Irish general election, 1961

Irish general election, 1961

← 1957 4 October 1961 1965 →
← outgoing members TDs elected →
143 of 144 seats in Dáil Éireann 73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	70.6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Seán Lemass James Dillon Brendan Corish Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Party Leader since 22 June 1959 1959 1960 Leader's seat Dublin South-Central Monaghan Wexford Last election 78 seats, 48.3% 40 seats, 26.6% 12 seats, 9.1% Seats before 77 41 11 Seats won 70 47 16 Seat change 7 6 4 Percentage 43.8% 32.0% 11.6% Swing 4.5% 5.4% 2.5%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Joseph Blowick Noël Browne Seán MacBride Party Clann na Talmhan National Progressive Democrats Clann na Poblachta Leader since 1944 1958 1946 Leader's seat Mayo South Dublin South-East N/A Last election 3 seats, 2.4% N/A 1 seat, 1.7% Seats before 3 2 1 Seats won 2 2 1 Seat change 1 0 0 Percentage 1.5% 1.0% 1.1% Swing 0.9% 1.0% 0.6%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil Subsequent Taoiseach Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil

The Irish general election of 1961 was held on 4 October 1961, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 8 September. The newly elected members of the 17th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 11 October when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.

The general election took place in 38 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann which had been reduced in size by three seats from the previous election.

Contents

• 
  1 Campaign
  


• 
  2 Result
  
  • 
    2.1 Voting summary
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Seats summary
    
  
  


• 
  3 First time TDs
  


• 
  4 Re-elected TDs
  


• 
  5 By-elections
  


• 
  6 Outgoing TDs
  


• 
  7 See also
  


• 
  8 References
  

Campaign

The general election of 1961 saw the three main parties being led by three new leaders. Seán Lemass had taken charge of Fianna Fáil in 1959. It was also the first time Fianna Fáil faced a general election campaign without Éamon de Valera. James Dillon took over at Fine Gael in 1959 also, while the Labour Party was now under the leadership of Brendan Corish.

While the election was caused by the "crisis" surrounding Ireland's application for membership of the European Economic Community and various other international affairs, little attention was paid to these matters during the campaign. While the 1961 general election has become known as the dullest campaign on record, with the most important issue being the teaching of the Irish language in schools. Fianna Fáil were fighting the election on their record in government and a reforming theme, Fine Gael presented itself as the party of free enterprise. The Labour Party campaigned strongly against the "conservative" Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties. It also favoured major expansion in the public sector. It was the first and only general election for the new National Progressive Democrats party led by Noël Browne.

Result

17th Irish general election – 4 October 1961^[1][2][3]

Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Lemass	70	–8	48.6	512,073	43.8	–4.5
	Fine Gael	James Dillon	47	+7	32.6	374,099	32.0	+5.4
	Labour Party	Brendan Corish	16	+4	11.1	136,111	11.6	+2.5
	Sinn Féin	Paddy McLogan	0	–4	0	36,396	3.1	–2.2
	Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	2	–1	1.4	17,693	1.5	–0.9
	Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride[4]	1	0	0.7	13,170	1.1	–0.6
	National Progressive Democrats	Noël Browne	2	New	1.4	11,490	1.0	–
	Christian Democratic Party		0	New	0	1,132	0.1	–
	Irish Workers' League	Michael O'Riordan	0	New	0	277	0.0	–
	Independent	N/A	6	–3	4.2	65,963	5.6	–0.3
Spoilt votes						11,334	—	—
Total			144	–3	100	1,179,738	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,670,860	70.6%	—

• Fianna Fáil minority government formed.

The opposition parties gained ground on Fianna Fáil, while Sinn Féin failed to defend the four seats it had won in the previous election.

Voting summary

First preference vote Fianna Fáil   43.8% Fine Gael   32.0% Labour   9.1% Sinn Féin   3.1% Clann na Talmhan   1.5% Clann na Poblachta   1.1% National Progressive Democrats   1.0% Others   0.1% Independent   5.6%

Seats summary

Assembly seats Fianna Fáil   48.6% Fine Gael   32.6% Labour   11.1% Clann na Talmhan   1.4% National Progressive Democrats   1.4% Clann na Poblachta   0.7% Independent   4.2%

First time TDs

• Lorcan Allen


• Mark Clinton


• George Colley


• Patrick Connor


• Paddy Harte


• Brian Lenihan


• Tom O'Donnell


• Séamus Pattison


• Eugene Timmons


• Seán Treacy

Re-elected TDs

• Seán Collins

By-elections

• 
  Paddy Belton (May 1963)


• 
  Terence Boylan (February 1964)


• 
  Sheila Galvin (February 1964)


• 
  Joan Burke (July 1964)


• 
  John Donnellan (December 1964)


• 
  Eileen Desmond (March 1965)

Outgoing TDs

• 
  Batt Donegan (Lost seat)


• 
  Patrick Giles (Retired)


• 
  Gus Healy (Lost seat)


• 
  Denis Larkin (Lost seat)


• 
  Frank Loughman (Lost seat)


• 
  Peadar Maher (Retired)


• 
  James O'Toole (Lost seat)


• 
  Oscar Traynor (Retired)

See also

• Members of the 17th Dáil


• Government of the 17th Dáil


• Parliamentary Secretaries of the 17th Dáil

References

1. 
   ^ "17th Dáil 1961 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 30 May 2009. 
   


2. 
   ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 30 May 2009. 
   


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


4. 
   ^ After the election, while Seán MacBride was leader of Clann na Poblachta, Joseph Barron became leader and the sole member of the parliamentary party.
   

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