Science  People  Locations  Timeline
Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Home > Irish general election, 1977


 

The election for the 21st Dáil was held on June 16, 1977.

1 Results

Party

Leader

Seats

Loss/Gain

Dáil Seats (%)

Fianna Fáil Jack Lynch

84

+ 15

56.8

Fine Gael Liam Cosgrave

43

- 11

29.1

Labour Brendan Corish

17

- 2

11.5

Others

-

4

+ 2

2.7

2 Overview

The 1977 General Election was one of the most significant for Fianna Fáil in all its history. It resulted in the defeat of the ruling National Coalition of Fine Gael and the Labour Party and the victory of Fianna Fáil. Jack Lynch became Taoiseach for the second time while the leaders of Fine Gael and the Labour Party, Liam Cosgrave and Brendan Corish respectively, resigned as leaders of their politicial parties.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party fought the election campaign as a team again. They hoped that their record alone would guarantee re-election, however, this was not the case. However, certain events including the resignation of President Ó Dálaigh in 1976 and the redrawing of constituency boundaries would go against the coalition. Fianna Fáil ran a tightly controlled campaign. They promised big tax cuts and increased public spending. Jack Lynch toured the country in an American-style meet and greet of the electorate.

Many commentators had predicted a return to power for the National Coalition, however, Fianna Fáil returned to government with a twenty-seat Dáil majority. It was and still remains the biggest Dáil majority ever achieved by a single party.

Newly elected deputies: future Taoisigh Bertie Ahern and Albert Reynolds, Charlie McCreevyCharles (Charlie) McCreevy (born September 1949) is a senior Irish politician. He was first elected to Dail Eireann as a Fianna Fail TD in 1977 and held the seat until 2004 when he resigned to become Ireland's European Commissioner. In the intervening yea, Jim MitchellThis article is about the Irish politician. For the San Francisco pornography producer, see: Mitchell brothers . Jim Mitchell ( 19 October 1946 2 December 2002) was a senior Irish politician who served in the cabinets of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (1981-, Martin O'Donoghue, Síle de Valera, Michael Woods, Joe Walsh

Former Cabinet ministers Conor Cruise O'Brien and Justin Keating lost there seats at this election.



Read more »

Non User