1973 Irish general election

1973 Irish general election

28 February 1973
144 seats in Dáil Éireann 73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.6% 0.3pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jack Lynch Liam Cosgrave Brendan Corish Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Leader since 9 November 1966 21 April 1965 2 March 1960 Leader's seat Cork City North-West Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown Wexford Last election 75 seats, 45.7% 50 seats, 34.1% 18 seats, 17.0% Seats won 69 54 19 Seat change 6 4 1 Percentage 46.2% 35.1% 13.7% Swing 0.5% 1.0% 3.3%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election Jack Lynch Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election Liam Cosgrave Fine Gael

The 1973 Irish general election to the 20th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 28 February 1973, following the dissolution of the 19th Dáil on 5 February by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election took place in 42 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.

The 20th Dáil met at Leinster House on 4 March to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Liam Cosgrave was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 14th government of Ireland, a coalition government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

Campaign

By the time the general election was called in 1973, Fianna Fáil had been in office since March 1957, just under sixteen years. During that time the party had seen three different leaders: Éamon de Valera, Seán Lemass, and since 1966, Jack Lynch. Lynch had hoped to dissolve the Dáil in December 1972; however, events did not permit this, and the election was eventually called for February 1973.

While Fine Gael and the Labour Party had pursued individual opposition policies since 1957, they agreed to a pre-election pact to fight the election together on the issues that united them. The National Coalition, as it was known, offered the electorate the first credible alternative government in many years.

While Fianna Fáil increased its percentage of the vote, it lost seats. A transfer pact between the National Coalition parties in the single transferable vote system enabled a change of government to take place.

In an interview with Brian Farrell on RTÉ, Jack Lynch became the first Taoiseach to concede defeat live on Irish television. Although the full result was not yet known, Lynch was certain that the transfers between candidates would result in Fianna Fáil losing the general election.

Challenge on voting age

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, approved in a referendum in December 1972 and signed into law in January 1973, had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18. However, the electoral register would not be updated until 15 April, five weeks after the election date. A 20-year-old student, represented by Seán MacBride, sought an injunction from the High Court postponing the election to vindicate his right to vote. He lost his case, although he was awarded his costs due to its "public importance".

Result

Election to the 20th Dáil – 28 February 1973
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First pref. votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Jack Lynch	69	–6	47.9	624,528	46.2	+1.5
	Fine Gael	Liam Cosgrave	54	+4	37.5	473,781	35.1	+1.0
	Labour	Brendan Corish	19	+1	13.2	184,656	13.7	–3.3
	Official Sinn Féin	Tomás Mac Giolla	0	New	0	15,366	1.1	–
	Aontacht Éireann	Kevin Boland	0	New	0	12,321	0.9	–
	Communist		0	0	0	466	0.0	–
	Independent	N/A	2	+1	1.4	39,419	2.9	–0.3
Spoilt votes						15,937	—	—
Total			144	0	100	1,366,474	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,783,604	76.6%	—

Voting summary

First preference vote Fianna Fáil   46.24% Fine Gael   35.08% Labour   13.67% Sinn Féin (Official)   1.14% Aontacht Éireann   0.91% Others   0.03% Independent   2.92%

Seats summary

Dáil seats Fianna Fáil   47.92% Fine Gael   37.50% Labour   13.19% Independent   1.39%

Government formation

Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed the 14th government of Ireland, dubbed the National Coalition, with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach and Brendan Corish as Tánaiste.

Changes in membership

First-time TDs

• Liam Ahern
• Joseph Bermingham
• Ruairí Brugha
• Ray Burke
• Johnny Callanan
• Seán Calleary
• Brendan Daly
• John Esmonde
• Joseph Farrell
• Denis Gallagher
• Brendan Griffin
• Patrick Hegarty
• John Kelly
• Jimmy Leonard
• Charles McDonald
• Ciarán Murphy
• Fergus O'Brien
• John Ryan
• Myles Staunton
• Seán Walsh
• James White
• John Wilson

Retiring TD

• Frank Aiken

Defeated TDs

• Terence Boylan
• Michael Hilliard
• John O'Donovan
• Mícheál Ó Móráin

Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 13th Seanad.

Further reading

• Gallagher, Michael (2009). Irish Elections 1948–77: Results and Analysis Sources for the Study of Irish Politics 2. Routledge. ISBN 9781138973343.
• Nealon, Ted (1974). Ireland: a parliamentary directory. 1973–74. Institute of Public Administration. ISBN 090217360X.