The 31st Dáil was elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and first met at midday on 9 March 2011 in

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 ...

. 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 24th Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas. The 2011 election saw 17

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 ...

return 3 TDs each, 15 constituencies return 4 TDs each and 11 constituencies return 5 TDs each, for a total of 166. Seán Barrett was elected as

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 ...

in the first sitting of the Dáil. For the first time,

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 by

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

, became the largest party. It formed a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with the Labour Party, led by

Eamon Gilmore Eamon Gilmore (born 24 April 1955) is an Irish diplomat and former Labour Party politician. He has served as European Union Special Representative for Human Rights since February 2019. He has also been the European Union Special Envoy for th ...

, who had achieved their highest number of seats in the party's history. In July 2014,

Joan Burton Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy leader of the Labour Party fro ...

won a Labour Party leadership election to become the leader of the Labour Party and

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

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 ...

secured 20 seats, the lowest in the party's history, and was the largest opposition party. The leader of the party,

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...

became the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...

as leader of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

became the second opposition leader. A

technical group In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be ...

was formed following the election composed of 16

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

politicians and members of the

United Left Alliance The United Left Alliance (, ULA) was an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election. The grouping originally consisted of three existing ...

, who failed to win enough seats to gain speaking rights. Almost half of the members of the 30th Dáil were absent from the 31st: 31 members retired before the poll and a further 45 TDs lost their seats at the election. 76 new TDs were elected to the Dáil, 46% of the total. The 31st Dáil was dissolved by

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 ...

Michael D. Higgins on 3 February 2016, at the request of the Taoiseach

. The 31st Dáil lasted .

Composition of the 31st Dáil

Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets ()

Graphical representation

The following illustrates the composition of the 31st Dáil at the time of its first sitting on 9 March 2011 (after Seán Barrett (

) took office as

). This is not the official seating plan. The government parties sit to the left of the Ceann Comhairle and opposition parties sit to the right. The following illustrates the composition at the time of its dissolution in February 2016.

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

* Labour Party Opposition *

* Anti-Austerity Alliance–People Before Profit **

Anti-Austerity Alliance Solidarity (), formerly known as the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA), is a Trotskyist political party in Ireland, launched in 2014. It had been registered as a political party to contest local elections, and ran at least forty candidates in the 20 ...

***

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

People Before Profit Alliance People Before Profit (, PBP) is a Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. The party is active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History As Socialist Environmental Alliance People Before Profit was established in 200 ...

* Renua *

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

* Workers and Unemployed Action Group (later Workers and Unemployed Action) *

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

* ''Vacant seat'' ;Note The Socialist Party, People Before Profit Alliance, Workers and Unemployed Action Group and some

TDs sat together as a

, which was later joined by Renua and the Social Democrats.

Ceann Comhairle

On 9 March 2011, Seán Barrett (FG) was proposed by

for the position of

. He was approved without a vote. * Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Michael Kitt (Fianna Fáil)

Leadership

Government

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 ...

and Leader of Fine Gael:

** Government Chief Whip and Fine Gael Chief whip: Paul Kehoe *

and Leader of the Labour Party:

** Labour Party Chief whip: Emmet Stagg

Opposition

and

Leader of Fianna Fáil The leader of Fianna Fáil is the most senior politician within the Fianna Fáil political party in Ireland. Since 2011 Fianna Fáil leadership election, 26 January 2011, the office has been held by Micheál Martin, following the resignation of ...

** Fianna Fáil Chief whip: Seán Ó Fearghaíl *

Leader of Sinn Féin Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

** Sinn Féin Chief Whip: Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Committees

* Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Andrew Doyle (Fine Gael) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pat Deering (Fine Gael) * Chairwoman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection: Joanna Tuffy (Labour Party) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection: Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour Party) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Michael McCarthy (Labour Party) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Noel Coonan (Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs: Dominic Hannigan (Labour Party) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs:

Dara Murphy Dara Murphy (born 2 December 1969) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from 2014 to 2017 and Lord Mayor of Cork from 2009 to 2010. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency ...

(Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform:

Ciarán Lynch Ciarán Lynch (born 13 June 1964) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central (Dáil constituency), Cork South-Central constituency from 2007 to 2016. He was e ...

(Labour Party) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Liam Twomey (Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Pat Breen (Fine Gael) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade:

Bernard Durkan Bernard J. Durkan (born 26 March 1945) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare North constituency from 1997 to 2024, and previously from 1982 to 1997 and 1981 to 1982 for the Kildare constituen ...

(Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children: Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children: Ciara Conway (Labour Party) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Joe McHugh (Fine Gael) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee of Inquiry:

(Labour Party) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Féin) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Derek Nolan (Labour Party) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Damien English (Fine Gael) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: John Lyons (Labour Party) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Select Committee on Members' Interests of Dáil Éireann: Thomas Pringle (Independent) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Select Committee on Procedure and Privileges (Dáil): Seán Barrett (Fine Gael) ** Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Sub-Committee on Administration: Joe Carey (Fine Gael) ** Chairman of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Dáil Reform: Paul Kehoe (Fine Gael) ** Chairman of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Privileges: Emmet Stagg (Labour Party) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee: John McGuinness (Fianna Fáil) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee: Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications:

John O'Mahony John Francis O'Mahony (1815 – 7 February 1877) was an Irish scholar and the founding member of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Despite coming from a reasonably wealthy fa ...

(Fine Gael) ** Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications: Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Standing Orders (Private Business): Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fáil) – Senator

List of TDs

This is a list of TDs elected to Dáil Éireann in the 2011 general election, sorted by party. Note this table is a record of the 2011 general election results. The

Changes Changes may refer to: Books * '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo * ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel * ''Chan ...

table below records all changes in party affiliation. ;Notes

Changes

References

External links

*
Houses of the Oireachtas: Debates: 31st Dáil
{{DEFAULTSORT:31st Dail 2011 in the Republic of Ireland 31