1973 Irish general election

Election to the 20th Dáil

1973 Irish general election

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| <- 1969 | 28 February 1973 | 1977 ->

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<- outgoing members

elected members ->

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144 seats in Dáil Éireann[a]
73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 76.6%  0.3pp
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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|
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Leader  | Jack Lynch | Liam Cosgrave | Brendan Corish
Party  | Fianna Fáil | Fine Gael | Labour
Leader since  | 9 November 1966 | 21 April 1965  | 2 March 1960
Leader's seat  | Cork City North-West | Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | Wexford
Last election  | 75 seats, 45.7%  | 50 seats, 34.1%  | 18 seats, 17.0%
Seats before  | 74  | 51  | 17
Seats won  | 69[a] | 54  | 19
Seat change  | 6  | 3  | 2
Percentage  | 46.2% | 35.1%  | 13.7%
Swing  | 0.5%  | 1.0%  | 3.3%

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Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.

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| Taoiseach before election

Jack Lynch
Fianna Fáil

| Taoiseach after election

Liam Cosgrave
Fine Gael

|

The 1973 Irish general election to the 20th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 28 February 1973, following the dissolution of the 19th Dáil on 5 February by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election took place in 42 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.

The 20th Dáil met at Leinster House on 4 March to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Liam Cosgrave was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 14th Government of Ireland, a coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

## Campaign[edit]

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By the time the general election was called in 1973, Fianna Fáil had been in office since March 1957, just under sixteen years. During that time the party had seen three different leaders: Éamon de Valera, Seán Lemass, and since 1966, Jack Lynch. Lynch had hoped to dissolve the Dáil in December 1972; however, events did not permit this, and the election was eventually called for February 1973.

While Fine Gael and the Labour Party had pursued individual opposition policies since 1957, they agreed to a pre-election pact to fight the election together on the issues that united them. The National Coalition, as it was known, offered the electorate the first credible alternative government in many years.

While Fianna Fáil increased its percentage of the vote, it lost seats. A transfer pact between the National Coalition parties in the single transferable vote system enabled a change of government to take place.

In an interview with Brian Farrell on RTÉ, Jack Lynch became the first Taoiseach to concede defeat live on Irish television. Although the full result was not yet known, Lynch was certain that the transfers between candidates would result in Fianna Fáil losing the general election.

## Legal challenge[edit]

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, approved in a referendum in December 1972 and signed into law in January 1973, had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18.[3][4] However, the electoral register would not be updated until 15 April, five weeks after the election date.[3][5] A 20-year-old student, represented by Seán MacBride, sought an injunction from the High Court postponing the election to vindicate his right to vote.[3] He lost his case, although he was awarded his costs due to its "public importance".[3]

## Result[edit]

Election to the 20th Dáil - 28 February 1973[6][7][8][9]

Party  | Leader  | Seats  | ±  | % of
seats  | First pref.
votes  | % FPv  | ±%
| Fianna Fáil | Jack Lynch | 69[a] | –6  | 47.9  | 624,528  | 46.2  | +1.5
| Fine Gael | Liam Cosgrave | 54  | +4  | 37.5  | 473,781  | 35.1  | +1.0
| Labour | Brendan Corish | 19  | +1  | 13.2  | 184,656  | 13.7  | –3.3
| Official Sinn Féin | Tomás Mac Giolla | 0  | New  | 0  | 15,366  | 1.1  | –
| Aontacht Éireann | Kevin Boland | 0  | New  | 0  | 12,321  | 0.9  | –
| Communist |  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 466  | 0.0  | –
| Independent | N/A | 2  | +1  | 1.4  | 39,419  | 2.9  | –0.3
Spoilt votes  | 15,937  | —  | —
Total | 144[a] | 0 | 100 | 1,366,474 | 100 | —
Electorate/Turnout  | 1,783,604  | 76.6%  | —

### Voting summary[edit]

| First preference vote

|  |
Fianna Fáil |

| 46.24%
Fine Gael |

| 35.08%
Labour |

| 13.67%
Sinn Féin (Official) |

| 1.14%
Aontacht Éireann |

| 0.91%
Others |

| 0.03%
Independent |

| 2.92%

### Seats summary[edit]

| Dáil seats

|  |
Fianna Fáil |

| 47.92%
Fine Gael |

| 37.50%
Labour |

| 13.19%
Independent |

| 1.39%

## Government formation[edit]

Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed the 14th Government of Ireland, dubbed the National Coalition, with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach and Brendan Corish as Tánaiste.[10]

## Changes in membership[edit]

### First-time TDs[edit]

* Liam Ahern
* Joseph Bermingham
* Ruairí Brugha
* Ray Burke
* Johnny Callanan
* Seán Calleary
* Brendan Daly
* John Esmonde
* Joseph Farrell
* Denis Gallagher
* Brendan Griffin
* Patrick Hegarty
* John Kelly
* Jimmy Leonard
* Charles McDonald
* Ciarán Murphy
* Fergus O'Brien
* John Ryan
* Myles Staunton
* Seán Walsh
* James White
* John Wilson

### Outgoing TDs[edit]

* Frank Aiken (retired)
* Terence Boylan (lost seat)
* Michael Hilliard (lost seat)
* John O'Donovan (lost seat)
* Mícheál Ó Móráin (lost seat)

## See also[edit]

* 13th Seanad

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Including Cormac Breslin (FF), returned automatically for Donegal–Leitrim as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act 1963.[1][2]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Electoral Act 1963, s. 14: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 19 of 1963, s. 14). Enacted on 12 July 1963. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
2. ^ "20th Dáil 1973: Donegal–Leitrim". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
3. ^ a b c d Ferriter, Diarmaid (2012). Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s. Profile Books. pp. 94–95. ISBN 9781847658562. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
4. ^ Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1972 ([1]). Enacted on 5 January 1973. Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 30 March 2014.
5. ^ Registration of Electors and Juries Acts (Specification of Dates) Regulations 1963, §4(3) (S.I. No. 169 of 1963). Signed on 20 August 1963. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 26 November 2007. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 30 March 2014.
6. ^ "Election results and transfer of votes in general election (February, 1973) for twentieth Dáil and bye-elections to nineteenth Dáil (1969–1973)" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. Dublin Stationery Office. October 1973. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
7. ^ "20th Dáil 1973 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
8. ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
9. ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
10. ^ Oireachtas, Houses of the (14 March 1973). "Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government. – Dáil Éireann (20th Dáil) – Wednesday, 14 Mar 1973 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

## Further reading[edit]

* Gallagher, Michael (2009). Irish Elections 1948–77: Results and Analysis Sources for the Study of Irish Politics 2. Routledge. ISBN 9781138973343.
* Nealon, Ted (1974). Ireland: a parliamentary directory. 1973–74. Institute of Public Administration. ISBN 090217360X.

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