# 1954 Irish general election

The 1954 Irish general election to elect the 15th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 18 May, following the dissolution of the 14th Dáil on 24 April by President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general election took place in 40 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.
The 15th Dáil met at Leinster House on 2 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. De Valera failed to secure a majority, and John A. Costello was appointed Taoiseach, forming the second inter-party government, a minority coalition of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan.

## Campaign

After the 1951 general election, Fianna Fáil had formed a minority single-party government. Shortly after the Minister for Finance, Seán McEntee, had delivered the 1954 budget, Éamon de Valera called a general election.
Fianna Fáil had the most to lose, their campaign concentrated on providing political stability for the next five years. They also put forward strong arguments against coalition governments. However, this would not suffice when the country's economy was worsening and unemployment and emigration were increasing.
The opposition parties of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the other minor parties offered the electorate an alternative to three years of Fianna Fáil rule.

## Result

Election to the 15th Dáil – 18 May 1954 :
| Party | Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats | First pref. votes | % FPv | ±% |
| | Fianna Fáil | Éamon de Valera | 65 | –4 | 44.2 | 578,960 | 43.4 | –2.9 |
| | Fine Gael | Richard Mulcahy | 50 | +10 | 34.0 | 427,031 | 32.0 | +6.2 |
| | Labour | William Norton | 19 | +2 | 12.9 | 161,034 | 12.1 | +0.7 |
| | Clann na Talmhan | Joseph Blowick | 5 | –1 | 3.4 | 51,069 | 3.8 | +0.9 |
| | Clann na Poblachta | Seán MacBride | 3 | +1 | 2.0 | 41,249 | 3.1 | –1.0 |
| | Sinn Féin | Margaret Buckley | 0 | New | 0 | 1,990 | 0.1 | – |
| | National Action | | 0 | New | 0 | 1,430 | 0.1 | – |
| | Young Ireland | | 0 | New | 0 | 1,037 | 0.1 | – |
| | Irish Workers' League | Michael O'Riordan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 375 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | Independent | N/A | 5 | –9 | 3.4 | 70,937 | 5.3 | –4.3 |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 12,730 | — | — |
| Total | Total | Total | 147 | 0 | 100 | 1,347,842 | 100 | — |
| Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | 1,763,209 | 76.5% | — |

### Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
43.36%
Fine Gael
31.98%
Labour
12.06%
Clann na Talmhan
3.82%
Clann na Poblachta
3.09%
Others
0.36%
Independent
5.31% :

### Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil
44.22%
Fine Gael
34.01%
Labour
12.93%
Clann na Talmhan
3.40%
Clann na Poblachta
2.04%
Independent
3.40% :

## Government formation

Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan formed the second inter-party government, a minority government, dependent on the support of Clann na Poblachta.

## Changes in membership
### First time TDs

* Paudge Brennan
* James Burke
* Johnny Connor
* Fintan Coogan Snr
* Edward Cotter
* Paddy Donegan
* Nicholas Egan
* Johnny Geoghegan
* Brendan Glynn
* Richard Gogan
* Edward Kelly
* Henry Kenny
* Denis Larkin
* Patrick Lindsay
* Celia Lynch
* John Moher
* Maureen O'Carroll
* John O'Donovan
* Donogh O'Malley
* James Tully

### Retiring TDs

* Patrick Boland
* Peadar Duignan
* Patrick Little
* Patrick Maguire

### Defeated TDs

* Patrick Browne
* Patrick Cawley
* Michael ffrench-O'Carroll
* Patrick O'Gorman
* Matthew O'Reilly
* James Reidy
* Laurence Walsh

## Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 8th Seanad.