Irish general election, 1992
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| Irish general election, 1992 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 165 of 166 seats in Dáil Éireann | ||||
| November 1992 | ||||
| First party | Second party | Third party | ||
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| Leader | Albert Reynolds | John Bruton | Dick Spring | |
| Party | Fianna Fáil | Fine Gael | Labour Party | |
| Leader since | 1991 | 1990 | 1982 | |
| Leader's seat | Longford-Roscommon | Meath | Kerry North | |
| Last election | 78, 46.6% | 55, 29.3% | 15, 9.5% | |
| Seats won | 68 | 45 | 33 | |
| Seat change | -9 | -10 | +18 | |
| Popular vote | 674,600 | 422,100 | 333,100 | |
| Percentage | 39.1% | 24.5% | 19.3% | |
| Swing | -7.5% | -4.8% | +9.8% | |
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Incumbent Taoiseach Taoiseach-elect |
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The Irish general election of 1992 was held on Wednesday, 25 November 1992, almost three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 5 November. A new Taoiseach and government were not appointed until 12 January 1993.
The general election took place in 41 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Republic of Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament).
Contents |
[edit] Campaign
The general election of 1992 was precipitated by the collapse of the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition government. Allegations of dishonesty at the Beef Tribunal forced Desmond O'Malley and his party to part ways with Albert Reynolds's Fianna Fáil. Both Albert Reynolds and John Bruton of Fine Gael were fighting their first general election as leader of their respective parties. For Reynolds it would be his only election as leader. The campaign went very poorly for Fianna Fáil with Reynolds's support dropping by 20%.
Many political pundits had predicted that Fianna Fáil would not be re-elected and that a "Rainbow Coalition" involving Fine Gael, the Labour Party and possibly Democratic Left. John Bruton, the leader of Fine Gael, had problems of his own. Opinion polls showed that if a "Rainbow Coalition" came to power, Dick Spring of the Labour Party was seen as a better potential Taoiseach than Bruton. The possibility of a rotating Taoiseach was also hinted at in the media.
The big winner of the campaign was Dick Spring and the Labour Party. They distanced themselves completely from Fine Gael and fought an independent line. During the campaign Spring made very little comment about what the party would do after the election, however, he did say that if the Labour Party was part of a coalition he would have to be granted a turn as Taoiseach.
The election also saw Moosajee Bhamjee (Labour Party) become the first Muslim Teachta Dála (TD).
[edit] Result
| Party | Party Leader | Seats | First-Preference Votes (in thousands) | |||||||||||||
| 1989 | at dissolution | 1992 | Change | 1989 | 1992 | Change | ||||||||||
| # | % of Dáil | # | % of Dáil | # | % of Dáil | # | % of Dáil | # | % | # | % | % | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Albert Reynolds | 77 | 46.6 | N/A | N/A | 68 | 41.2 | -9 | -5.4 | 731.4 | 44.1 | 674.6 | 39.1 | -5.0 | ||
| Fine Gael | John Bruton | 55 | 33.3 | N/A | N/A | 45 | 27.3 | -10 | -6.0 | 485.3 | 29.3 | 422.1 | 24.5 | -4.8 | ||
| Labour Party | Dick Spring | 15 | 9.1 | N/A | N/A | 33 | 20.0 | +18 | +10.9 | 156.9 | 9.5 | 333.0 | 19.3 | +9.9 | ||
| Progressive Democrats | Desmond O'Malley | 6 | 3.6 | N/A | N/A | 10 | 6.1 | +4 | +2.4 | 91.0 | 5.5 | 80.7 | 4.7 | -0.8 | ||
| Democratic Left | Proinsias De Rossa | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3.6 | 4 | 2.4 | -2 | -1.2 | N/A | N/A | 47.9 | 2.8 | N/A | ||
| Green Party | none | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 | +0 | +0 | 24.8 | 1.5 | 24.1 | 1.4 | -0.1 | ||
| Workers' Party | Tomás Mac Giolla | 7 | 4.2 | 1 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -0.6 | 82.2 | 4.9 | 11.5 | 0.6 | -4.3 | ||
| Other Parties | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -0.6 | 30.1 | 1.8 | 41.8 | 2.4 | +0.6 | |||
| Independent | 3 | 1.8 | N/A | N/A | 4 | 2.4 | +1 | +1.3 | 54.7 | 3.3 | 47.9 | 2.8 | +0.5 | |||
| Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Vacant | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 166 | 100.0 | 166 | 100.0 | 166 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1656.4 | 100.0 | 1683.6 | 100.0 | 0.0 | |||
When the votes were counted the picture was clear. Fianna Fáil had its worst performance since 1927, winning less than 40% of the vote. Fine Gael, in spite of predictions of success, actually lost 10 seats. The Labour Party recorded its best ever result and effectively held the balance of power. As mathematically a "Rainbow Coalition" was out of the question, Spring had to enter into coalition with Fianna Fáil, or force another election. The coalition deal proved very unpopular with many of Labour's supporters, because Dick Spring had campaigned heavily against Fianna Fáil and particularly Albert Reynolds. As a result of the coalition, Albert Reynolds was elected Taoiseach with over 100 votes, the biggest majority by any Taoiseach in modern Irish history.
Following a number of scandals in 1994, particularly over the beef industry, the Labour Party left the coalition and, after negotiations, formed the "Rainbow Coalition" with Fine Gael and Democratic Left on 15 December 1994 as three by-election gains had by now made it possible [1] This was the first and to date, only occasion in Irish political history that a party had left a governing coalition and gone into government with opposition parties without first holding an election.
[edit] Seats won
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | 68 | |
| Fine Gael | 45 | |
| Labour Party | 33 | |
| Progressive Democrats | 10 | |
| Democratic Left | 4 | |
| Green Party | 1 | |
| Independent | 4 | |
| Ceann Comhairle | 1 | |
[edit] Dáil membership changes
The following changes took place as a result of the election:
- 11 outgoing TDs retired.
- 155 TDs stood for re-election.
- 126 of those were re-elected.
- 30 failed to be re-elected.
- 41 successor TDs were elected
- 33 were elected for the first time.
- 8 had previously been TDs.
- There were 10 successor female TDs, increasing the total number by 7.
Outgoing TDs are listed in the constituency they contested in the election. For some, such as John Stafford, 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.
| Constituency | Departing TD | Change | Successor TD | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cavan-Monaghan | John P. Wilson (FF) | Retired | Brendan Smith (FF) | |
| Bill Cotter (FG) | Lost seat | Seymour Crawford (FG) | ||
| Clare | Brendan Daly (FF) | Lost seat | Tony Killeen (FF) | |
| Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) | Lost seat | Moosajee Bhamjee (LAB) | ||
| Cork East | Joe Sherlock (WP) | Lost seat | John Mulvihill (LAB) | |
| Cork North Central | Denis Lyons (FF) | Lost seat | Liam Burke (FG) | Burke – Former TD |
| Cork North West | Laurence Kelly (FF) | Lost seat | Donal Moynihan (FF) | Moynihan – Former TD |
| Cork South Central | John Dennehy (FF) | Lost seat | Batt O'Keeffe (FF) | O'Keeffe – Former TD |
| Pearse Wyse (PD) | Retired | Pat Cox (PD) | ||
| Dublin Central | Dermot Fitzpatrick (FF) | Lost seat | Joe Costello (LAB) | |
| Dublin North | Trevor Sargent (GP) | New seat | ||
| Dublin North Central | Vincent Brady (FF) | Retired | Derek McDowell (LAB) | |
| Charles Haughey (FF) | Retired | Seán Haughey (FF) | ||
| Pat Lee (FG) | Lost seat | Previously represented Dublin Central but due to boundary changes ran in Dublin North Central | ||
| John Stafford (FF) | Lost seat | Previously represented Dublin Central but due to boundary changes ran in Dublin North Central | ||
| Dublin North East | Michael Joe Cosgrave (FG) | Lost seat | Seán Kenny (LAB) | |
| Pat McCartan (DL) | Lost seat | Tommy Broughan (LAB) | ||
| Dublin North West | Michael Barrett (FF) | Retired | Noel Ahern (FF) | |
| Jim Tunney (FF) | Lost seat | Róisín Shortall (LAB) | ||
| Dublin South | Nuala Fennell (FG) | Retired | Eithne FitzGerald (LAB) | |
| Roger Garland (GP) | Lost seat | Liz O'Donnell (PD) | ||
| Dublin South Central | Eric Byrne (DL) | Lost seat | Pat Upton (LAB) | |
| Fergus O'Brien (FG) | Retired | Seats reduced from 5 to 4 | ||
| Dublin South East | Garret FitzGerald (FG) | Retired | Frances Fitzgerald (FG) | |
| Joe Doyle (FG) | Lost seat | Michael McDowell (PD) | McDowell – Former TD | |
| Gerard Brady (FF) | Lost seat | Eoin Ryan (FF) | ||
| Dublin South West | Eamonn Walsh (LAB) | New seat | ||
| Dublin West | Tomás Mac Giolla (WP) | Lost seat | Joan Burton (LAB) | |
| Dún Laoghaire | Monica Barnes (FG) | Lost seat | Helen Keogh (PD) | |
| Brian Hillery (FF) | Lost seat | Niamh Bhreathnach (LAB) | Became a minister on first day | |
| Galway West | Frank Fahey (FF) | Lost seat | Éamon Ó Cuív (FF) | |
| Kerry North | Tom McEllistrim (FF) | Lost seat | Denis Foley (FF) | Foley – Former TD |
| Kerry South | Michael Moynihan (LAB) | Retired | Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (LAB) | |
| Laois-Offaly | Tom Enright (FG) | Lost seat | Pat Gallagher (LAB) | |
| Longford-Roscommon | Louis Belton (FG) | Lost seat | Represented Longford-Westmeath but due to constituency changes was one of 5 outgoing TDs standing in this new 4-seater constituency | |
| Terry Leyden (FF) | Lost seat | Seán Doherty (FF) | Doherty – Former TD | |
| Mayo East | Seán Calleary (FF) | Retired | Tom Moffatt (FF) | |
| Mayo West | Martin O'Toole (FF) | Retired | Séamus Hughes (FF) | |
| Meath | John Farrelly (FG) | Lost seat | Brian Fitzgerald (LAB) | |
| Sligo-Leitrim | Gerry Reynolds (FG) | Lost seat | Declan Bree (LAB) | |
| Westmeath | Willie Penrose (LAB) | Due to boundary changes, only 2 outgoing TDs from Longford-Westmeath moved to this 3 seat constituency | ||
| Wexford | Séamus Cullimore (FF) | Lost seat | Hugh Byrne (FF) | Byrne – Former TD |
| Michael D'Arcy (FG) | Lost seat | Avril Doyle (FG) | Doyle – Former TD | |
| Wicklow | Dick Roche (FF) | Lost seat | Johnny Fox (Ind.) | |
| Liz McManus (DL) | New seat |
[edit] Subsequent By-elections
The following TDs were elected for the first time in subsequent by-elections:
Two other by-elections returned previous TDs:
[edit] See also
- Members of the 27th Dáil
- Government of the 27th Dáil
- Ministers of State of the 27th Dáil
- Members of the 20th Seanad
[edit] References
- ^ Dáil Éireann By Elections 1918–2005 (ElectionsIreland.org)
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