1961 Irish general election

1961 Irish general election

4 October 1961
143 of 144 seats in Dáil Éireann 73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	70.6% 0.7pp
First party Second party Third party   110px 110px 110px Leader Seán Lemass James Dillon Brendan Corish Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Party Leader since 22 June 1959 21 March 1959 2 March 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   CnaT NPD 115px Leader Joseph Blowick Noël Browne Seán MacBride Party Clann na Talmhan National Progressive Democrats Clann na Poblachta Leader since 5 September 1944 23 July 1958 21 January 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%
400px 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 Taoiseach after election Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil

The 1961 Irish general election was held on Wednesday, 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 by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961.

Campaign

At the general election of 1961, each of the three main parties were led by three new leaders: Seán Lemass had taken charge of Fianna Fáil in 1959, making this the first time Fianna Fáil faced a general election campaign without Éamon de Valera (who had become President of Ireland in 1959). James Dillon had taken 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; 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 fought the election on its 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

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	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	–
style="background-color: Template:Independent politicians in Ireland/meta/color; width: 1px;" |	[[Independent politicians in Ireland|Template:Independent politicians in Ireland/meta/shortname]]	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%	—

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil			43.83%
Fine Gael			32.02%
Labour			11.65%
Sinn Féin			3.12%
Clann na Talmhan			1.51%
Clann na Poblachta			1.13%
National Progressive Democrats			0.98%
Others			0.12%
Independent			5.65%

Seats summary

Assembly seats
Fianna Fáil			48.61%
Fine Gael			32.64%
Labour			11.11%
Clann na Talmhan			1.39%
National Progressive Democrats			1.39%
Clann na Poblachta			0.69%
Independent			4.17%

Government

The Members of the 17th Dáil met on 11 October 1961. Fianna Fáil were short of a majority, with 70 of the 144 seats in the Dáil, but were able to form a new single-party government, the 10th Government of Ireland, with the support of Independent TDs.

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

Outgoing TDs

• Batt Donegan (lost seat)
• Patrick Giles (retired)
• Gus Healy (lost seat)
• Denis Larkin (lost seat)
• Frank Loughman (lost seat)
• Peadar Maher (retired)
• Richard Mulcahy (retired)
• James O'Toole (lost seat)
• Oscar Traynor (retired)

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)