Irish general election, 1987

Campaign

The general election of 1987 was precipitated by the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the Fine Gael-led government on 20 January 1987. The reason was a disagreement over budget proposals. Rather than press on with the government's agenda, the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, Garret FitzGerald, decided to dissolve the Dáil. An unusually long period of four weeks was set for the campaign. It was hoped that the electorate would warm to Fine Gael's budget proposals during the campaign.

Fianna Fáil's campaign involved a refusal to make any definite commitments; however they attempted to convince the electorate that the country would be better under Fianna Fáil. Charles Haughey's attitude towards Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish Agreement were both attacked. However, the campaign was mostly fought on economic issues.

The Labour Party decided against any pre-election pact, particularly with Fine Gael. The Progressive Democrats, founded only two years earlier, surpassed the Labour Party as the third-biggest political party in the Dáil. Although the majority of the party consisted of Fianna Fáil defectors, it mainly took seats from Fine Gael.

Results

Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (7,720 votes, 1 seat) and the Tax Reform League (3,832 votes).

Fianna Fáil minority government formed.

Notes: Changes in numbers of seats for each party are shown relative to the previous election in November 1982. ^†During the previous Dáil, 4 Fianna Fáil TDs and 1 Fine Gael TD had joined the Progressive Democrats.

In spite of the opinion polls suggesting otherwise, Fianna Fáil once again failed to win an overall majority. However the party was able to govern as a minority government and Charles Haughey was back for his third and final time as Taoiseach. The Fianna Fáil government of 1987 to 1989 was the last time to date that a government composed of only one party has been formed in Ireland. The new party, the Progressive Democrats (PDs), did exceptionally well on their first outing, becoming the third biggest party in the Dáil. Fine Gael lost many seats, mostly to the PDs. The Labour Party failed to make any impact, with its leader Dick Spring, almost losing his seat.

Dáil membership changes

The following changes took place as a result of the election:

17 outgoing TDs retired

1 vacant seat at election time

147 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also Tom Fitzpatrick, the outgoing Ceann Comhairle who was automatically returned)

127 of those were re-elected

20 failed to be re-elected

38 successor TDs were elected

32 were elected for the first time

6 had previously been TDs

There were 6 successor female TDs, with the total remaining unchanged at 14

There were changes in 32 of the 41 constituencies contested

Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.