‹ Nov 1982 · members  members · 1989 › |
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| Irish general election, 1987 | ||||
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| 165 of 166 seats in Dáil Éireann | ||||
| 17 February 1987 | ||||
| First party | Second party | Third party | ||
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| Leader | Charles Haughey | Garret FitzGerald | Desmond O'Malley | |
| Party | Fianna Fáil | Fine Gael | Progressive Democrats | |
| Leader since | 1979 | 1977 | 1985 | |
| Leader's seat | Dublin North Central | Dublin South East | Limerick East | |
| Last election | 75 seats, 45.2% | 70 seats, 39.2% | N/A | |
| Seats won | 81 | 50 | 14 | |
| Seat change | +6 | –20 | +14 | |
| Popular vote | 784,547 | 481,127 | 210,583 | |
| Percentage | 44.2% | 27.1% | 11.9% | |
| Swing | –1.0% | –12.1% | N/A | |
| Fourth party | Fifth party | Sixth party | ||
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| Leader | Dick Spring | Tomás Mac Giolla | Jim Kemmy | |
| Party | Labour Party | Workers' Party | Democratic Socialist Party | |
| Leader since | 1982 | 1977 | 1982 | |
| Leader's seat | Kerry North | Dublin West | Limerick East | |
| Last election | 16 seats, 9.4% | 2 seats, 3.3% | N/A | |
| Seats won | 12 | 4 | 1 | |
| Seat change | –4 | +2 | +1 | |
| Popular vote | 114,551 | |||
| Percentage | 6.5% | 3.8% | 0.4% | |
| Swing | –2.9% | +0.5% | N/A | |
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Previous Taoiseach Subsequent Taoiseach |
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The Irish general election of 1987 was held on 17 February 1987, four weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 20 January. The newly-elected 166 members of the 25th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 10 March when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed.
The general election took place in 41 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann.
Contents |
The general election of 1987 was precipitated by the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the Fine Gael led government on 20 January 1987. The reason was a disagreement over budget proposals. Rather than press on with the government's agenda the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, Garret FitzGerald, decided to dissolve the Dáil. An unusually long period of four weeks was set for the campaign. It was hoped that the electorate would warm to Fine Gael's budget proposals during the campaign.
Fianna Fáil's campaign involved the refusal to make any definite commitments, however, they attempted to convince the electorate that the country would be better under Fianna Fáil. Charles Haughey's attitude towards Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish Agreement were all attacked. However, the campaign was more or less fought on economic issues.
The Labour Party decided against any pre-election pact before the election, particularly with Fine Gael. The Progressive Democrats, founded only two years before, surpassed the Labour Party as the third biggest political party in the Dáil. Although the majority of the party consisted of Fianna Fáil defectors, it also took seats from Fine Gael.
| Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats | First Pref votes | % FPv | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | Charles Haughey | 81 | +6† | 48.8 | 784,547 | 44.2 | –1.0 | |
| Fine Gael | Garret FitzGerald | 50 | –20† | 30.1 | 481,127 | 27.1 | –12.1 | |
| Progressive Democrats | Desmond O'Malley | 14 | +14† | 8.4 | 210,583 | 11.9 | New | |
| Labour Party | Dick Spring | 12 | –4 | 7.2 | 114,551 | 6.5 | –2.9 | |
| Workers' Party | Tomás Mac Giolla | 4 | +2 | 2.4 | 3.8 | +0.5 | ||
| Democratic Socialist Party | Jim Kemmy | 1 | +1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | New | ||
| Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 0 | ±0 | 0 | 1.8 | |||
| Green Party | None | 0 | ±0 | 0 | 0.4 | |||
| Independent | N/A | 3 | +1 | 1.8 | 4.0 | +1.1 | ||
| Ceann Comhairle | N/A | 1 | N/A | 0.6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Total | 166 | 0 | 100 | 100 | — | |||
In spite of the opinion polls suggesting otherwise, Fianna Fáil once again failed to win an overall majority. However, the party was able to govern as a minority government and Charles Haughey was back for his third and final time as Taoiseach. The Fianna Fáil government from 1987 until 1989 was the last time a single party formed a government in Ireland. The new party, the Progressive Democrats (PDs), did exceptionally well on their first outing, becoming the third biggest party in the Dáil. Fine Gael lost many seats, mostly to the PDs. The Labour Party failed to make any huge impact, with its leader Dick Spring, almost losing his seat.
A total of 32 TDs were elected for the first time, 5 former TDs were returned
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