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

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 ...

(legislature) of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, are known as TDs. It sat with the

14th Seanad The 14th Seanad was in office from 1977 to 1981. An election to 43 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) took place in August 1977, following the 1977 general election to the 21st Dáil. The remaini ...

as the two Houses of the Oireachtas. The 21st Dáil saw a change 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 ...

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. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...

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 ...

. 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' 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 ...

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

Composition of the 21st Dáil

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

15th government of Ireland In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

, 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. It is the fourth power of two. In English speech, the numbers 16 and 60 are sometimes confused, as they sound similar. Mathematics 16 is the ninth composite number, and a sq ...

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 ...

Seán Treacy Seán Treacy (; John Allis Treacy; 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 and one of a small group whose actions initiated that conflict i ...

(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 an ...

(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. Be ...

(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 Pádraig Faulkner (12 March 1918 – 1 June 2012) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Defence 1979 to 1980, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Minister for T ...

(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:21st Dail 21