30th Dáil
The Dáil, or Dáil Éireann (pronouned [d̪ˠaːlʲ ˈeːrʲən̪ˠ]), is the lower house of the Irish bicameral parliament. The upper house, the Senate, or Seanad Éireann (Template:IPA2) and the Dáil together form the parliament, known as the Oireachtas (Template:IPA2). The "30th Dáil" is so called because it will be the 30th to sit since the foundation of the state.
Dáil Éireann (usually just called "the Dáil") has 166 members or Teachtaí Dála ("Teachta Dála", pronounced Template:IPA2, is the singular form, abbreviated to "TD"), each elected to represent one of 43 multi-seat constituencies under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote.
Under the constitution, parliamentary elections must be held at least every seven years, though a lower limit may be set by statute law. The current statutory maximum term is every five years.
The government in the 29th Dáil consisted of a coalition of two parties: Fianna Fáil under Taoiseach Bertie Ahern; and the Progressive Democrats under Tánaiste Michael McDowell. The main opposition parties in the 29th Dáil consisted of Fine Gael and Labour. Smaller parties such as the Green Party, Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party were also represented in the previous Dáil.
On Sunday 29th April, 2007, Taoiseach Ahern called a general election to elect the 30th Dáil. By the close of nominations for election, on Wednesday 9th May 2007, 466 candidates had declared their candidacy for election for the 165 seats available [1](the sitting Chairperson, or Ceann Comhairle, is returned automatically).
Opinion polls indicated that the election to the 30th Dáil would be an extremely close affair.[2]
The election took place on Thursday 24th May, 2007,[3] with the count of ballots beginning the following day, Friday 25th.
Pre-election alliances
The government coalition parties of the 29th Dáil, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, had a joint electoral pact and sought re-election together. The two main opposition parties, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, also declared a pact and sought vote transfers (possible under the Single Transferable Vote system) between their respective candidates. The Green Party were invited to join this pact, but opted to wait until after the results of the election were known before committing to either coalition. All the major parties stated that they would not enter coalition with Sinn Féin, due to differences in economic policies.
Results
An exit poll, conducted on behalf of Radio Telefís Éireann on election day, demonstrated a late swing towards Fianna Fáil, but still predicted a close result. [4] Counting of ballots began on Friday 25th May, 2007 and concluded in the early hours of Sunday morning, 27th May.
In general terms, there was a swing towards the larger parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with what is being described as a "squeeze" effecting the fortunes of the smaller parties and independents. A predicted large increase in the number of Sinn Féin's TDs failed to materialise, and they in fact lost a seat. In particular, the smaller governing coalition partner, the Progressive Democrats, saw a large drop in support, dropping six seats from eight to two. Their party leader, deputy leader and president all failed to be returned. The Socialist Party lost its one seat.
Individually significant results included:
- Michael McDowell, the sitting Tanáiste, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and leader of the Progressive Democrats, lost his seat. He immediately announced that he was retiring from politics and public life.[5]
- Joe Higgins, leader of the Socialist Party (and that party's only TD) lost his seat.
Constituencies
Since the prior general election of 2002, various changes have been made to constituencies and their boundaries. These changes include the addition of one new constituency (bringing the total to 43), and increasing and/or decreasing the numbers of seats available in others. A direct comparison with the 2002 election results is therefore not entirely valid, and has been omitted.
On Wednesday 16th May, 2007, a High Court challenge was brought by two sitting TDs to challenge the validity of the constituency changes brought about by the most recent Electoral Amendment Act.[6] The case's outcome had no effect on the constituency boundaries or number of seats available in the election. The final ruling issued in the case on Thursday, 7th June, 2007. Ruling that the constituencies were valid, Mr Justice Frank Clark nonetheless called for the Oireachtas ro review constituency boundaries and following the review, to amend 1997 Electoral Act[7]
|
Constituency |
Number of seats (2007) |
Result (2007) |
|||||||
|
FF |
FG |
Lab. |
PD |
SF |
Grn |
Soc. |
Other |
||
| Carlow-Kilkenny |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Cavan-Monaghan |
5[8] |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Clare |
4 |
2 |
2 |
||||||
| Cork East |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Cork North Central |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Cork North West |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Cork South Central |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
| Cork South West |
3 |
1 |
2 |
||||||
| Donegal North East |
3 |
1 |
2 |
||||||
| Donegal South West |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Dublin Central |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Dublin Mid West |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Dublin North |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Dublin North Central |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Dublin North East |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Dublin North West |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Dublin South |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
| Dublin South Central |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Dublin South East |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Dublin South West |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Dublin West |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Dún Laoghaire |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Galway East |
4 |
2 |
2 |
||||||
| Galway West |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Kerry North |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Kerry South |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Kildare North |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Kildare South |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Laois-Offaly |
5 |
3 |
2 |
||||||
| Limerick East |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
| Limerick West |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Longford-Westmeath |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Louth |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Mayo |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|||||
| Meath East |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Meath West |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Roscommon-South Leitrim |
3 |
1 |
2 |
||||||
| Sligo-North Leitrim |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Tipperary North |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Tipperary South |
3 |
2 |
1 |
||||||
| Waterford |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
| Wexford |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
| Wicklow |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
|
Totals |
166 |
78 |
51 |
20 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
5 |
Key:
FF: Fianna Fáil
FG: Fine Gael
Lab.: Labour
PD: Progressive Democrats
SF: Sinn Féin
Grn.: Green Party
Soc.: Socialist Party
Other: Independents and/or members of small parties not listed above.
Composition of the Dáil
| Party | June 2002 (elected to 29th Dáil) |
July 2006 (changes since election) |
May 2007 (elected to 30th Dáil) |
| Fianna Fáil | 81 | 78 | 78 |
| Fine Gael | 31 | 32 | 51 |
| Labour Party | 20 | 21 | 20 |
| Progressive Democrats | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Green Party | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Sinn Féin | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Socialist | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Independents | 13 | 14 | 5 |
| Ceann Comhairle | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Post-election negotiations
As no single party or pre-declared coalition achieved the 83 seats needed for a majority, negotiations to secure support for a viable government began almost immediately afer the final results were known.
See also
References
- ↑ Elections Ireland: List of candidates Available: http://www.electionsireland.org/results/general/30thdail/candidates.cfm Accessed: 25th May, 2007
- ↑ Irish Times, Friday 11th May, 2007: "All eyes on party leaders as race looks set to go down to the wire" Available: http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0511/1178742776741.html Accessed: 16th May, 2007.
- ↑ Official Oireachtas notice of election. Available: http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=7705 Accessed: 16th May, 2007.
- ↑ RTÉ: Election 2007: Exit poll proves near results Available (also with audio): http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0525/election1.html Accessed 26th May, 2007.
- ↑ RTÉ: Election 2007: McDowell to leave politics Available: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0525/election6.html Accessed: 26th May, 2007.
- ↑ Irish Times, Wednesday 16th May, 2007: "Hearing on voter ratios begins" Available: http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0516/1179184315550.html Accessed: Wednesday 16th May, 2007.
- ↑ Irish Independent: Judge calls for 'urgent' review of electoral boundaries. Available: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/judge-calls-for-urgent-review-of-electoral-boundaries-693290.html Accessed: 8th June, 2007.
- ↑ Includes the seat of the current Ceann Comhairle, Rory O Hanlon, who by virtue of his office is returned automatically to the Dáil without having to seek re-election.