1973 Irish general election
28 February 1973
144 seats in Dáil Éireann[lower-alpha 1]
73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout76.6% Decrease 0.3pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Jack Lynch 1979 (cropped).jpg
Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave-Patricks Day 1976.jpg
Brendan Corish 1949.png
Leader Jack Lynch Liam Cosgrave Brendan Corish
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour
Leader since 9 November 1966 21 April 1965 2 March 1960
Leader's seat Cork City North-West Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown Wexford
Last election 75 seats, 45.7% 50 seats, 34.1% 18 seats, 17.0%
Seats before 74 51 17
Seats won 69[lower-alpha 1] 54 19
Seat change Decrease6 Increase3 Increase2
Percentage 46.2% 35.1% 13.7%
Swing Increase0.5% Increase1.0% Decrease3.3%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election

Jack Lynch
Fianna Fáil

 Taoiseach after election

Liam Cosgrave
Fine Gael

The 1973 Irish general election to the 20th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 28 February 1973, following the dissolution of the 19th Dáil on 5 February by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election took place in 42 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.

The 20th Dáil met at Leinster House on 4 March to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Liam Cosgrave was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 14th Government of Ireland, a coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

Campaign

By the time the general election was called in 1973, Fianna Fáil had been in office since March 1957, just under sixteen years. During that time the party had seen three different leaders: Éamon de Valera, Seán Lemass, and since 1966, Jack Lynch. Lynch had hoped to dissolve the Dáil in December 1972; however, events did not permit this, and the election was eventually called for February 1973.

While Fine Gael and the Labour Party had pursued individual opposition policies since 1957, they agreed to a pre-election pact to fight the election together on the issues that united them. The National Coalition, as it was known, offered the electorate the first credible alternative government in many years.

While Fianna Fáil increased its percentage of the vote, it lost seats. A transfer pact between the National Coalition parties in the single transferable vote system enabled a change of government to take place.

In an interview with Brian Farrell on RTÉ, Jack Lynch became the first Taoiseach to concede defeat live on Irish television. Although the full result was not yet known, Lynch was certain that the transfers between candidates would result in Fianna Fáil losing the general election.

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, approved in a referendum in December 1972 and signed into law in January 1973, had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18.[3][4] However, the electoral register would not be updated until 15 April, five weeks after the election date.[3][5] A 20-year-old student, represented by Seán MacBride, sought an injunction from the High Court postponing the election to vindicate his right to vote.[3] He lost his case, although he was awarded his costs due to its "public importance".[3]

Result

Election to the 20th Dáil – 28 February 1973[6][7][8][9]
Party Leader Seats ±  % of
seats		 First pref.
votes		  % FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Jack Lynch 69[lower-alpha 1] –6 47.9 624,528 46.2 +1.5
Fine Gael Liam Cosgrave 54 +4 37.5 473,781 35.1 +1.0
Labour Brendan Corish 19 +1 13.2 184,656 13.7 –3.3
Official Sinn Féin Tomás Mac Giolla 0 New 0 15,366 1.1 –
Aontacht Éireann Kevin Boland 0 New 0 12,321 0.9 –
Communist 0 0 0 466 0.0 –
Independent N/A 2 +1 1.4 39,419 2.9 –0.3
Spoilt votes 15,937 — —
Total 144[lower-alpha 1] 0 100 1,366,474 100 —
Electorate/Turnout 1,783,604 76.6% —

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
 
 46.24%
Fine Gael
 
 35.08%
Labour
 
 13.67%
Sinn Féin (Official)
 
 1.14%
Aontacht Éireann
 
 0.91%
Others
 
 0.03%
Independent
 
 2.92%

Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil
 
 47.92%
Fine Gael
 
 37.50%
Labour
 
 13.19%
Independent
 
 1.39%

Government formation

Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed the 14th Government of Ireland, dubbed the National Coalition, with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach and Brendan Corish as Tánaiste.[10]

Changes in membership

First-time TDs

Outgoing TDs

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Including Cormac Breslin (FF), returned automatically for Donegal–Leitrim as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act 1963.[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ Electoral Act 1963, s. 14: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 19 of 1963, s. 14). Enacted on 12 July 1963. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  2. ↑ "20th Dáil 1973: Donegal–Leitrim". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ferriter, Diarmaid (2012). Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s. Profile Books. pp. 94–95. ISBN 9781847658562. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1972 (). Enacted on 5 January 1973. Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 30 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Registration of Electors and Juries Acts (Specification of Dates) Regulations 1963, §4(3) (S.I. No. 169 of 1963). Signed on 20 August 1963. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 26 November 2007. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 30 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Election results and transfer of votes in general election (February, 1973) for twentieth Dáil and bye-elections to nineteenth Dáil (1969–1973)" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. Dublin Stationery Office. October 1973. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "20th Dáil 1973 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  9. ↑ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  10. ↑ Oireachtas, Houses of the (14 March 1973). "Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government. – Dáil Éireann (20th Dáil) – Wednesday, 14 Mar 1973 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.