The 1961 Irish general election to the

17th Dáil 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...

was held on Wednesday, 4 October, following the

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

of the 16th Dáil on 15 September by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

on the request of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

. The general election took place in 38

Dáil constituencies There are 39 multi-member electoral districts, known as Dáil constituencies, that elect 160 TDs (members of parliament), to Dáil Éireann, Ireland's lower house of the Oireachtas, or parliament, by means of the single transferable vote, ...

throughout Ireland for 144 seats in

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

, the house of representatives of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

, which had been reduced in size by three seats from the previous election by the

Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961 The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961 (No. 19) was a law in Ireland which revised Dáil constituencies. The new constituencies were first used at the 1961 general election to the 17th Dáil held on 4 October 1961. This Act replaced the Electora ...

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

lost its majority but remained the dominant party The 17th Dáil met at

Leinster House Leinster House ( ga, Teach Laighean) is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, ...

on 11 October to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new

government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

. Lemass was re-appointed Taoiseach, forming the

10th Government of Ireland 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

, a single-party minority

government.

Campaign

At the general election of 1961, the three main parties were led by new leaders:

had taken charge of

in 1959, making this the first time Fianna Fáil faced a general election campaign without

(who had become

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

in 1959). James Dillon had taken over at

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

in 1959 also, while the Labour Party was now under the leadership of

Brendan Corish Brendan Corish (19 November 1918 – 17 February 1990) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Minister for Health from 1973 to 1977, Leader of the Labour Party, Minister for Social Welfare from 1954 to 1957 and from ...

. Lemass announced the date of the election on 8 September, with the dissolution to take place a week later on 15 September. It was the shortest period between the dissolution and the election permitted in law. While the election was caused by the "crisis" surrounding Ireland's application for membership of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

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 Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

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 contested by the

National Progressive Democrats The National Progressive Democrats was a small socialist political party in the Republic of Ireland, active between 1958 and 1963. The party was founded as a left-wing progressive secular party. Its founders were Noël Browne (former Ministe ...

led by

Noël Browne Noël Christopher Browne (20 December 1915 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish politician who served as Minister for Health from 1948 to 1951 and Leader of the National Progressive Democrats from 1958 to 1963. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1 ...

Result

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

The

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

, with the support of

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

TDs.

Changes in membership

First-time TDs

Lorcan Allen Lorcan Allen (born 27 March 1940) is an Irish farmer and former Fianna Fáil politician. Allen was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Wexford constituency at the 1961 general election. Aged 21 years and 6 months at the tim ...

Mark Clinton Mark A. Clinton (7 February 1915 – 23 December 2001) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Agriculture from 1973 to 1977. He served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Leinster constituency from 1979 to 1 ...

George Colley George Colley (18 October 1925 – 17 September 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1977 to 1981, Minister for Energy from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1979 to 1980, Minister for ...

* Patrick Connor *

Paddy Harte Patrick Harte (26 July 1931 – 8 January 2018) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served for 36 years as Teachta Dála (TD) for Donegal North-East. Early life and family He was born in 1931 in Lifford, County Donegal. His son, Jimmy Hart ...

* Brian Lenihan *

Tom O'Donnell Thomas G. O'Donnell (30 August 1926 – 8 October 2020) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Minister for the Gaeltacht from 1973 to 1977. He served as a Teachta Dá ...

Séamus Pattison Séamus Pattison (19 April 1936 – 4 February 2018) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2002 to 2007, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1997 to 2002, Minister of State for So ...

Eugene Timmons Eugene Timmons (died 13 May 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He attended St. Joseph's Secondary C.B.S. in Fairview. An office worker, Timmons was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin ...

Seán Treacy Seán Allis Treacy ( ga, Seán Ó Treasaigh; 14 February 1895 – 14 October 1920) was one of the leaders of the Third Tipperary Brigade of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. He was one of a small group whose actions initiated th ...

Re-elected TDs

* Seán Collins

Outgoing TDs

* Batt Donegan (lost seat) *

Patrick Giles Patrick Giles (1899 – 13 March 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician. He was born in 1899 on a family farm outside Longwood village in County Meath. During the Irish War of Independence he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood ...

(retired) *

Gus Healy Augustine A. Healy (20 May 1904 – 10 July 1987) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A dental laboratory proprietor, Healy was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the 195 ...

(lost seat) *

Denis Larkin Denis Larkin (1908 – 2 July 1987) was an Irish Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician and trade union official. He was the son of Dublin trade union leader, James Larkin. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta ...

(lost seat) *

Frank Loughman Francis Loughman (1892 – 13 May 1972) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) and Senator from the 1930s to the 1960s. A pharmaceutical chemist before entering politics, Loughman was first elected to Dáil É ...

(lost seat) *

Peadar Maher Peadar Maher (1 February 1924 – 31 January 2012) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éir ...

(retired) *

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, ...

(retired) * James O'Toole (lost seat) *

Oscar Traynor Oscar Traynor (21 March 1886 – 14 December 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and republican who served as Minister for Justice from 1957 to 1961, Minister for Defence from 1939 to 1948 and 1951 to 1954, Minister for Posts and Telegra ...

(retired)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish General Election, 1961 1961 elections in Europe General election, 1961 1961 in Irish politics

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

17th Dáil October 1961 events in Europe