The 2020 election of the Ceann Comhairle took place on 20 February 2020 at the commencement of the 33rd Dáil. It was the second election to be performed by

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

Ceann Comhairle election

Rules

Under the rules for the election of the

Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...

, introduced during the 31st Dáil, candidates must be nominated by at least seven other members of

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 ...

. Each member may nominate only one candidate. Nominations must be submitted to the

Clerk of the Dáil The clerk, chief clerk, or secretary of a legislative chamber is the senior administrative officer responsible for ensuring that its business runs smoothly. This may encompass keeping custody of documents Laying before the house, lain before the h ...

by not later than 6 p.m. on the day before the first day the Dáil meets after the general election in order to be valid, which for the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

was 19 February 2020. Nominations may be withdrawn at any time up to the close of nominations. More than one candidate was nominated, so the Dáil voted by secret ballot in order of preference after the candidates' speeches, which may not exceed five minutes, with an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

required for victory. If no candidate won a majority on first preferences, the individual with the fewest votes would be eliminated and their votes redistributed in accordance with their next highest preference, under the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system. Eliminations and redistributions would continue until one member received the requisite absolute majority. Then, the House voted on a formal motion to appoint the member in question to the position of Ceann Comhairle. The Clerk of the Dáil was the presiding officer of the House during the election process.

Candidates

The Ceann Comhairle of the 32nd Dáil, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, stood for re-election to the position. The only other candidate was

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 ...

Denis Naughten Denis Naughten (born 23 June 1973) is an Irish Independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Roscommon–Galway constituency since 2016, and previously from 2007 to 2016 for the Roscommon–South Leitrim constituency and fro ...

. Independent TD Michael McNamara wrote to members seeking their support for his nomination but did put his name forward.

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

decided not to nominate a candidate.

Result

Leas-Cheann Comhairle election

Elections for the Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Chairperson) were set for 26 March 2020 but deferred due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The election eventually took place on the 23 July 2020. Fergus O'Dowd was seen as the front runner in this election, as he was the Government's nominee. However, some government TDs either voted in favour of Catherine Connolly or abstained. Catherine Connolly was elected by 77 votes to 74.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceann Comhairle Election, 2020 2020 elections in the Republic of Ireland 2020 in Irish politics Ceann Comhairle elections, 2020 Elections postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic 33rd Dáil