The 1987 Irish general election to the
25th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 17 February, four weeks after the
dissolution of the
24th Dáil on 20 January by
President
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*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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*'' Præsident ...
Patrick Hillery
Patrick John Hillery (; 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 European Commission and Europea ...
, 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 ...
Garret FitzGerald. A continuing crisis over public finance and a rejection of the budget had led to the
Labour Party withdrawing from the
Fine Gael
Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...
–led coalition government. 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
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
, 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 ...
. There were minor amendments to constituency boundaries under the
Electoral (Amendment) Act 1983.
The 25th Dáil met at
Leinster House
Leinster House () is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Duke of Leinster, Dukes of Leinster.
Since 1922, it has been a complex of buildings which houses Oirea ...
on 10 March 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 ...
.
Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...
was appointed Taoiseach, forming the
20th government of Ireland, a minority single-party
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 ...
government.
Campaign
The 1987 general election was precipitated by the withdrawal of the
Labour Party from the
Fine Gael
Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, 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 Éireann. The party had a member ...
–led government on 20 January 1987. The reason was a disagreement over budget proposals. Rather than attempt to press on with the government's agenda, the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael,
Garret FitzGerald, sought a dissolution of the Dáil. An unusually long period of four weeks was set for the campaign.
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 ...
's campaign involved a refusal to make any definite commitments; however, it attempted to convince the electorate that the country would be better under Fianna Fáil.
Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...
's attitudes toward
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and the
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irelan ...
were both attacked. However, the campaign was mostly fought on economic issues.
The Labour Party decided against any pre-election pact, particularly with Fine Gael. The
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats (, literally "The Democratic Party"), commonly referred to as the PDs, were a conservative liberal political party in Ireland. The party's history spanned 24 years, from its formation in 1985 to its dissolution in 20 ...
(PD), founded only two years earlier, surpassed Labour as the third-biggest political party in the Dáil. Although the majority of the PD party consisted of Fianna Fáil defectors, it mainly took seats from Fine Gael.
Results
;Notes:
* Independents include
Independent Fianna Fáil
Independent Fianna Fáil (IFF), sometimes called the Independent Fianna Fáil Republican Party, was a splinter republican party in Republic of Ireland, Ireland created by Neil Blaney after his expulsion from Fianna Fáil following the Irish Arms ...
(7,720 votes, 1 seat) and the Tax Reform League (3,832 votes).
* Changes in numbers of seats for each party are shown relative to the previous election in November 1982.
Although opinion polls had suggested otherwise, Fianna Fáil once again failed to win an overall majority. The Progressive Democrats did exceptionally well in their first general election, becoming the third-biggest party in the Dáil. Fine Gael lost many seats, mostly to the PDs. The Labour Party fell to its lowest share of the vote since 1933, but managed to salvage 12 seats, more than expected, including that of its leader
Dick Spring
Richard Martin Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1982 to 1987, 1992 to November 1994, and December 1994 to 1997, Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland), L ...
, who saved his seat by just four votes.
Voting summary
Seats summary
Government formation
Fianna Fáil formed the
20th government of Ireland, a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
, with Charles Haughey returning as Taoiseach. Haughey was nominated as Taoiseach with the votes of his own party, the support of Independent Fianna Fáil TD
Neil Blaney and the abstention of Independent TD
Tony Gregory. That left him with just half of votes cast.
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 ...
Seán Treacy exercised his
casting vote
A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...
in favour of the nomination of Haughey. The Fianna Fáil government of 1987 to 1989 was the last time to date that a government composed only of members of one party has been formed in Ireland.
Dáil membership changes
The following changes took place at the election:
* 17 outgoing TDs retired
* 1 vacant seat at election time
* 147 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also
Tom Fitzpatrick, the outgoing
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 ...
, who was automatically returned)
** 127 of those were re-elected
** 20 failed to be re-elected
* 38 successor TDs were elected
** 32 were elected for the first time
** 6 had previously been TDs
* There were 6 successor female TDs, with the total remaining unchanged at 14
* There were changes in 32 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 an election to the
18th Seanad.
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
1987 election: Party leaders' debateRTÉ archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish General Election, 1987
1987 elections in the Republic of Ireland
1987 in Irish politics
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
25th Dáil
February 1987 in Europe