# 2002 Irish general election

The 2002 Irish general election to the 29th Dáil was held on Friday, 17 May, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday, 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The general election took place in 42 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, with a revision of constituencies since the last election under the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1998. The outgoing minority Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrat administration was returned with a majority of 10.
The 29th Dáil met at Leinster House on Thursday, 6 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Bertie Ahern was re-appointed Taoiseach, forming the 26th government of Ireland, a majority coalition government of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats.

## Overview

The general election was significant for a number of reasons:
* The election was considered a success for Fianna Fáil, with the party coming within a handful of seats from achieving an overall majority (the nearest the country came to a single-party government since 1987) and winning the most first-preference votes in every single Dáil constituency. The only high-profile loss was cabinet minister Mary O'Rourke losing her seat in Westmeath.
* The re-election of the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats government, the first occasion since 1969 that an Irish government won re-election.
* The meltdown in Fine Gael support, which saw the main opposition party drop from 54 to 31 seats, and lose all but three seats in Dublin.
* The failure of the Labour Party, contrary to all expectations, to increase its seat total. Later in the year, Ruairi Quinn stepped down as leader of the Labour Party. He was replaced by Pat Rabbitte, who was one of four Democratic Left TDs who joined in a merger with Labour in 1999. The most high-profile loss for the party was the defeat of former leader Dick Spring in Kerry.
* The success of the Green Party, which increased its TDs from two to six, including its first Teachta Dála (TD) outside of Dublin.
* The electoral success of Sinn Féin, which increased its seat number from one to five.
* The election of a large number of independent candidates.
* Contrary to what opinion polls and political pundits were predicting, the Progressive Democrats kept all of their seats, and picked up four more.
* It was the first time electronic voting machines were used in an Irish election. They were used in three constituencies: Dublin North, Dublin West and Meath. They would not be used again at a general election.

## Fine Gael

The most noticeable feature of the election was the collapse in Fine Gael's vote. It suffered its second worst electoral result ever (after the 1948 general election), with several prominent members failing to get re-elected, including:
* Alan Dukes – former party leader
* Jim Mitchell – deputy leader
* Nora Owen – former deputy leader and former Minister for Justice
* Austin Currie – former presidential candidate
* Jim Higgins – former Chief Whip
* Alan Shatter – front bench member
* Deirdre Clune – front bench member
* Michael Creed – front bench member
* Frances Fitzgerald – front bench member
The party's losses were especially pronounced in Dublin, where just three TDs (Richard Bruton, Gay Mitchell and Olivia Mitchell) were returned, fewer than Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Progressive Democrats or the Greens. The reasons for the drop in support for Fine Gael are many and varied:
* There was an element of bad luck in some losses, and the proportion of seats they lost (42.6%) was much greater than the proportion of votes (25.2%).
* In 2002, the Irish economy was booming, unemployment was low, and the outgoing government was a stable one that had lasted its full term.
* No other opposition party, noticeably Labour, would agree to a pre-election pact with Fine Gael, sensing the unpopularity of the party. This meant that no-one felt that Fine Gael would be able to lead a government after the election. In contrast, the two parties of the outgoing government fought the election on a united front.
* The Fine Gael party was poorly organised in Dublin, and morale was low.
* The political landscape had changed in Ireland since Fine Gael's heyday in the 1980s. The Progressive Democrats and the Green Party in particular ate into Fine Gael's middle class support, and anti-Fianna Fáil voters had a much wider range of parties to choose from. All 4 of the extra seats won by the Green Party were at the expense of Fine Gael, as were 3 out of 4 of the Progressive Democrats' gains.
* Toward the end of the campaign, Michael McDowell warned that because Fianna Fáil were so high in the opinion polls, they could form a government by themselves. This led to a significant shift to the Progressive Democrats at the last minute, and many Fine Gael voters voted strategically for the Progressive Democrats to avoid a single-party Fianna Fáil government.
In the immediate aftermath of the election, Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan announced his resignation from the leadership and Enda Kenny was chosen as the new leader in the subsequent election.

## Results

| Party | Fianna Fáil | Fine Gael | Labour Party | Sinn Féin | Progressive Democrats | Green Party | Socialist Party |
| Leader | Bertie Ahern | Michael Noonan | Ruairi Quinn | Gerry Adams | Mary Harney | Trevor Sargent | Joe Higgins |
| Votes | 41.5%, 770,748 | 22.5%, 417,619 | 10.8%, 200,130 | 6.5%, 121,020 | 4.0%, 73,628 | 3.8%, 71,470 | 0.8%, 14,896 |
| Seats | 81 (48.8%) | 31 (18.7%) | 20 (12.7%) | 5 (3.0%) | 8 (4.8%) | 6 (3.6%) | 1 (0.6%) |
| 81 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Fianna Fáil | PDs | Inds | Fine Gael | Labour Party | Green Party | Sinn Féin | |
Vote Share of different parties in the election.
Election to the 29th Dáil – 17 May 2002 :
| Party | Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats | First pref. votes | % FPv | ±% |
| | Fianna Fáil | Bertie Ahern | 81 | 8 | 48.8 | 770,748 | 41.5 | 2.2 |
| | Fine Gael | Michael Noonan | 31 | 23 | 18.7 | 417,619 | 22.5 | 5.4 |
| | Labour | Ruairi Quinn | 21 | 4 | 12.7 | 200,130 | 10.8 | 2.1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 5 | 4 | 3.0 | 121,020 | 6.5 | 4.0 |
| | Progressive Democrats | Mary Harney | 8 | 4 | 4.8 | 73,628 | 4.0 | 0.7 |
| | Green | Trevor Sargent | 6 | 4 | 3.6 | 71,470 | 3.8 | 1.0 |
| | Socialist Party | Joe Higgins | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | 14,896 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| | Christian Solidarity | | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4,741 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| | Workers' Party | Seán Garland | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4,012 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| | Socialist Workers | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3,333 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| | Independent | N/A | 13 | 7 | 7.8 | 176,305 | 9.5 | 2.6 |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 20,707 | — | — |
| Total | Total | Total | 166 | 0 | 100 | 1,878,609 | 100 | — |
| Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | 3,002,173 | 62.6 | — |
Independents include Independent Health Alliance candidates (12,296 votes, 1 seat) and Independent Fianna Fáil (6,124 votes, 1 seat).

### Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
41.48%
Fine Gael
22.48%
Labour
10.77%
Sinn Féin
6.51%
Progressive Democrats
3.96%
Green
3.85%
Socialist
0.80%
Others
0.65%
Independent
9.49% :

### Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil
48.80%
Fine Gael
18.67%
Labour
12.05%
Progressive Democrats
4.82%
Green
3.85%
Sinn Féin
3.61%
Socialist
0.60%
Independent
7.83% :

## Government formation

Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats formed the 26th government of Ireland, a majority coalition government. As of 2022 it is the only coalition government in Irish politics to have been returned after a general election.

## Dáil membership changes

The following changes took place as a result of the election:
* 22 outgoing TDs retired
* 143 TDs stood for re-election (plus the Ceann Comhairle, Séamus Pattison who was automatically returned)
** 110 of those were re-elected
** 33 failed to be re-elected
* 55 successor TDs were elected
** 47 were elected for the first time
** 8 had previously been TDs
* There were 7 successor female TDs, replacing 6 outgoing, increasing the total number by 1 to 22
* There were changes in 38 of 42 constituencies contested
Outgoing TDs are listed in the constituency they contested in the election. For some, such as Marian McGennis, this differs from the constituency they represented in the outgoing Dáil. Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.
| Constituency | Departing TD | Party | Party | Change | Comment | Successor TD | Party | Party |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | John Browne | | Fine Gael | Retired | Nolan – Former TD | M. J. Nolan | | Fianna Fáil |
| Cavan–Monaghan | Andrew Boylan | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Paudge Connolly | | Independent |
| Clare | Brendan Daly | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | James Breen | | Independent |
| Clare | Donal Carey | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Pat Breen | | Fine Gael |
| Cork East | Paul Bradford | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Sherlock – Former TD | Joe Sherlock | | Labour Party |
| Cork North-Central | Liam Burke | | Fine Gael | Retired | Lynch – Former TD | Kathleen Lynch | | Labour Party |
| Cork North-West | Michael Creed | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Gerard Murphy | | Fine Gael |
| Cork South-Central | Deirdre Clune | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Dan Boyle | | Green Party |
| Cork South-West | P. J. Sheehan | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Denis O'Donovan | | Fianna Fáil |
| Donegal North-East | Harry Blaney | | Ind. Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Niall Blaney | | Ind. Fianna Fáil |
| Donegal South-West | Tom Gildea | | Independent | Retired | Gallagher – Former TD | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin Central | Jim Mitchell | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Mitchell – FG Deputy Leader. Fitzpatrick – Former TD | Dermot Fitzpatrick | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin Central | | | | | Former TD (took McGennis' seat) | Joe Costello | | Labour Party |
| Dublin Mid-West | Austin Currie | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Currie – Former Presidential candidate | Paul Gogarty | | Green Party |
| Dublin Mid-West | New constituency, new seat | New constituency, new seat | New constituency, new seat | New constituency, new seat | | John Curran | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North | Nora Owen | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Owen – Former Minister for Justice | Jim Glennon | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North-Central | Derek McDowell | | Labour Party | Lost seat | | Finian McGrath | | Independent Health Alliance |
| Dublin North-East | Michael Joe Cosgrave | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 |
| Dublin North-West | Proinsias De Rossa | | Labour Party | Retired | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 | Seats reduced from 4 to 3 |
| Dublin South | Alan Shatter | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Shatter – Fine Gael Front Bench member | Eamon Ryan | | Green Party |
| Dublin South-Central | Ben Briscoe | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Michael Mulcahy | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-Central | Marian McGennis | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | McGennis prev held Dublin Central | Aengus Ó Snodaigh | | Sinn Féin |
| Dublin South-East | Frances Fitzgerald | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | McDowell – Former TD | Michael McDowell | | Progressive Democrats |
| Dublin South-West | Brian Hayes | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Seán Crowe | | Sinn Féin |
| Dublin South-West | Chris Flood | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Charlie O'Connor | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin West | Liam Lawlor | | Independent | Retired | Burton – Former TD | Joan Burton | | Labour Party |
| Dún Laoghaire | David Andrews | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Barry Andrews | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dún Laoghaire | Seán Barrett | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Fiona O'Malley | | Progressive Democrats |
| Dún Laoghaire | Monica Barnes | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Ciarán Cuffe | | Green Party |
| Galway East | Michael P. Kitt | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Joe Callanan | | Fianna Fáil |
| Galway East | Ulick Burke | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Paddy McHugh | | Independent |
| Galway West | Bobby Molloy | | Progressive Democrats | Retired | | Noel Grealish | | Progressive Democrats |
| Kerry North | Denis Foley | | Independent | Retired | | Tom McEllistrim | | Fianna Fáil |
| Kerry North | Dick Spring | | Labour Party | Lost seat | Spring – Former Leader of the Labour Party | Martin Ferris | | Sinn Féin |
| Kerry South | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Kildare North | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Kildare South | Alan Dukes | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Dukes – Former Leader of Fine Gael | Seán Ó Fearghaíl | | Fianna Fáil |
| Laois–Offaly | Tom Enright | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Olwyn Enright | | Fine Gael |
| Laois–Offaly | Charles Flanagan | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Tom Parlon | | Progressive Democrats |
| Limerick East | Desmond O'Malley | | Progressive Democrats | Retired | Former leader of the Progressive Democrats | Tim O'Malley | | Progressive Democrats |
| Limerick East | Eddie Wade | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Peter Power | | Fianna Fáil |
| Limerick West | Michael Finucane | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | John Cregan | | Fianna Fáil |
| Longford–Roscommon | Seán Doherty | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Michael Finneran | | Fianna Fáil |
| Longford–Roscommon | Louis Belton | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Mae Sexton | | Progressive Democrats |
| Longford–Roscommon | Albert Reynolds | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | Reynolds – Former Taoiseach | Peter Kelly | | Fianna Fáil |
| Louth | Brendan McGahon | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Fergus O'Dowd | | Fine Gael |
| Louth | Michael Bell | | Labour Party | Lost seat | | Arthur Morgan | | Sinn Féin |
| Mayo | Jim Higgins | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Higgins – Former Chief Whip | Jerry Cowley | | Independent |
| Mayo | Tom Moffatt | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | John Carty | | Fianna Fáil |
| Meath | John V. Farrelly | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Damien English | | Fine Gael |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Matt Brennan | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Jimmy Devins | | Fianna Fáil |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Gerry Reynolds | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Marian Harkin | | Independent |
| Tipperary North | Michael O'Kennedy | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Máire Hoctor | | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary South | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Waterford | Austin Deasy | | Fine Gael | Retired | | John Deasy | | Fine Gael |
| Waterford | Brendan Kenneally | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Ollie Wilkinson | | Fianna Fáil |
| Westmeath | Mary O'Rourke | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Donie Cassidy | | Fianna Fáil |
| Wexford | Hugh Byrne | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Tony Dempsey | | Fianna Fáil |
| Wexford | Michael D'Arcy | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Liam Twomey | | Independent |
| Wexford | Ivan Yates | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Paul Kehoe | | Fine Gael |
| Wicklow | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
The cross-party seat transfers are summarized thus:
Election to the 28th Dáil – seats won/lost by party, 1997–2002 :
| Party | Party | 1997 | 27th Dáil | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | Gain from (loss to) | 2002 |
| Party | Party | 1997 | 27th Dáil | FF | FF | FG | FG | Lab | Lab | SF | SF | PD | PD | Grn | Grn | Soc | Soc | Ind | Ind | | 2002 |
| | Fianna Fáil | 77 | (3) | | | 7 | | | | | (1) | | | | | | | 2 | (1) | 81 |
| | Fine Gael | 54 | – | | (7) | | | | (2) | | (1) | | (4) | | (4) | | | | (5) | 31 |
| | Labour Party | 21 | – | | | 2 | | | | | (2) | | | | | | | 1 | (1) | 21 |
| | Sinn Féin | 1 | – | 1 | | 1 | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 |
| | Progressive Democrats | 4 | – | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 |
| | Green Party | 2 | – | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 |
| | Socialist Party | 1 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 |
| | Independents | 6 | 3 | 1 | (2) | 5 | | 1 | (1) | | | | | | | | | | | 13 |
| Total | Total | 166 | – | 2 | (9) | 23 | – | 3 | (3) | – | (4) | – | (4) | – | (4) | – | – | 3 | (7) | 166 |

## Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by the election to the 22nd Seanad.

## Footnotes

* 1 2 Including Séamus Pattison (Lab), returned automatically for Carlow–Kilkenny as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act 1992.
* 1 2 Democratic Left, which won 4 seats in 1997, merged with the Labour Party in 1999.
* ↑ Adams sat as the abstentionist MP for Belfast West in the UK Parliament; Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (TD for Cavan–Monaghan) was leader of the party in the Dáil.