Everything about Irish General Election 1997 totally explained
The
Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday,
6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected
members of the 28th Dáil assembled on
26 June 1997.
Overview
The 1997 General Election saw the public offered a choice of two possible coalitions. The existing government coalition of
Fine Gael,
Labour and
Democratic Left – the so-called "
Rainbow Coalition". This, in very broad terms could be described as a centre left coalition. It was opposed by a coalition of
Fianna Fáil and the
Progressive Democrats, which most Irish commentators regarded as a centre right coalition.
Following the election none of the major parties had a clear majority. A
Fianna Fáil-
Progressive Democrats coalition was the result of various negotiations. Four Independent
TDs also support the government ensuring an overall majority.
Bertie Ahern became the tenth
Taoiseach while
Mary Harney of the PDs became
Tánaiste.
Fine Gael increased its number of deputies but crossed the Dáil chamber to the Opposition benches.
Dick Spring retired as leader of the
Labour Party and was replaced by
Ruairí Quinn.
Fianna Fáil increased seat numbers, but the
Progressive Democrats had a disastrous election, losing more than half of its seats, including ones thought safe such as
Cork North Central and
Dún Laoghaire, despite no decrease in its vote. The
Green Party picked up an extra seat, with
John Gormley elected in Dublin South East. He was elected by just over 30 votes after a marathon recount lasting 4 days saw Progressive Democrat
Michael McDowell defeated. The main feature of the election, however, was the collapse of the Labour vote-not only did they lose seats they'd picked up in the 1992 election, when their vote was an at all-time high, such as in Clare and Laois-Offaly, but they also lost reasonably safe Labour seats, such as in Dublin North, Dublin Central and Cork South Central.
Result
Seats won
| Party |
Seats |
| 77 |
| 54 |
| 17 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 2 |
| 1 |
| 1 |
| 6 |
| 1 |
Dáil membership changes
The following changes took place as a result of the election. Of the 166 outgoing TDs, 17 retired, including the
Ceann Comhairle. Of the 149 TDs that stood for re-election, 121 were re-elected and 28 failed to be re-elected. Of the 45 successor TDs, 32 were elected for the first time and 13 had previously been TDs. There were 6 successor women TDs, decreasing the total number by 3 to 21.
Outgoing TDs are listed in the constituency they constested in the election. For some, such as
Kildare North, this differs from the constituency they represented in the outgoing Dáil. Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.
Elected in subsequent by-elections
Footnotes
After the election, while Gerry Adams was leader of the Sinn Féin party, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin became leader (indeed, sole member) of the Sinn Féin parliamentary party.Further Information
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