Liam Skelly

Dublin West by-election

Richard Burke, the Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, resigned his seat on 30 March 1982 to take up an appointment as Ireland's European Commissioner. Burke's appointment by the Taoiseach Charles Haughey was seen as a political "stroke". The appointment was in the gift of the Taoiseach, and all previous appointments had been from the governing party, but Haughey's government did not have a majority in Dáil Éireann, and could ill-afford to risk losing a seat in the by-election which would result from appointing a Fianna Fáil TD. Burke had been a Commissioner from 1977 to 1981, and had returned to the Dáil at the 1981 general election. However, his conservative approach was out of step with the liberal ethos of Fine Gael leader Garret FitzGerald, who did not offer Burke a cabinet job, and Haughey's offer of a return to the commission was the only promotion in sight. The Dublin West seat was seen as winnable for Fianna Fáil, and Haughey's appointment of Burke raised the prospect of Fianna Fáil gaining a seat rather than losing one.

In selecting a candidate, Fine Gael cast its net outside its own ranks, and chose Skelly, a businessman who had not previously even been a member of a political party. After a closely fought campaign, Skelly won the Dublin West by-election on 25 May 1982. He polled slightly fewer first-preference votes than Fianna Fáil's Eileen Lemass (who had been TD for Dublin West until her defeat at the February 1982 general election), but Skelly won the poll with transfers from other candidates as they were eliminated.

In the Dáil

Skelly held the seat at the November 1982 general election, but found himself increasingly out of step with the direction taken by the government, and eventually resigned the Fine Gael whip. He sat as an independent for the rest of the 24th Dáil, but when he stood as an independent at the 1987 general election he won only 3.35% of the first-preference votes and lost his seat.