Independent politicians in Ireland

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Independent politicians in Ireland
Dáil Éireann
23 / 160
14%
Seanad
10 / 60
16%

Independent politicians contest elections without the support of a political party. They have played a continuous role in the politics of the Republic of Ireland since its independence in 1922.

Contents

Provision for independents in electoral law

If a candidate is not the candidate of a registered political party, they may be nominated for elections to Dáil Éireann with the assent of 30 electors in the constituency, [1] for elections to the European Parliament with the assent of 60 electors in the constituency, [2] and for local elections with the assent of 15 electors in the local electoral area. [3] They may choose to have the designation non-party next to their name on the ballot paper. [4]

In Seanad elections and presidential elections, candidates are not nominated by parties directly, and party labels do not appear on the ballot.

Independents supporting governments

In the case of minority governments, where the party or parties forming the government do not have a majority in the Dáil, they will usually be dependent on independent TDs in votes of confidence. This can be by In the Inter-Party Government led by John A. Costello as Taoiseach, James Dillon served as Minister for Agriculture. He was an independent TD, having left Fine Gael in 1942 because he disagreed with the policy of neutrality during the Second World War. He rejoined Fine Gael in 1953 and became leader in 1959.

In 2009, Mary Harney continued as Minister for Health as an independent member of the government after the dissolution of the Progressive Democrats, and served until 2011.

After the 2016 general election, 3 independent TDs were appointed to a minority Fine Gael–Independent government on 6 May 2016: Denis Naughten as Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Shane Ross as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Katherine Zappone as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Ross is a member of the Independent Alliance, and other members of the Independent Alliance were appointed as Ministers of State. Naughten resigned as minister on 11 October 2018. Ross and Zappone served until the appointment of a new government on 27 June 2020.

Local government

At the 2019 local elections, independents won 185 of the 949 seats on city and county councils.

European Parliament

Luke 'Ming' Flanagan has been an MEP for Midlands–North-West since 2014.

President of Ireland

The current President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins was elected in 2011 having been nominated by Labour Party members of the Oireachtas, but re-elected in 2018 on his own nomination.

Election results

General elections

Key for government column:

Independents participated in government
Majority government
Minority government
ElectionSeats won±First pref. votes%Government
1921
4 / 128
Southern Ireland only
Steady2.svgNo PollNo PollSinn Féin majority
1922
9 / 128
Increase2.svg 548,6387.8CnaG minority
1923
13 / 153
Increase2.svg 485,8698.1CnaG minority
1927 (Jun)
16 / 153
Increase2.svg 3153,37013.4CnaG minority
1927 (Sep)
12 / 153
Decrease2.svg 492,9597.9CnaG minority
1932
14 / 153
Increase2.svg 2131,89010.4FF minority
1933
9 / 153
Decrease2.svg 568,8825.0FF minority
1937
8 / 138
Decrease2.svg 1128,4809.7FF minority
1938
7 / 138
Decrease2.svg 160,6854.7FF majority
1943
11 / 138
Increase2.svg 4116,0248.7FF minority
1944
10 / 138
Decrease2.svg 194,8527.8FF majority
1948
11 / 147
Increase2.svg 194,2717.2FG–Lab–CnaP–CnaT–NLP–Ind
1951
14 / 147
Increase2.svg 3127,2349.6FF minority
1954
5 / 147
Decrease2.svg 970,9375.3FG–Lab–CnaT
1957
9 / 147
Increase2.svg 472,4925.9FF majority
1961
6 / 144
Decrease2.svg 365,9635.6FF minority
1965
2 / 144
Decrease2.svg 426,2772.1FF minority
1969
1 / 144
Decrease2.svg 142,2303.2FF majority
1973
2 / 144
Increase2.svg 139,4192.9FG–Labour
1977
4 / 148
Increase2.svg 287,5275.5FF majority
1981
4 / 166
Steady2.svg 063,8293.7FG–Labour minority
1982 (Feb)
4 / 166
Steady2.svg 046,0592.8FF minority
1982 (Nov)
3 / 166
Decrease2.svg 138,7352.3FG–Labour
1987
3 / 166
Steady2.svg 070,8434.0FF minority
1989
4 / 166
Increase2.svg 154,7613.3FF–PD
1992
5 / 166
Increase2.svg 199,4875.8FF–Lab (1993–94)
FG–Lab–DL (1994–97)
1997
6 / 166
Increase2.svg 1123,1027.9FF–PD minority
2002
17 / 166
Increase2.svg 11176,3059.5FF–PD
2007
5 / 166
Decrease2.svg 12106,4295.2FF–Green–PD
2011
14 / 166
Increase2.svg 9269,70312.1FG–Labour
2016
19 / 158
Increase2.svg 5338,21515.9FG–Ind minority
2020
19 / 160
Steady2.svg 0266,52912.2FF–FG–Green

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References

  1. Electoral (Amendment) Act 2002, s. 1: Amendment of Electoral Act 1992 ( No. 4 of 2002, s. 1 ). Enacted on 25 March 2002. Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 13 July 2019.
  2. Electoral (Amendment) Act 2002, s. 2: Amendment of European Parliament Elections Act 1997 ( No. 4 of 2002, s. 2 ). Enacted on 25 March 2002. Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 13 July 2019.
  3. Electoral (Amendment) Act 2002, s. 3: Amendment of Local Elections Regulations 1995 ( No. 4 of 2002, s. 3 ). Enacted on 25 March 2002. Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 13 July 2019.
  4. Electoral Act 1992, s. 46: Nomination of Candidates ( No. 23 of 1992, s. 46 ). Enacted on 5 November 1992. Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 13 July 2019.

Further reading