1965 Irish general election

1965 Irish general election

7 April 1965
143 of 144 seats in Dáil Éireann 73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	75.1% 4.5pp
First party Second party   120px 120px Leader Seán Lemass James Dillon Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Leader since 22 June 1959 21 March 1959 Leader's seat Dublin South-Central Monaghan Last election 70 seats, 43.8% 47 seats, 32.0% Seats before 71 48 Seats won 72 47 Seat change 1 1 Percentage 47.7% 34.1% Swing 3.9% 2.1%   Third party Fourth party   120px 125px Leader Brendan Corish Seán MacBride Party Labour Party Clann na Poblachta Leader since 2 March 1960 21 January 1946 Leader's seat Wexford N/A Last election 16 seats, 11.6% 1 seat, 1.1% Seats before 17 1 Seats won 22 1 Seat change 5 0 Percentage 15.4% 0.8% Swing 3.7% 0.3%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil

The 1965 Irish general election was held on Wednesday, 7 April 1965. The newly elected members of the 18th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 21 April when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.

The general election took place in 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann.

Campaign

The general election of 1965 was caused by the ruling Fianna Fáil party's failure to gain a seat in a by-election. The success of Eileen Desmond of the Labour Party in Cork Mid in holding a seat previously held by her husband Dan Desmond, led to an unacceptable mathematical situation with regard to the government's majority. The Taoiseach, Seán Lemass immediately dissolved the Dáil and the campaign began in earnest.

Fianna Fáil ran its campaign on its record in government. Over the last number of years the economy had seen a huge improvement and the party played up on its record in government. The party also played up heavily on the personality of the party leader with the slogan "Let Lemass Lead On". Fine Gael put forward a comprehensive manifesto, which included the establishment of a government department concerned with economic planning. However, the older, conservative members of the party did not warm to the new turn the party was taking.

Television and radio

This was the first Irish General Election to be covered on television by state broadcaster RTÉ, which had formed on 31 December 1961. Election Newsroom was broadcast live on Telefís Éireann from their Donnybrook studios in Dublin, presented by John O'Donoghue with analysis provided by John Healy (Irish Times), John O'Sullivan (The Cork Examiner), Garret FitzGerald and Professor Basil Chubb. Cameras were present in four count centres: Bolton Street (Dublin), Wexford, Cork and Monaghan. The GPO provided direct links as results were announced. Raidió Éireann provided special coverage from 3 pm on the day of the count due to the coverage on Telefís Éireann. It was a new approach to election coverage on the state's radio service, which began broadcasting in 1926.

Result

18th Irish general election – 7 April 1965

Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Lemass	72	+2	50.0	597,414	47.7	+3.9
	Fine Gael	James Dillon	47	0	32.6	427,081	34.1	+2.1
	Labour Party	Brendan Corish	22	+6	15.3	192,740	15.4	+3.8
	Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride	1	0	0.7	9,427	0.8	–0.3
	Irish Workers' Party	Michael O'Riordan	0	0	0	183	0.0	0
style="background-color: Template:Independent politicians in Ireland/meta/color; width: 1px;" |	[[Independent politicians in Ireland|Template:Independent politicians in Ireland/meta/shortname]]	N/A	2	–4	1.4	26,277	2.1	–3.5
Spoilt votes						11,544	—	—
Total			144	0	100	1,264,666	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,683,019	75.1%	—

• Fianna Fáil majority government formed.

The general election gave Fianna Fáil an extra two seats, and with it an overall majority in the Dáil. Seán Lemass continued as Taoiseach. James Dillon resigned as leader of Fine Gael immediately after the result was announced.

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil			47.67%
Fine Gael			34.08%
Labour			15.38%
Clann na Poblachta			0.75%
Others			0.01%
Independent			2.10%

Seats summary

Assembly seats
Fianna Fáil			50.00%
Fine Gael			32.64%
Labour			15.28%
Clann na Poblachta			0.69%
Independent			1.39%

First time TDs

• David Andrews
• Luke Belton
• Ben Briscoe
• Flor Crowley
• Tom Fitzpatrick (Cavan)
• Tom Fitzpatrick (Dublin)
• James Kennedy
• Patrick Lenihan
• Gerry L'Estrange
• Michael Lyons
• Bobby Molloy
• John O'Connell
• Michael O'Leary
• Pearse Wyse

Re-elected TDs

• Gus Healy
• Denis Larkin

Outgoing TDs

• Gerald Bartley (Retired)
• Seán Brady (Lost seat)
• Robert Briscoe (Retired)
• Dan Breen (Retired)
• Joseph Blowick (Retired)
• John Moher (Lost seat)
• Denis J. O'Sullivan (Lost seat)
• James Ryan (Retired)
• Eugene Timmons (Lost seat)

See also

• Members of the 18th Dáil
• Government of the 18th Dáil
• Parliamentary Secretaries of the 18th Dáil