The November 1982 Irish general election to the 24th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 24 November, three weeks after the dissolution of the 23rd Dáil on 4 November by President Patrick Hillery, on the request of Taoiseach Charles Haughey following a defeat of the government in a motion of confidence. The general election took place in 41 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.

Quick Facts 166 seats in Dáil Éireann 84 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

November 1982 Irish general election

← Feb 1982 24 November 1982 1987 →
← outgoing members elected members →
166 seats in Dáil Éireann[lower-alpha 1] 84 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	72.9% 0.9pp
First party Second party   Leader Charles Haughey Garret FitzGerald Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Leader since 7 December 1979 1977 Leader's seat Dublin North-Central Dublin South-East Last election 81 seats, 47.3% 63 seats, 37.3% Seats won 75 70 Seat change 6 7 Popular vote 763,313 662,284 Percentage 45.2% 39.2% Swing 2.1% 1.9%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Dick Spring Tomás Mac Giolla Party Labour Workers' Party Leader since November 1982 1977 Leader's seat Kerry North Dublin West Last election 15 seats, 9.1% 3 seats, 2.2% Seats won 16 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 158,115 54,888 Percentage 9.4% 3.3% Swing 0.3% 1.0%
Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency. Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency.
Taoiseach before election Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election Garret FitzGerald Fine Gael

Close

The 24th Dáil met at Leinster House on 14 December to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Garret FitzGerald was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 19th Government of Ireland, a coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

The second general election of 1982 took place just nine months after the election in February of the same year. There had never before been three general elections within eighteen months.

The general election was caused by the loss of support of the Independent TD Tony Gregory and the Workers' Party for the Fianna Fáil government. This was due to the government introducing substantial budget cuts, which the left-wing Teachta Dála (TDs) would not support. While economic issues dominated the campaign, the parties were weary of having to fight yet another general election.

Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (7,997 votes, 1 seat).

Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed the 19th Government of Ireland, a majority coalition.

Fine Gael recorded its best election result until 2011, coming within five seats of Fianna Fáil; at other times (such as 1977) Fianna Fáil had been twice as big as Fine Gael. The Labour Party had a new leader with Dick Spring. A programme for government was quickly drawn up and Garret FitzGerald of Fine Gael became Taoiseach for the second time. The poor showing for Fianna Fáil resulted in a leadership challenge to Charles Haughey by his opponents within the party. Haughey won the vote of confidence and remained as leader.

The following changes took place as a result of the election:

• 5 outgoing TDs retired
• 1 vacant seat at election time
• 159 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also John O'Connell, the outgoing Ceann Comhairle who was automatically returned)
  • 138 of those were re-elected
  • 21 failed to be re-elected
• 27 successor TDs were elected
  • 18 were elected for the first time
  • 9 had previously been TDs
• There were 6 successor female TDs, increasing the total by 6 to 14.
• There were changes in 22 of the 41 constituencies contested

Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.

• Government of the 24th Dáil