# 1944 Irish general election

The 1944 Irish general election to the 12th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 30 May, having been called on 9 May by President Douglas Hyde on the advice of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. The general election took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies for 138 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. Fianna Fáil won an overall majority. The outgoing 11th Dáil was dissolved on 7 June.
The 12th Dáil met at Leinster House on 9 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach. Outgoing Taoiseach Éamon de Valera was re-appointed leading a single-party Fianna Fáil government.

## Calling the election

The outgoing Fianna Fáil government, formed on 1 July 1943, was a minority government. On 9 July 1944, it suffered a defeat for the second reading of its Transport Bill. Taoiseach Éamon de Valera sought a snap election, just one year after the previous election, in hopes of getting an overall majority.
It was the second election called under the General Elections (Emergency Provisions) Act 1943. The Act, intended to increase national security by minimising the interval during which no Dáil is in existence, subvented the requirement under the Constitution for the president to dissolve the Dáil before a general election took place, and was permitted under the state of emergency in effect during the Second World War. The election was called on 9 May but the Dáil met as scheduled on the following day, when an adjournment debate was held in which the opposition TDs condemned the decision to hold an election in wartime as unnecessary and reckless. The 11th Dáil was dissolved on 7 June 1944.

## Campaign

The campaign was not wanted by the opposition parties. Fianna Fáil fought the election on its record in government and also in the hope of securing a fresh mandate for its policies. During the campaign Fine Gael put forward the proposal of forming a coalition government with the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan; however, this was ridiculed by Fianna Fáil as untenable. National Labour had split from Labour in January 1944.
Due to the fractured nature of the opposition, Éamon de Valera's tactic of calling a snap general election succeeded, with Fianna Fáil increasing its share of seats, as it had in the previous snap elections of 1933 and 1938.

## Result

Election to the 12th Dáil – 30 May 1944 :
| Party | Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats | First pref. votes | % FPv | ±% |
| | Fianna Fáil | Éamon de Valera | 76 | +9 | 55.1 | 595,259 | 48.9 | +7.0 |
| | Fine Gael | Richard Mulcahy | 30 | –2 | 21.8 | 249,329 | 20.5 | –2.6 |
| | Clann na Talmhan | Joseph Blowick | 9 | –1 | 6.5 | 122,745 | 10.1 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | William Norton | 8 | –9 | 5.8 | 106,767 | 8.8 | –6.9 |
| | National Labour Party | James Everett | 4 | New | 2.9 | 32,732 | 2.7 | – |
| | Monetary Reform | Oliver J. Flanagan | 1 | 0 | 0.7 | 9,856 | 0.8 | +0.5 |
| | Ailtirí na hAiséirghe | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,809 | 0.5 | +0.3 |
| | Independent | N/A | 10 | 0 | 7.2 | 94,852 | 7.8 | –0.9 |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 12,790 | — | — |
| Total | Total | Total | 138 | 0 | 100 | 1,230,139 | 100 | — |
| Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | Electorate/Turnout | 1,816,142 | 69.2% | — |

### Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
48.9%
Fine Gael
20.5%
Clann na Talmhan
10.1%
Labour
8.8%
National Labour
2.7%
Monetary Reform
0.8%
Ailtirí na hAiséirghe
0.5%
Independent
7.8% :

### Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil
55.1%
Fine Gael
21.8%
Clann na Talmhan
6.5%
Labour
5.8%
National Labour
2.9%
Monetary Reform
0.7%
Independent
7.2% :

## Government formation

Fianna Fáil formed the 4th government of Ireland, a majority government.

## Changes in membership
### First-time TDs

* Thomas Brennan
* Harry Colley
* Eamonn Coogan
* Walter Furlong
* Michael Lydon
* Patrick McAuliffe
* John S. O'Connor
* Mary Ryan

### Re-elected TDs

* John A. Costello
* Frank Loughman
* Peter O'Loghlen
* Eamonn O'Neill
* Laurence Walsh
* Richard Walsh (regained seat)

### Outgoing TDs

* Ernest Benson
* Sir John Esmonde, Bt
* James Larkin
* Timothy Linehan
* Richard Stapleton

### Retiring TDs

* Jeremiah Ryan
* W. T. Cosgrave

## Seanad election

The election was followed by an election to the 5th Seanad.