Dáil Éireann

**Dáil Éireann** ( literally _Assembly of Ireland_) is the lower house of the parliament of Ireland. Its members are elected by all Irish citizens of voting age (which is now 18). Members of Dáil Éireann are called _Teachta Dala_ (TD).

### First Dáil

The First Dáil was elected at the British General election of 1918. The Sinn Féin people who were elected did not go to the House of Commons. Instead they stayed in Dublin and set up the First Dáil.

The First Dáil passed the Declaration of Independence of the Irish Republic, a Constitution, and set up a government.

The first British woman MP was Countess Markiewicz. Because she was a Sinn Féiner, she went to the first Dáil Éireann instead. That is why many people think Lady Astor was Britain's first woman MP.

### Second Dáil

In 1922, during the War of Independence, the British passed the Government of Ireland Act. The act set up two parliaments, one for Northern Ireland and one for Southern Ireland. There was no election in Southern Ireland because only Sinn Féin candidates stood. They did not meet as the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. Instead they, and the only Sinn Feiner elected only in Northern Ireland met as the Second Dáil.

On the first day of the Second Dáil Éamon de Valera, President of the Irish Republic, said there would be no need to fight or negotiate with Britain if the British prime minister remembered that he had said   De Valera said that if Poland had the right to its own government, so did Ireland.

The Second Dáil ratified (that is, confirmed) the Anglo-Irish Treaty, by a vote of 64 to 57.  After this the 64 pro-treaty members met as the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, with the four University MPs, and voted to accept the treaty again.

### Third Dáil

The Third Dáil was two things.
- The pro-independence Dáil, following on from the First and Second Dáils, and
- The Provisional Parliament, following on from the House of Commons of Southern Ireland

The Third Dáil passed the constitution of the Irish Free State, and after 6 December 1922, it was the lower house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State.

## Dáil Debates

The official record of everything said in the Dáil is called  or .  Volume (book) one starts on the day the Third Dáil met, so the record of the First Dáil is called Book F, and the Second Dáil starts with book S.

## Election of the Dáil

TDs are elected in multi-member constituencies, unlike the British House of Commons or the American House of Representatives, which are single-member constituencies.  There can be three, four, or five TDs in each constituency.  Voters can vote for as many candidates as they want, but they rank them in order of preference, 1,2,3...

Working out who has been elected can sometimes take two or even three days, because the votes are counted several times under the Single Transferable Vote system.

If the Chairman of Dáil Éireann, called the Ceann Comhairle, wants to stand for re-election he is  does not have to be elected.  The law and the constitution say that he is given a seat in his old constituency.

## Powers of Dáil Éireann

The Dail is the more powerful of the two Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Taoiseach, (Prime Minister), the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister)  and the Minister of Finance must be members of Dáil Éireann.

Bills to raise tax have to start in the Dáil, and cannot be vetoed by the Seanad.

The Dáil can pass a bill even if the Seanad objects, but the Supreme Court can decide that the act is not allowed by the Constitution.  The President can also ask the Supreme Court if the bill is not allowed by the constitution before he/she signs it.

## Related pages

- Oireachtas
- Seanad Éireann

## Infobox (legislature)

- **name**: Dáil Éireann
- **native name**: _Assembly of Ireland_
- **coa pic**: Oireachtas_logo.svg
- **coa res**: 130px
- **session room**: Dáil Chamber.jpg
- **house type**: Lower house
- **body**: Oireachtas
- **leader1 type**: Ceann Comhairle
- **leader1**: Seán Ó Fearghaíl
- **election1**: 2016 Ceann Comhairle election, 10 March 2016
- **leader2 type**: Leas-Cheann Comhairle
- **leader2**: Catherine Connolly
- **party2**: (Independent politicians in Ireland, Independent)
- **leader3 type**: Taoiseach
- **leader3**: Micheál Martin
- **party3**: (Fianna Fáil, FF)
- **leader4 type**: Tánaiste
- **leader4**: Leo Varadkar
- **party4**: (Fine Gael, FG)
- **leader5 type**: Leader of the Opposition (Ireland), Leader of the Opposition
- **leader5**: Mary Lou McDonald
- **party5**: (Sinn Féin, SF)
- **leader6 type**: Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Government Chief Whip
- **leader6**: Jack Chambers (politician), Jack Chambers
- **party6**: (Fianna Fáil, FF)
- **leader7 type**: Chief Whip, Opposition Chief Whip
- **leader7**: Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
- **party7**: (Sinn Féin, SF)
- **legislature**: Members of the 33rd Dáil, 33rd Dáil
- **members**: 160
- **structure1**: Current Dáil Éireann composition.svg
- **structure1 res**: 300px
- **political groups1**: **Government of the 33rd Dáil, Government (84)**
: Fianna Fáil (37)
: Fine Gael (34)
: Green Party (Ireland), Green Party (12)
**Opposition Front Bench (Ireland), Opposition (75)**
: Sinn Féin (37)
: Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party (7)
:
: (5)
: Aontú (Peadar Tóibín, 1)
: Right To Change, RTOC (Joan Collins (politician), 1)
: Independent politician, Independent (19)
;Ceann Comhairle
: (Seán Ó Fearghaíl, 1)
- **voting system1**: Single transferable vote
- **last election1**: 2020 Irish general election, 8 February 2020
- **next election1**: Next Irish general election, No later than 20 February 2025
- **meeting place**: Dáil chamber
Leinster House, Dublin