The 1954 Irish general election was held on Tuesday, 18 May to elect the

15th Dáil 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

. The newly-elected members assembled 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 2 June when the new

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 ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

were appointed. The general election took place in 40 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in the lower house of parliament,

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 ...

Campaign

The general election of 1954 was caused by the loss of an overall majority for the ruling

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- ...

party in the Dáil. Rather than be voted down on a vote in the Dáil,

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 ...

decided to call a general election and let the people decide. Fianna Fáil had the most to lose, their campaign concentrated on providing political stability for the next five years. They also put forward strong arguments against coalition governments. However, this would not suffice when the country's economy was worsening and unemployment and emigration were increasing. On the other hand, the opposition parties of

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 � ...

, the Labour Party and the other minor parties offered the electorate an alternative to three years of Fianna Fáil rule.

Result

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

, the Labour Party and

Clann na Talmhan Clann na Talmhan (, "Family/Children of the land"; formally known as the ''National Agricultural Party'') was an Irish agrarian political party active between 1939 and 1965. Formation and growth Clann na Talmhan was founded on 29 June 1939 in ...

formed the

Second Inter-Party Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

, a minority government, dependent on the support of

Clann na Poblachta Clann na Poblachta (; "Family/Children of the Republic") was an Irish republican political party founded in 1946 by Seán MacBride, a former Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army. Foundation Clann na Poblachta was officially launched o ...

Changes in membership

First time TDs

Paudge Brennan Patrick Brennan (18 February 1922 – 10 June 1998) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who sat for 25 years as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency, and was briefly a Senator. Brennan first stood for election to Dáil Éireann ...

* James Burke * Johnny Connor *

Fintan Coogan Snr Fintan Coogan (13 April 1910 – 4 November 1984) was an Irish Fine Gael politician. A blacksmith before entering politics, he was a Teachta Dála (TD) for over twenty years, and served three times as Mayor of Galway. Coogan unsuccessfully conte ...

* Edward Cotter *

Paddy Donegan Patrick Sarsfield Donegan (29 October 1923 – 26 November 2000) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Fisheries from February 1977 to July 1977, Minister for Lands from 1976 to 1977 and Minister for Defence from 1973 t ...

* Nicholas Egan * Johnny Geoghegan *

Brendan Glynn Brendan M. Glynn (6 January 1910 – 10 July 1986) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and solicitor who served as a Teachta Dála (TD), representing the Galway South constituency in Dáil Éireann. He was educated at Garbally College St. Jo ...

* Richard Gogan * Edward Kelly *

Henry Kenny Henry Frances Kenny (7 September 1913 – 25 September 1975) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from 1973 to 1975. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1954 to 1975. He was the fathe ...

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 ...

* Patrick Lindsay *

Celia Lynch Celia Lynch (; 6 May 1908 – 16 June 1989) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, assistant Government Whip, and Teachta Dála (TD) for 23 years. She also served as a Dublin City Councillor for many years. Her birthplace was Duras House, Kinvar ...

John Moher John W. Moher (7 February 1909 – 10 November 1985) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, auctioneer and farmer who was a member of Dáil Éireann representing the Cork East (Dáil constituency), Cork East constituency. He was the son of Willia ...

Maureen O'Carroll Maureen O'Carroll (; 29 March 1913 – 9 May 1984) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-Central constituency from 1954 to 1957. She led the way with women border guards and ensuring that ...

* John O'Donovan *

Donogh O'Malley Donogh Brendan O'Malley (18 January 1921 – 10 March 1968) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and rugby union player who served as Minister for Education from 1966 to 1968, Minister for Health from 1965 to 1966 and Parliamentary Secretary ...

* James Tully

Outgoing TDs

* Patrick Boland (Retired) * Patrick Browne (Lost seat) * Patrick Cawley (Lost seat) * Peadar Duignan (Retired) * Michael ffrench-O'Carroll (Lost seat) *

Patrick Little Patrick John Little (17 June 1884 – 16 May 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A founder-member of the party, he served in a number of cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Posts and Telegraphs. ...

(Retired) * Patrick Maguire (Retired) * Patrick O'Gorman (Lost seat) *

Matthew O'Reilly Matthew O'Reilly (1 March 1880 – 13 November 1962) was an Irish politician. A farmer, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath constituency at the June 1927 general election. He was re-electe ...

(Lost seat) *

James Reidy James Reidy (1890 – 7 December 1963) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick constituency at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected at the 1933 gener ...

(Lost seat) *

P. J. Ruttledge Patrick Joseph Ruttledge (1 January 1892 – 8 May 1952) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Health (Ireland), Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1939 to 1941, Minister for Justice (Ireland), Ministe ...

(Deceased) * Laurence Walsh (Lost seat)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish General Election, 1954 General election, 1954

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

15th Dáil

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

May 1954 events in Europe 1954 elections in Europe