The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961 (No. 19) was a law in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

which revised

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, ...

. The new constituencies were first used at the 1961 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 ...

held on 4 October 1961. This Act replaced the

Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 (No. 31) was a law in Ireland which revised Dáil constituencies. The new constituencies were first used for the 13th Dáil, elected at the 1948 general election on 4 February 1948. This Act repealed the El ...

, which had defined constituencies since the 1948 general election. The

Electoral (Amendment) Act 1959 The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1959 (No. 33) was a law in Ireland which sought to revise Dáil constituencies. It was found to be repugnant to the Constitution and never came into effect. It was challenged by John O'Donovan, a Fine Gael senato ...

had been struck out in 1961 by the High Court as being repugnant to the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democra ...

because of excessive

malapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionmen ...

and never came into effect. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961 relied instead on manipulating district size. Where

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- ...

had less than 50% support, four-seat constituencies were used, so that Fianna Fáil would win two of four seats; where it had more than 50% support, three- or five-seat constituencies would give it two of three, or three of five. It also reduced the number of seats in the Dáil by 3 from 147 to 144. Before signing the bill,

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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 ...

convened a meeting of the

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on 14 July to consider the legislation. He then referred it to the

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to consider its constitutionality under Article 26 of the

. It held that the legislation was not repugnant to the constitution, and the president signed the legislation. It was repealed by the

Electoral (Amendment) Act 1969 The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1969 (No. 3) was a law of Ireland which revised Dáil constituencies. It took effect on the dissolution of the 18th Dáil on 22 May 1969 and a general election for the 19th Dáil on the revised constituencies too ...

, which created a new schedule of constituencies first used at the 1969 general election to the

19th Dáil 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

Constituencies

References

{{Constituency Law Ireland Electoral 1961 1961 in Irish law Acts of the Oireachtas of the 1960s

Constituencies

See also

References