fintan Coogan Snr Fintan Coogan (13 April 1910 – 4 November 1984) was an Irish Fine Gael politician. A blacksmith before entering politics, he was a Teachta Dála (TD) for over twenty years, and served three times as Mayor of Galway. Coogan unsuccessfully co ...

* Edward Cotter *

Paddy Donegan Patrick Sarsfield Donegan (29 October 1923 – 26 November 2000) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Fisheries from February 1977 to July 1977, Minister for Lands from 1976 to 1977 and Minister for Defence from 1973 to ...

Nicholas Egan Nicholas Egan (17 July 1903 – 5 December 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He contested the Laois–Offaly constituency at the 1951 general election but was not elected. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta ...

* Johnny Geoghegan * Brendan Glynn *

Richard Gogan Richard P. Gogan (29 November 1899 – 28 April 1982) was a member of the Irish Volunteers who fought in the 1916 Easter Rising. In later life, he became a Fianna Fáil politician. Early and personal life He was the son of William J. Gogan and ...

* Edward Kelly * Henry Kenny * Denis Larkin * Patrick Lindsay * Celia Lynch * John Moher *

Maureen O'Carroll Maureen O'Carroll (; 29 March 1913 – 9 May 1984) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-Central constituency from 1954 to 1957. She led the way with women border guards and ensuring that ...

John O'Donovan John O'Donovan may refer to: *John O'Donovan (scholar) (1806–1861), Irish language scholar and place-name expert *John O'Donovan (politician) (1908–1982), Irish TD and Senator *John O'Donovan (police commissioner) (1858–1927), New Zealand pol ...

Donogh O'Malley Donogh Brendan O'Malley (18 January 1921 – 10 March 1968) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and rugby union player who served as Minister for Education from 1966 to 1968, Minister for Health from 1965 to 1966 and Parliamentary Secretary ...

* James Tully

Outgoing TDs

* Patrick Boland (Retired) * Patrick Browne (Lost seat) * Patrick Cawley (Lost seat) *

Peadar Duignan Peadar Duignan (26 July 1898 – 13 April 1955) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a m ...

(Retired) *

Michael ffrench-O'Carroll Michael ffrench-O'Carroll (15 September 1919 – 5 May 2007) was an Irish politician and medical doctor. He was an independent Teachta Dála (TD) and Senator. He served one term in each house of the Oireachtas in the 1950s. Born in Dublin, h ...

(Lost seat) * Patrick Little (Retired) * Patrick Maguire (Retired) *

Patrick O'Gorman Patrick James O'Gorman was an Irish Fine Gael politician. A shopkeeper, he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork East constituency at the 1948 general election, and was re-elected at the 1951 general election. He ...

(Lost seat) * Matthew O'Reilly (Lost seat) * James Reidy (Lost seat) *

P. J. Ruttledge Patrick Joseph Ruttledge (1 January 1892 – 8 May 1952) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1939 to 1941, Minister for Justice from 1933 to 1939, Minister for Lands and Fis ...

(Deceased) * Laurence Walsh (Lost seat)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish General Election, 1954 General election, 1954 1954 15th Dáil

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

May 1954 events in Europe 1954 elections in Europe