2011 Irish General Election

The 2011 Irish general election took place on Friday 25 February to elect 166 Teachtaí Dála across 43 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Ireland's parliament, the Oireachtas. The Dáil was dissolved and the general election called by President Mary McAleese on 1 February, at the request of Taoiseach Brian Cowen. The 31st Dáil met on 9 March 2011 to nominate a Taoiseach and ratify the new ministers of the 29th Government of Ireland.

Cowen had previously announced on 20 January that the election would be held on 11 March, and that after the 2011 budget had been passed he would seek a dissolution of the 30th Dáil by the President. However, the Green Party, the junior party in coalition government with Cowen's Fianna Fáil, withdrew from government on 23 January, stating that it would support only a truncated finance bill from the opposition benches, in order to force an earlier election. On 24 January, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan Jnr reached an agreement with the opposition in Dáil Éireann to complete all stages of passing the finance bill in both houses of the Oireachtas by 29 January—following which the Dáil was to be dissolved immediately. Constitutionally, following a Dáil dissolution, an election must be held within 30 days.

Following the collapse of the coalition, the then minority governing party, Fianna Fáil, sought to minimise its losses following historically low poll ratings in the wake of the Irish financial crisis. Fine Gael sought to gain a dominant position in Irish politics after poor results in the 2000s, and to replace Fianna Fáil for the first time as the largest party in Dáil Éireann. The Labour Party hoped to make gains from both sides, and was widely expected to become the second-largest party and to enter into coalition government with Fine Gael; its highest ambition at the start of the campaign, buoyed by record poll ratings in preceding months, was to become the leading partner in government for the first time in the party's 99-year history. The Green Party, having been in coalition with Fianna Fáil during the Government of the 30th Dáil, faced stiff competition for its votes and was expected to lose at least four of its six seats. Sinn Féin was expected to make gains, encouraged by a by-election victory in November 2010 and by opinion polls which placed it ahead of Fianna Fáil. Some other left-wing groups, including People Before Profit, Workers and Unemployed Action and the Socialist Party, contested the general election under a joint banner, the United Left Alliance.

Fianna Fáil was swept from power in the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state in 1922. The party lost more than half of its first-preference vote from 2007, and garnered only 20 seats. It was the third-largest party in the 31st Dáil; this was the first election since that of September 1927 out of which it did not emerge the largest party in the chamber. ''The Irish Times'', Ireland's newspaper of record, described Fianna Fáil's meltdown as "defeat on a historic scale." Fine Gael won 76 seats, becoming the largest party in the Dáil for the first time in its 78-year history, while the Labour Party became the second-largest party, with 37 seats; Sinn Féin also increased its number of seats. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny became Taoiseach, in a coalition with Labour.

Background

Following the bailout of Irish banks and the deteriorating level of state debt that led to the Irish financial crisis, the Irish government agreed to a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund amid fears of a wider Eurozone crisis. The European Financial Stability Facility then offered the government a multibillion-euro deal for its new debt burden.

The notion of such a move was widely condemned in Ireland, with ''The Irish Times'' criticising Fianna Fáil that despite its "primary aims othe commitment 'to maintain the status of Ireland as a sovereign State'... The Republican Party's ideals are in tatters now."

Following the acceptance of the deal on 21 November 2010, the Green Party leader John Gormley called for the Taoiseach to fix a date for a general election in the second half of January 2011; however, he added that the party would support the coalition for the "coming weeks and months". The Labour Party and Fine Gael called for an immediate election in order to seek "political certainty." On 22 November 2010, Taoiseach Brian Cowen indicated that the election would take place in early 2011 after the 2011 budgetary process (a prerequisite to the bailout) had been completed. There were fears that calling the election could trigger another credit downgrade.

On 16 January Cowen announced his decision to stay on as Taoiseach and to lead Fianna Fáil into the general election. On 18 January he called for and won a vote of confidence within the party (which had been precipitated by revelations of two previously undisclosed meetings with Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick) with a majority of the 71 Fianna Fáil deputies supporting him. Despite saying he would offer Cowen "full support", Foreign Minister Micheál Martin resigned. However, following criticism within his party after his failed attempt to carry out a reshuffle of Fianna Fáil ministers, Cowen announced his resignation as leader of the party on 22 January. He confirmed he would remain as Taoiseach until after the election.

The key dates were:

Electoral system

Ireland uses proportional representation with a single transferable vote, also known as PR–STV. The general election took place in 43 parliamentary constituencies throughout the state for 165 of the 166 seats in the Dáil, with the final seat taken by the outgoing Ceann Comhairle (chairman), returned automatically. Each multi-member constituency returns three, four or five Teachtaí Dála (Dáil deputies).

The closing date for nominations was 9 February 2011. A total of 566 candidates contested the election, nearly 100 more than the 2007 general election. The number of candidates per party was: Fine Gael (104), Fianna Fáil (75), Labour Party (68), Green Party (43), Sinn Féin (41), and Independents and smaller parties (233). The latter figure includes 20 candidates affiliated to the United Left Alliance, 20 independents who ran under the New Vision label, eight Christian Solidarity Party candidates, six Workers' Party and five Fís Nua candidates. Voting took place between 07:00 and 22:00 ( WET).

Date

Section 7 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927 requires that the Dáil be dissolved within five years after its first meeting following the previous election (14 June 2007). Article 16.3.2 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that a general election for members of Dáil Éireann must take place not later than thirty days after the dissolution. The next general election had to, therefore, take place no later than 14 July 2012.

The current statutory framework for the setting of a date for polling day in the general election was set out in the Electoral Act 1992, as amended. Section 96 of the Electoral Act 1992 requires that the poll is held, not earlier than the seventeenth day or later than the twenty-fifth day, following the day on which the Dáil is formally dissolved by the President. The writs for the election are issued by the Clerk of the Dáil on the day the Dáil is dissolved.

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin said the general election was likely to take place in mid-March 2011. Batt O'Keeffe, the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, hinted that the election might take place on 25 March. On 19 January the Green Party indicated that they expected the budgetary process to be completed by the end of February, and that the election should be held no later than the end of March. Brian Cowen attempted a reshuffle of his party's ministers on 20 January 2011. However, following the resignation of six cabinet ministers, it became clear that the Green Party would not allow him to fill the vacancies. He subsequently announced that the election for the 31st Dáil would take place on 11 March. Motions of no confidence in the outgoing government were tabled by Fine Gael for 25 January and by the Labour Party for 26 January; both parties said they would be willing to give the government time to expedite the Finance Act in return for bringing forward the election date. Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said it could be moved by "a week or two at most". Cowen resigned as Fianna Fáil leader on 22 January, and the Green Party withdrew from government the next day, but promised to support the Finance Act.

On 28 January it was announced that Cowen intended to ask McAleese to dissolve the Dáil on 1 February. Cowen formally asked for a Dáil dissolution on 1 February, after the finance bill cleared parliament. In accordance with Irish constitutional practice (no Irish president has ever refused such a request), McAleese granted the dissolution.

As usual, certain offshore islands voted earlier than the rest of the country. Voters on Arranmore, Clare Island, Gola, Inishbiggle, Inishbofin ( Donegal), Inishfree, Inishturk and Tory Island

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