1981 Irish general election

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166 seats inDáil Éireann[a] 84 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.2% 0.1pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Charles Haughey Garret FitzGerald Frank Cluskey Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Leader since 7 December 1979 1977 1977 Leader's seat Dublin North-Central Dublin South-East Dublin South-Central (defeated) Last election 84 seats, 50.6% 43 seats, 30.5% 17 seats, 11.6% Seats won 78 65 15 Seat change 6 22 2 Popular vote 777,616 626,376 169,990 Percentage 45.3% 36.5% 9.9% Swing 5.3 pp 6.0 pp 1.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Tomás Mac Giolla Noël Browne Party Sinn Féin The Workers' Party Socialist Labour Leader since 1977 1981 Leader's seat N/A Dublin North-Central Last election 0 seats, 1.7% New Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 New Popular vote 29,561 7,107 Percentage 1.7% 0.4% Swing 0.0 pp New
Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency
Taoiseach before election Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil Taoiseach after election Garret FitzGerald Fine Gael

The1981 Irish general election to the22nd Dáil was held on Thursday, 11 June, following thedissolution of the21st Dáil on 21 May byPresidentPatrick Hillery on the request ofTaoiseachCharles Haughey. The general election took place in 41Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats inDáil Éireann, the house of representatives of theOireachtas. The number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 18 from 148 under theElectoral (Amendment) Act 1980.

The 22nd Dáil met atLeinster House on 30 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a newgovernment of Ireland.Garret FitzGerald was appointed Taoiseach, forming the17th government of Ireland, a minority coalition government ofFine Gael and theLabour Party.

The general election of 1981 was the first one of five during the 1980s. The election also saw three new leaders of the three main parties fight their first general election.Charles Haughey had become Taoiseach and leader ofFianna Fáil at the end of 1979,Garret FitzGerald was the new leader ofFine Gael andFrank Cluskey was leading theLabour Party.

Haughey and Fianna Fáil seemed extremely popular with the electorate in early 1981. He was expected to call the election at the time of the Fianna Fáilardfheis on 14 February, but theStardust fire caused the ardfheis to be postponed, and theRepublican hunger strike in the Maze Prison began in March.^[3] By the dissolution in May, much of the earlier optimism in the party had filtered out. TheAnti H-Block movement fieldedabstentionist candidates in solidarity with the hunger strikers, undermining the Republican credentials of Fianna Fáil.

Fianna Fáil's manifesto promised more spending programmes and Fine Gael put forward a series of tax-cutting plans.

Election to the 22nd Dáil – 11 June 1981[4][5][6][7]
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First pref. votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Charles Haughey	78[a]	–6	47.0	777,616	45.3	–5.3
	Fine Gael	Garret FitzGerald	65	+22	39.2	626,376	36.5	+6.0
	Labour	Frank Cluskey	15	–2	9.0	169,990	9.9	–1.7
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Tomás Mac Giolla	1	+1	0.6	29,561	1.7	0
	Socialist Labour	Noël Browne	1	New	0.6	7,107	0.4	–
	Socialist Party	Eamonn O'Brien	0	New	0	571	0.0	–
	Communist	Eugene McCartan	0	0	0.0	358	0.0	–
	Independent	N/A	6	+2	3.6	106,632	6.2	+0.7
Spoilt votes						16,168	—	—
Total			166	+18	100	1,734,379	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						2,275,450	76.2%	—

Independents includeAnti H-Block (42,803 votes, 2 seats) andIndependent Fianna Fáil (13,546 votes, 1 seat).

Fianna Fáil lost seats as a result of sympathy to theAnti H-Block candidates and the attractive tax proposals of Fine Gael. It was the worst performance for Fianna Fáil in twenty years. Meanwhile, Labour Party leaderFrank Cluskey lost his seat, necessitating a leadership change withMichael O'Leary succeeding Cluskey. A Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government came to power.Fine Gael and theLabour Party formed the 17th Government of Ireland, a minority coalition government, with Garret FitzGerald becoming Taoiseach.

The following changes took place at this election:

• 20 outgoing TDs retired
• 18 additional seats added to the Dáil
• 127 outgoing TDs stood for re-election (alsoPádraig Faulkner, the outgoingCeann Comhairle who was automatically returned)
  • 109 of those were re-elected
  • 18 failed to be re-elected
• 56 successor TDs were elected
  • 50 were elected for the first time
  • 6 had previously been TDs
• There were 7 successor female TDs, replacing 3 outgoing, increasing the total by 4 to 11.

Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.Where a number of related constituency changes took place in an area, such as Cork, the outgoing constituency for retiring TDs and the allocation of new seats are approximations for presentation only.Outgoing TDs re-elected in a new constituency, with no related changes, are not recorded as a change

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the15th Seanad.

• Nealon, Ted;Brennan, Séamus, eds. (8 May 1981).Nealon's guide: 22nd Dáil & Seanad: election '81. Platform Press.ISBN 0-9505984-3-7.

• 1981 in Irish politics
• General elections in the Republic of Ireland
• 22nd Dáil
• June 1981 in Europe
• 1981 elections in the Republic of Ireland
• 1981 Irish hunger strike

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