# 1987 Irish general election

The 1987 Irish general election to the 25th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 17 February, four weeks after the dissolution of the 24th Dáil on 20 January by President Patrick Hillery, on the request of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. A continuing crisis over public finance and a rejection of the budget had led to the Labour Party withdrawing from the Fine Gael–led coalition government. The general election took place in 41 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. There were minor amendments to constituency boundaries under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1983.
The 25th Dáil met at Leinster House on 10 March to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Charles Haughey was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 20th government of Ireland, a minority single-party Fianna Fáil government.

## Campaign

The 1987 general election 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 attempt to press on with the government's agenda, the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, Garret FitzGerald, sought a dissolution of the Dáil. An unusually long period of four weeks was set for the campaign.
Fianna Fáil's campaign involved a refusal to make any definite commitments; however, it attempted to convince the electorate that the country would be better under Fianna Fáil. Charles Haughey's attitudes toward Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish Agreement were both attacked. However, the campaign was mostly fought on economic issues.
The Labour Party decided against any pre-election pact, particularly with Fine Gael. The Progressive Democrats (PD), founded only two years earlier, surpassed Labour as the third-biggest political party in the Dáil. Although the majority of the PD party consisted of Fianna Fáil defectors, it mainly took seats from Fine Gael.

## Results

Election to the 25th Dáil – 17 February 1987 :
| Party | Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats | First pref. votes | % FPv | ±% |
| | Fianna Fáil | Charles Haughey | 81 | 6 | 48.8 | 784,547 | 44.1 | 1.1 |
| | Fine Gael | Garret FitzGerald | 51 | 19 | 30.1 | 481,127 | 27.1 | 12.1 |
| | Progressive Democrats | Desmond O'Malley | 14 | 14 | 8.4 | 210,583 | 11.8 | – |
| | Labour | Dick Spring | 12 | 4 | 7.2 | 114,551 | 6.4 | 3.0 |
| | Workers' Party | Tomás Mac Giolla | 4 | 2 | 2.4 | 67,273 | 3.8 | 0.5 |
| | Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 0 | New | 0 | 32,933 | 1.9 | – |
| | Democratic Socialist | Jim Kemmy | 1 | 1 | 0.6 | 7,424 | 0.4 | 0 |
| | Green | None | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,159 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| | Communist | Eugene McCartan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 725 | 0.0 | 0 |
| | Independent | N/A | 3 | 1 | 1.8 | 70,843 | 4.0 | 1.7 |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 16,241 | — | — |
| Total | Total | Total | 166 | 0 | 100 | 1,793,406 | 100 | — |
| Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | 2,445,515 | 73.3% | — |

### Notes

* Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (7,720 votes, 1 seat) and the Tax Reform League (3,832 votes).
* Changes in numbers of seats for each party are shown relative to the previous election in November 1982.
Although opinion polls had suggested otherwise, Fianna Fáil once again failed to win an overall majority. The Progressive Democrats did exceptionally well in their first general election, becoming the third-biggest party in the Dáil. Fine Gael lost many seats, mostly to the PDs. The Labour Party fell to its lowest share of the vote since 1933, but managed to salvage 12 seats, more than expected, including that of its leader Dick Spring, who saved his seat by just four votes.

### Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
44.15%
Fine Gael
27.07%
Progressive Democrats
11.85%
Labour
6.45%
Workers'
3.79%
Sinn Féin
1.85%
Others
0.86%
Independent
3.99% :

### Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil
48.80%
Fine Gael
30.72%
Progressive Democrats
8.43%
Labour
7.23%
Workers'
2.41%
Democratic Socialist
0.60%
Independent
1.81% :

## Government formation

Fianna Fáil formed the 20th government of Ireland, a minority government, with Charles Haughey returning as Taoiseach. Haughey was nominated as Taoiseach with the votes of his own party, the support of Independent Fianna Fáil TD Neil Blaney and the abstention of Independent TD Tony Gregory. That left him with just half of votes cast. Ceann Comhairle Seán Treacy exercised his casting vote in favour of the nomination of Haughey. The Fianna Fáil government of 1987 to 1989 was the last time to date that a government composed only of members of one party has been formed in Ireland.

## Dáil membership changes

The following changes took place at the election:
* 17 outgoing TDs retired
* 1 vacant seat at election time
* 147 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (also Tom Fitzpatrick, the outgoing Ceann Comhairle, who was automatically returned)
** 127 of those were re-elected
** 20 failed to be re-elected
* 38 successor TDs were elected
** 32 were elected for the first time
** 6 had previously been TDs
* There were 6 successor female TDs, with the total remaining unchanged at 14
* There were changes in 32 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.
| Constituency | Departing TD | Party | Party | Change | Comment | Successor TD | Party | Party |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | Dick Dowling | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Martin Gibbons | | Progressive Democrats |
| Cavan–Monaghan | John Conlan | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Andrew Boylan | | Fine Gael |
| Clare | Sylvester Barrett | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | De Valera – former TD | Síle de Valera | | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork East | Myra Barry | | Fine Gael | Retired | Sherlock – former TD | Joe Sherlock | | Workers' Party |
| Cork North-Central | Toddy O'Sullivan | | Labour Party | Moved | O'Sullivan moved to Cork South-Central | Máirín Quill | | Progressive Democrats |
| Cork North-West | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Cork South-Central | Gene Fitzgerald | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | John Dennehy | | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork South-Central | Hugh Coveney | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Batt O'Keeffe | | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork South-Central | Eileen Desmond | | Labour Party | Retired | O'Sullivan moved from Cork North-Central | Toddy O'Sullivan | | Labour Party |
| Cork South-West | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Donegal North-East | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Donegal South-West | Cathal Coughlan | | Fianna Fáil | Vacant | | Mary Coughlan | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin Central | Tom Leonard | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Dermot Fitzpatrick | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin Central | Alice Glenn | | Independent | Lost seat | Glenn was elected as an FG TD in 1982 | John Stafford | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North | Nora Owen | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | G. V. Wright | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North-Central | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Dublin North-East | Maurice Manning | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Pat McCartan | | Workers' Party |
| Dublin North-West | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Dublin South | Nuala Fennell | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Anne Colley | | Progressive Democrats |
| Dublin South | Niall Andrews | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Tom Kitt | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-Central | John O'Connell | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Mary Mooney | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-East | Joe Doyle | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Michael McDowell | | Progressive Democrats |
| Dublin South-West | Michael O'Leary | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Chris Flood | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin West | Liam Skelly | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Patrick O'Malley | | Progressive Democrats |
| Dublin West | Eileen Lemass | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | Lawlor – former TD | Liam Lawlor | | Fianna Fáil |
| Dún Laoghaire | Liam T. Cosgrave | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Geraldine Kennedy | | Progressive Democrats |
| Galway East | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Galway West | Fintan Coogan Jnr | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Higgins – former TD | Michael D. Higgins | | Labour Party |
| Kerry North | Tom McEllistrim | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Jimmy Deenihan | | Fine Gael |
| Kerry South | Michael Moynihan | | Labour Party | Lost seat | | John O'Donoghue | | Fianna Fáil |
| Kildare | Joseph Bermingham | | Labour Party | Retired | | Emmet Stagg | | Labour Party |
| Laois–Offaly | Oliver J. Flanagan | | Fine Gael | Retired | Son of outgoing TD | Charles Flanagan | | Fine Gael |
| Limerick East | Tom O'Donnell | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | Clohessy – former TD | Peadar Clohessy | | Progressive Democrats |
| Limerick East | Frank Prendergast | | Labour Party | Lost seat | Kemmy – former TD | Jim Kemmy | | Democratic Socialist Party |
| Limerick West | William O'Brien | | Fine Gael | Retired | | John McCoy | | Progressive Democrats |
| Longford–Westmeath | Gerry L'Estrange | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Henry Abbott | | Fianna Fáil |
| Louth | Pádraig Faulkner | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Dermot Ahern | | Fianna Fáil |
| Mayo East | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Mayo West | Paddy O'Toole | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Jim Higgins | | Fine Gael |
| Meath | Jim Fitzsimons | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Noel Dempsey | | Fianna Fáil |
| Roscommon | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes | No membership changes |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Joe McCartin | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | John Ellis | | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary North | David Molony | | Fine Gael | Retired | | Michael Lowry | | Fine Gael |
| 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 | Edward Collins | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Martin Cullen | | Progressive Democrats |
| Waterford | Donal Ormonde | | Fianna Fáil | Lost seat | | Brian Swift | | Fianna Fáil |
| Wexford | Michael D'Arcy | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Brendan Howlin | | Labour Party |
| Wicklow | Godfrey Timmins | | Fine Gael | Lost seat | | Joe Jacob | | Fianna Fáil |
| Wicklow | Paudge Brennan | | Fianna Fáil | Retired | | Dick Roche | | Fianna Fáil |

## Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 18th Seanad.