2007 Irish general election
The 2007 Irish general election took place on Thursday, 24 May after the dissolution of the 29th Dáil by the President on 30 April, at the request of the Taoiseach. The general election took place in 43 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of parliament, with a revision of constituencies since the last election under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005.
This article is about the general election in the Republic of Ireland. For the assembly election in Northern Ireland, see 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
166 seats in Dáil Éireann[a]
84 seats needed for a majority
67.0% 
4.4pp
While Fine Gael gained 20 seats, Fianna Fáil remained the largest party. The election was considered a success for Fianna Fáil; however, Fianna Fáil's junior coalition partners in the 29th Dáil, the Progressive Democrats, lost six of their eight seats.
The 30th Dáil met on 14 June to nominate a Taoiseach and ratify the ministers of the new 27th Government of Ireland. It was a coalition government of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats initially supported by four Independent TDs. It was the first time the Green Party entered government.
Election date and system[edit]
On 30 April 2007, President Mary McAleese dissolved the 29th Dáil on the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The election date was officially set as 24 May 2007; the 30th Dáil would convene on 14 June 2007 at which stage the Taoiseach would be nominated and the rest of the Government approved for appointment by the President. Official campaigning began as soon as the announcement had been made.
Current statute requires that the Dáil be dissolved within five years after its first meeting (6 June 2002) following the previous election and the election must take place not later than thirty days after the dissolution.[c] The Taoiseach allowed the 29th Dáil to near the completion of its five-year term before seeking a dissolution. After the 2002 general election he commented that his prior confirmation of this policy had caused problems in the last year of his government. There was speculation in 2005 that he might have moved to dissolve parliament early to catch the opposition off guard, although this did not transpire.
In 2005, in anticipation of the election date, the parties began candidate selections and from mid-2005 some members of the 29th Dáil announced their retirement plans.
A statement by Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan in November 2006 suggested that the election would take place in May 2007, which would be the case.[3] In December 2006, Bertie Ahern stated unambiguously that the election would take place in summer 2007.[4]
There was some controversy[5] over which day of the week the election should have been held on, as some opposition parties insisted that a weekend polling day would have made it easier for those studying or working away from home to vote. Ireland's voter registration process presents difficulties for people who live at a second address for part of the week. Previous elections and referendums have been held on Thursdays, Fridays and (in one case) a Wednesday. For the 2007 election, polling day was a Thursday.
The Taoiseach denied that the election was called on Sunday 29 April 2007 to prevent the Mahon Tribunal recommencing investigations the following day concerning alleged payments to politicians (including Ahern). Because of the election campaign, the Mahon Tribunal suspended its public hearings on Monday 30 April 2007, and resumed them four days after the general election on 28 May 2007.[6]
The closing time and date for nominations was 12:00 Irish Summer Time on Wednesday 9 May 2007.
Polls were open from 07:30 until 22:30 IST. The system of voting was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).[7] The general election took place in 43 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 165 of the 166 Dáil Éireann seats (the Ceann Comhairle is automatically re-elected).[d]
See Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005 for full details of the constituencies for the 30th Dáil.
The preliminary findings from the 2006 Census of Population disclosed that the population of Dublin West, Dublin North and Meath East could have prompted further revisions.[8] The advice of the Attorney-General was sought by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It was decided to make no further constituency revisions before the election. Two outgoing deputies, however, challenged this decision in the High Court. The election went ahead while the parties awaited the High Court's reserved judgment in this action.[9]
The general election result was significant for a number of reasons:
The 2007 election results saw Fine Gael win seats at the expense of the smaller parties and independents. The proportion of votes only increased significantly for Fine Gael, and increased slightly for both the Green Party and Sinn Féin, despite their disappointing seat totals. Negotiations began the following week for the formation of the new government, with Bertie Ahern stating that his preferred option was for a coalition of Fianna Fáil, the Progressive Democrats and like-minded independents. The Fine Gael leader and Leader of the Opposition, Enda Kenny, did not rule out forming an alternative government, stating that he would talk to all parties except Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin.[12] The election for Taoiseach took place in the Dáil on 14 June 2007 with Bertie Ahern becoming Taoiseach again.
Government formation[edit]
On 12 June 2007, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party reached agreement on a draft Programme for Government, this was subsequently ratified by the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party and Green Party members on 13 June 2007. This resulted in the formation of a coalition government on 14 June 2007 between Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats. The government was initially supported by four Independent TDs.[17]
Fianna Fáil, Green Party and Progressive Democrats formed the 27th Government of Ireland, a majority coalition government, led by Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach. Ahern would resign the following year, succeeded by Brian Cowen, who formed the 28th Government of Ireland with the same party composition. The Progressive Democrats dissolved in 2009.
The following changes took place as a result of the election:
Outgoing TDs are listed in the constituency they represented in the outgoing Dáil. For Batt O'Keeffe and possibly others, this differs from the constituency they contested in the election. O'Keeffe, who was elected in his largely new constituency of Cork North-West, is listed both as a departing TD from his old constituency of Cork South-Central and a successor TD from Cork North-West. Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.