1948 Irish general election

Election to the 13th Dáil July 2021 December 2019 1948 Irish general election Ireland parliamentary no 1944 Irish general election 1944 4 February 1948 1951 Irish general election 1951 147 seats in Dáil ÉireannCC Including Frank Fahy (FF), returned automatically for Galway South as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral (Chairman of Dáil Éireann) Act 1937, as adapted by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947.1937 25 Electoral (Chairman of Dáil Éireann) Act 1937 1 November 1937 3 Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle1947 31 Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 27 November 1947 5 Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle13th Dáil 1948: Galway South https://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1948&cons=128 ElectionsIreland.org 9 July 2022 74 74.2% 5.0 pp 12th Dáil 13th Dáil De Valera, 1939 (cropped).jpg 144 120 160 0 8 Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil 26 March 1926 Clare 76 seats, 48.9% 68 8 553,914 41.9% 7.0 pp Richard_Mulcahy,_1948_(cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Richard Mulcahy 1944 Fine Gael Tipperary South 30 seats, 20.5% 31 1 262,393 19.8% 0.7 pp William Norton, circa 1945 (cropped).png 120 120 160 0 0 William Norton 1932 Labour Party (Ireland) Kildare 8 seats, 8.8% 14 6 115,073 8.7% 0.1 pp Sean MacBride, 1940s (cropped).jpg 130 120 160 0 10 Seán MacBride 1946 Clann na Poblachta Dublin South-West New party 10 10 174,823 13.2% 13.2 pp Joseph Blowick, 1950 (cropped).jpg 130 120 160 0 10 Joseph Blowick 1944 Clann na Talmhan Mayo South 9 seats, 10.1% 7 2 73,813 5.6% 4.5 pp James Everett, 1949.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 James Everett 1944 National Labour Party (Ireland) Wicklow 4 seats, 2.7% 5 1 34,015 2.6% 0.1 pp 400px Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency 400px Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency Taoiseach Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election John A. Costello Fine Gael The 1948 Irish general election to the 13th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 4 February following the dissolution of the 12th Dáil on 12 January 1948 by the President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general election took place in 40 constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. A revision of Dáil constituencies under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 had increased the number of seats by 9 since the previous election. The election resulted in Fianna Fáil leaving government for the first time in 16 years and the formation of the first coalition government in Ireland. The constituency of Carlow–Kilkenny voted on 8 February after the death during the campaign of Fine Gael candidate Eamonn Coogan TD. Another Fine Gael deputy in the same constituency, James Hughes, had died shortly before the dissolution. The 13th Dáil met at Leinster House on 18 February to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach. John A. Costello was appointed leading the first inter-party government, a five-party minority coalition. This election was the last one before Ireland's withdrawal from the British Commonwealth and the declaration of the Republic of Ireland, which came into effect on 18 April 1949 under The Republic of Ireland Act 1948. Campaign left 150 Fianna Fáil election posters from the campaign. Fianna Fáil Election Poster 1948 (Workers!).jpg Fianna Fáil 1948 Election Poster (Skipper).jpg The general election of 1948 was called by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, in the hope of stopping the rise of a new party, Clann na Poblachta. In 1947 the rapid rise of Clann na Poblachta threatened the position of Fianna Fáil. The government of Éamon de Valera introduced the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 which increased the size of the Dáil from 138 to 147 and increased the number of three-seat constituencies from fifteen to twenty-two. The result was described by historian Tim Pat Coogan as "a blatant attempt at gerrymander which no Six County Unionist could have bettered."Coogan Tim Pat De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow Hutchinson London 1993 637 0-09-175030-X registration https://archive.org/details/devaleralongfell00coog/page/637 Other issues were raised on the campaign that the parties had not foreseen. Fianna Fáil had enjoyed an uninterrupted sixteen years of dominance in government. Many people believed that the party had become stale and there was a strong desire for change. Although World War II had ended three years earlier, rationing continued, and massive inflation plagued the economy. A prolonged teachers' strike during the lifetime of the previous Dáil damaged the government due to its inability to settle the dispute. Bad weather added to the woes of the farmers, and poor harvests resulted in anger at the ballot box. Allegations that de Valera and Seán Lemass were involved in bribery and corruption raised questions about certain public officials. Despite these issues, Fianna Fáil still expected to retain power. This prospect seemed very likely; however, an unlikely coalition was soon to be formed. Result 13th 4 February 1948 http://electionsireland.org/results/general/13dail.cfm 13th Dáil 1948 General Election ElectionsIreland.org 5 May 2009 3 June 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090603181555/http://electionsireland.org/results/general/13dail.cfm livehttp://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/gdala.htm Dáil elections since 1918 ARK Northern Ireland 5 May 2009 27 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201127122828/https://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/gdala.htm liveDieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen Philip Stöver 2010 Elections in Europe: A data handbook 1009–1017 978-3-8329-5609-7 center|360px Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 68CC –8 46.3 553,914 41.9 –7.0 Fine Gael Richard Mulcahy 31 +1 21.1 262,393 19.8 –0.7 Labour Party (Ireland) William Norton 14 +6 9.5 115,073 8.7 –0.1 Clann na Poblachta Seán MacBride 10 New 6.8 174,823 13.2 – Clann na Talmhan Joseph Blowick 7 –2 4.7 73,813 5.6 –4.5 National Labour Party (Ireland) James Everett 5 +1 3.4 34,015 2.6 –0.1 Irish Monetary Reform Association Oliver J. Flanagan 1 0 0.7 14,369 1.1 +0.3 Ailtirí na hAiséirghe 0 0 0 322 0.0 –0.5 Independent politician (Ireland) N/A 11 +1 8.2 94,271 7.2 –0.6 13,185 147 +9 1,336,628 1,800,210 74.2% |} Fianna Fáil dropped 8 seats but remained the largest party. Clann na Poblachta secured ten seats instead of the nineteen they would have received proportional to their vote. The other parties remained roughly the same, with Fine Gael only gaining an extra seat. Voting summary First preference vote #ddd 600px 350px Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil 41.85 Fine Gael Fine Gael 19.83 Clann na Poblachta Clann na Poblachta darkgray 13.21 Labour Labour Party (Ireland) 8.69 Clann na Talmhan Clann na Talmhan 5.58 National Labour National Labour Party (Ireland) 2.57 Monetary Reform Irish Monetary Reform Association 1.08 Ailtirí na hAiséirghe Ailtirí na hAiséirghe 0.02 Independent Independent politician (Ireland) 7.12 Seats summary Dáil seats #ddd 600px 350px Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil 46.26 Fine Gael Fine Gael 21.09 Labour Labour Party (Ireland) 9.52 Clann na Poblachta Clann na Poblachta darkgray 6.80 Clann na Talmhan Clann na Talmhan 4.76 National Labour National Labour Party (Ireland) 3.40 Monetary Reform Irish Monetary Reform Association 0.68 Independent Independent politician (Ireland) 7.48 Government formation April 2022 5th government of Ireland The election left de Valera six seats short of a majority in the 147-seat Dáil. Fianna Fáil had long refused to enter a formal coalition with another party, instead preferring confidence and supply agreements with other parties when it was short of an outright majority. This time, however, de Valera was unable to reach an agreement with National Labour and the Independents to form a government. It seemed unlikely that the other political parties could unite to oust Fianna Fáil. Between them, they only had one seat fewer than Fianna Fáil. If they could get the support of at least seven independents, they would be able to form a government. On paper, such a motley coalition appeared politically unrealistic. However, a shared dislike of Fianna Fáil and de Valera overcame all other difficulties to knock Fianna Fáil from power for the first time in 16 years. As the largest party in the coalition, it was a foregone conclusion that Fine Gael would provide the nominee for Taoiseach. However, republicans such as Seán MacBride refused to serve under Fine Gael leader, Richard Mulcahy, the man who had been the commander of the National Army during the civil war. Since the other parties would have been 17 seats short of a majority (and indeed, would have been 11 seats behind Fianna Fáil) without MacBride, Mulcahy stepped aside in favour of John A. Costello, a relatively unknown politician and former Attorney General. Mulcahy, who remained leader of Fine Gael, became Minister for Education. William Norton, the leader of the Labour Party became Tánaiste and Minister for Social Welfare. On paper, this new coalition government looked weak and seemed unlikely to last. It consisted of a patchwork collection of political parties. There were young and old politicians, republicans and Free Staters, conservatives and socialists. The government's survival depended on a united dislike of Fianna Fáil, the skill of Costello as Taoiseach and the independence of various ministers. The coalition lasted over three years from February 1948 to May 1951. Changes in membership First time TDs 22em Noël Browne James Collins Seán Collins Patrick Crotty Michael Davern Dan Desmond Seán Dunne Mick Fitzpatrick Joseph Hughes Seán Keane Michael F. Kitt Robert Lahiffe Con Lehane Patrick Lehane Jack Lynch Patrick McGrath Jack McQuillan Patrick Maguire Patrick O'Gorman Michael O'Higgins Tom O'Higgins John Ormonde Joseph Roddy Éamon Rooney Michael Sheehan Gerard Sweetman John Tully Thomas Walsh Eugene Gilbride Re-elected TDs Sir John Esmonde, bt James Hickey Retiring TDs William Broderick Frank Daly Peter O'Loghlen Defeated TDs Andrew Fogarty Walter Furlong Frank Loughman John S. O'Connor Patrick Shanahan Leo Skinner Laurence Walsh Seanad election The election was followed by an election to the 6th Seanad. Notes References Category:1948 elections in Europe General election, 1948 1948 Category:Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations Category:13th Dáil Category:February 1948 in Europe General election