1961 Irish general election

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144 seats inDáil Éireann[a] 73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	70.6% 0.7pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Seán Lemass James Dillon Brendan Corish Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Leader since 22 June 1959 21 March 1959 2 March 1960 Leader's seat Dublin South-Central Monaghan Wexford Last election 78 seats, 48.3% 40 seats, 26.6% 12 seats, 9.1% Seats won 70 47 16 Seat change 8 7 4 Popular vote 512,073 374,099 136,111 Percentage 43.8% 32.0% 11.6% Swing 4.5 pp 5.4 pp 2.5 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Joseph Blowick Noël Browne Seán MacBride Party Clann na Talmhan National Progressive Democrats Clann na Poblachta Leader since 5 September 1944 23 July 1958 21 January 1946 Leader's seat Mayo South Dublin South-East Dublin South-West (defeated) Last election 3 seats, 2.4% New party 1 seat, 1.7% Seats won 2 2 1 Seat change 1 2 0 Popular vote 17,693 11,490 13,170 Percentage 1.5% 1.0% 1.1% Swing 0.9 pp 1.0 pp 0.6 pp
Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency
Taoiseach before election Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil

The1961 Irish general election to the17th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 4 October, following thedissolution of the16th Dáil on 15 September byPresidentÉamon de Valera on the request ofTaoiseachSeán Lemass. The general election took place in 38Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats inDáil Éireann, the house of representatives of theOireachtas, which had been reduced in size by three seats from the previous election by theElectoral (Amendment) Act 1961.Fianna Fáil lost its majority but remained the dominant party.

The 17th Dáil met atLeinster House on 11 October to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a newgovernment of Ireland. Lemass was re-appointed Taoiseach, forming the10th government of Ireland, a single-party minorityFianna Fáil government.

At the general election of 1961, the three main parties were led by new leaders:Seán Lemass had taken charge ofFianna Fáil in 1959, making this the first time Fianna Fáil faced a general election campaign withoutÉamon de Valera (who had becomePresident of Ireland in 1959).James Dillon had taken over atFine Gael in 1959 also, while theLabour Party was now under the leadership ofBrendan Corish.

Lemass announced the date of the election on 8 September, with the dissolution to take place a week later on 15 September. It was the shortest period between the dissolution and the election permitted in law.^[4][5]

While the election was caused by the "crisis" surrounding Ireland's application for membership of theEuropean Economic Community and various other international affairs, little attention was paid to these matters during the campaign; the 1961 general election has become known as the dullest campaign on record, with the most important issue being the teaching of theIrish language in schools. Fianna Fáil fought the election on its record in government and a reforming theme; Fine Gael presented itself as the party of free enterprise. The Labour Party campaigned strongly against the "conservative" Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties. It also favoured major expansion in the public sector. It was the first and only general election contested by theNational Progressive Democrats led byNoël Browne.

Election to the 17th Dáil – 4 October 1961[6][7][8][9]
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First pref. votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Lemass	70	–8	48.6	512,073	43.8	–4.5
	Fine Gael	James Dillon	47	+7	32.6	374,099	32.0	+5.4
	Labour	Brendan Corish	16[a]	+4	11.1	136,111	11.6	+2.5
	Sinn Féin	Paddy McLogan	0	–4	0	36,396	3.1	–2.2
	Clann na Talmhan	Joseph Blowick	2	–1	1.4	17,693	1.5	–0.9
	Clann na Poblachta	Seán MacBride[b]	1	0	0.7	13,170	1.1	–0.6
	National Progressive Democrats	Noël Browne	2	New	1.4	11,490	1.0	–
	Christian Democratic Party		0	New	0	1,132	0.1	–
	Irish Workers' League	Michael O'Riordan	0	New	0	277	0.0	–
	Independent	N/A	6	–3	4.2	65,963	5.6	–0.3
Spoilt votes						11,334	—	—
Total			144	–3	100	1,179,738	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,670,860	70.6%	—

The17th Dáil met on 11 October 1961. Fianna Fáil were short of a majority, with 70 of the 144 seats in the Dáil, but were able to form a new single-party government, the10th Government of Ireland, with the support ofIndependent TDs.

• Lorcan Allen
• Mark Clinton
• George Colley
• Patrick Connor
• Paddy Harte
• Brian Lenihan
• Tom O'Donnell
• Séamus Pattison
• Eugene Timmons
• Seán Treacy

• Seán Collins

• Patrick Giles
• Peadar Maher
• Richard Mulcahy
• Oscar Traynor

• Batt Donegan
• Gus Healy
• Denis Larkin
• Frank Loughman
• James O'Toole

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the10th Seanad.

• 1961 elections in Europe
• 1961 elections in the Republic of Ireland
• 1961 in Irish politics
• General elections in the Republic of Ireland
• 17th Dáil
• October 1961 in Europe

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