Irish general election, 1944

Irish general election, 1944

← 1943 30 May 1944 1948 →
← outgoing members TDs elected →
137 of 138 seats in Dáil Éireann 70 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	69.2%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Éamon de Valera Richard Mulcahy Joseph Blowick Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Clann na Talmhan Leader since 26 March 1926 1944 1944 Leader's seat Clare Tipperary Mayo South Last election 67 seats, 41.9% 32 seats, 23.1% 10 seats, 9.0% Seats before 67 32 13 Seats won 76 30 9 Seat change 9 2 4 Popular vote 595,259 249,329 122,745 Percentage 48.9% 20.5% 10.8% Swing 7.0% 2.6% 1.8%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader William Norton James Everett Party Labour Party National Labour Party Leader since 1932 1944 Leader's seat Kildare Wicklow Last election 17 seats, 15.7% Did not stand Seats before 12 5 Seats won 8 4 Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 106,767 32,732 Percentage 8.7% 2.7% Swing 7.0% New party
Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil Subsequent Taoiseach Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil

The Irish general election of 1944 was held on 30 May 1944, having been called on 9 May by President Douglas Hyde on the advice of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general election took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies for 138 seats in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament). Fianna Fáil won an overall majority, and when the newly elected members of the 12th Dáil assembled on 9 June, de Valera was re-elected Taoiseach at the head of a majority government.

The election was fought while the Emergency Powers Act 1939 was still in force.

Contents

• 
  1 Campaign
  


• 
  2 Result
  
  • 
    2.1 Voting summary
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Seats summary
    
  
  


• 
  3 First time TDs
  


• 
  4 Re-elected TDs
  


• 
  5 Outgoing TDs
  


• 
  6 See also
  


• 
  7 References
  


• 
  8 Sources
  

Campaign

The outgoing Fianna Fáil government was a minority government and after a defeat for the second reading of its Transport Bill, Taoiseach Éamon de Valera decided to call a snap election, just one year after the previous election, in hopes of getting an overall majority. The campaign was not wanted by the opposition parties. Technically, and exceptionally, the outgoing Dáil was not dissolved until after the election. Although the Constitution requires the President to dissolve the Dáil before a general election, this procedure was overridden by the General Elections (Emergency Provisions) Act 1943.^[1][2][3] The act, which would have been unconstitutional if not for the state of emergency in effect during the Second World War, was intended to increase national security by minimising the interval during which no Dáil is in existence.^[2] The election was called on 9 May but the Dáil met as scheduled on 10 May, where an adjournment debate was held in which the opposition TDs condemned the decision to hold an election in wartime as unnecessary and reckless.^[3]

Fianna Fáil fought the election on its record in government and also in the hope of securing a fresh mandate for its policies. During the campaign Fine Gael put forward the proposal of forming a coalition government with the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan, however, this was ridiculed by Fianna Fáil as untenable. A split in the Labour movement meant that the party was by no means ready to fight an election, and the results showed this.

Due to the fractured nature of the opposition, Éamon de Valera's tactic of calling a snap general election had succeeded, as it had in 1933 and 1938.

Result

12th Irish general election – 30 May 1944^[4][5][6][7]

Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Éamon de Valera	76	+9	55.1	595,259	48.9	+7.0
	Fine Gael	Richard Mulcahy	30	–2	21.8	249,329	20.5	–2.6
	Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	9	–1	6.5	122,745	10.1	+0.3
	Labour Party	William Norton	8	–9	5.8	106,767	8.8	–6.9
	National Labour Party	James Everett	4	New	2.9	32,732	2.7	–
	Monetary Reform Party	Oliver J. Flanagan	1	0	0.7	9,856	0.8	+0.5
	Ailtirí na hAiséirghe		0	0	0	5,809	0.5	+0.3
	Independent	N/A	10	0	7.2	94,852	7.8	–0.9
Spoilt votes						12,790	—	—
Total			138	0	100	1,230,139	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,816,142	69.2%	—

• Fianna Fáil majority government formed.

Voting summary

First preference vote Fianna Fáil   48.9% Fine Gael   20.5% Clann na Talmhan   10.1% Labour   8.8% National Labour   2.7% Monetary Reform   0.8% Ailtirí na hAiséirghe   0.5% Independent   7.8%

Seats summary

Dáil seats Fianna Fáil   55.1% Fine Gael   21.8% Clann na Talmhan   6.5% Labour   5.8% National Labour   2.9% Monetary Reform   0.7% Independent   7.2%

First time TDs

• Thomas Brennan


• Harry Colley


• Eamonn Coogan


• Walter Furlong


• Michael Lydon


• Patrick McAuliffe


• John S. O'Connor


• Mary Ryan


• 
  Patrick Shanahan (December 1945 by-election)

Re-elected TDs

• John A. Costello


• Frank Loughman


• Peter O'Loghlen


• Eamonn O'Neill


• Laurence Walsh


• 
  Richard Walsh (Regained seat)

Outgoing TDs

• 
  Ernest Benson (Lost seat)


• 
  W. T. Cosgrave (Retired)


• 
  John Esmonde (Lost seat)


• 
  Timothy Linehan (Lost seat)


• 
  Jeremiah Ryan (Retired)


• 
  Richard Stapleton (Lost seat)

See also

• Members of the 12th Dáil


• Government of the 12th Dáil


• Parliamentary Secretaries of the 12th Dáil

References

1. 
   ^
   "Constitution of Ireland". Irish Statute Book. Article 16.3. Retrieved 27 March 2018. ;
   "General Elections (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1943". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 27 March 2018. 
   


2. 
   ^ ^ab Committee on Finance (10th Dáil) (14 April 1943). "General Elections (Emergency Provisions) Bill, 1943—Second Stage". Dáil Éireann debates. Oireachtas. Retrieved 27 March 2018. 
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab de Valera, Éamon (10 May 1944). "Adjournment of the Dáil". Vol.93 No.15 p.3 c.2497–2498. Retrieved 27 March 2018. I did not ask for a dissolution of the Dáil. This Dáil would not have been meeting to-day if there had been a dissolution. .... I did not ask for a dissolution, because we passed an Act last year to enable the Dáil, during this critical period, to be brought together at any time that there was need for doing so, so that the Executive at any time would have to assemble the Dáil in case there was any national issue that demanded its assembly. ... when the Dáil adjourns now it will not meet again unless there is some national issue which makes it necessary to call the Dáil together. 
   


4. 
   ^ "12th Dáil 1944 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 2 May 2009. 
   


5. 
   ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 2 May 2009. 
   


6. 
   ^ Manning (1972) notes that the Clann na Talmhan figure is often listed in error, due to the inclusion of Independent Farmer TDs in the CnaT total.
   


7. 
   ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1009-1017 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
   

Sources

• Manning, Maurice, 1972. Irish Political Parties: An Introduction. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-0536-6
  

v t e Elections and referendums in the Republic of Ireland
General elections	1918 1921 1922 1923 1927 (Jun) 1927 (Sep) 1932 1933 1937 1938 1943 1944 1948 1951 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1982 (Feb) 1982 (Nov) 1987 1989 1992 1997 2002 2007 2011 2016 next By-elections
Seanad elections	1925
Presidential elections	1938 1945 1952 1959 1966 1973 1974 1976 1983 1990 1997 2004 2011 2018
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Local elections	1920 1925 1928 1934 1942 1945 1950 1955 1960 1967 1974 1979 1985 1991 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Referendums	1937 1959 1968 1972 (May) 1972 (Dec) 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1992 (Jun) 1992 (Nov) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 (Mar) 2002 (Oct) 2004 2008 2009 2011 2012 (May) 2012 (Nov) 2013 2015 2018 (May) 2018 (Oct)
See also: Elections in the Kingdom of Ireland Elections in Ireland as part of the UK

Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP