31st Dáil

The Dáil, or Dáil Éireann (pronouned [d̪ˠaːlʲ ˈeːrʲən̪ˠ]), is the lower house of the Irish bicameral parliament. The upper house, the Senate, or Seanad Éireann (ɕan̪ˠad̪ˠ e:rʲan̪ˠ) and the Dáil together form the parliament, known as the Oireachtas (ɛrʲaxt̪ˠasˠ). The "31st Dáil" is so called because it will be the 31st to sit since the foundation of the state.

Dáil Éireann (usually just called "the Dáil") has 166 members or Teachtaí Dálaí ("Teachta Dála", pronounced ˈtʲaxtə ˈdɑːlə, is the singular form, abbreviated to "TD"), each elected to represent one of 43 multi-seat constituencies under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote.

Under the constitution, parliamentary elections must be held at least every seven years, though a lower limit may be set by statute law. The current statutory maximum term is every five years.

The government in the 30th Dáil consisted of a coalition of two parties: Fianna Fáil under Taoiseach Brian Cowen; and the Green Party. The main opposition parties in the 30th Dáil consisted of Fine Gael and Labour. The general election for the 165 seats available (the speaker, or Ceann Comhairle, is returned automatically) took place on Friday, 25th February, 2011, with the count of ballots beginning the following day.

Pre-election alliances

There were no pre-election pacts declared between the main parties. The Socialist Party, members of the People Before Profit alliance and some independent candidates announced the formation of the United Left Alliance in the weeks before the election.

Results

The general election saw a massive swing against the sitting government parties - Fianna Fáil fell to it's smallest representation ever.

Individually significant results included:

The Green Party lost all of their seats. Several sitting ministers also failed to win re-election, and Fianna Fáil managed to return only one TD in the whole of Dublin (outgoing Finance Minister Brian Lenihan).

Constituencies

Constituency	Number of seats (2011)	Result 2011 (change from 2007 in brackets)
		FF	FG	Lab.	PD	SF	Grn	Soc.	Other
Carlow-Kilkenny	5	1 (-2)	3 (+2)	1 (+1)			0 (-1)
Cavan-Monaghan	5	1 (-2)	3 (+2)			1 (0)
Clare	4	1 (-1)	2	1 (+1)
Cork East	4	0 (-2)	2 (+1)	1		1 (+1)
Cork North Central	4	1 (-1)	1	1		1 (+1)
Cork North West	3	1 (-1)	2 (+1)
Cork South Central	5	2	2	1
Cork South West	3	0 (-1)	2	1 (+1)
Donegal North East	3	1 (-1)	1			1 (+1)
Donegal South West	3	0 (-2)	1			1 (+1)			1 (+1)
Dublin Central	4	0 (-2)	1 (+1)	1		1 (+1)			1
Dublin Mid West	4	0 (-1)	2 (+2)	2 (+1)	0		0 (-1)
Dublin North	4	0 (-2)	2 (+1)	1 (+1)			0 (-1)	1 (+1)
Dublin North Central	3	0 (-1)	1	1 (+1)					1
Dublin North East	3	0 (-1)	1	2 (+1)
Dublin North West	3	0 (-2)		2 (+1)		1 (+1)
Dublin South	5	0 (-2)	3 (+1)	1 (+1)			0 (-1)
Dublin South Central	5	0 (-2)	1	2 (+1)		1			1 (+1)
Dublin South East	4	0 (-1)	2 (+1)	2 (+1)			0 (-1)
Dublin South West	4	0 (-2)	1	2 (+1)		1 (+1)
Dublin West	4 (+1)	1	1	1				1 (+1)
Dún Laoghaire	4 (-1)	0 (-2)	2 (+1)	1			0 (-1)		1 (+1)
Galway East	4	1 (-1)	2	1 (+1)
Galway West	5	1 (-1)	2 (+1)	1	0				1
Kerry North-Limerick West	3	0 (-1)	1	1 (+1)		1
Kerry South	3	0 (-2)	1 (+1)						2 (+1)
Kildare North	4	0 (-2)	2 (+1)	1					1 (+1)
Kildare South	3	1 (-1)	1 (+1)	1
Laois-Offaly	5	2 (-1)	2			1 (+1)
Limerick City	4 (-1)	1 (-1)	2	1
Limerick	3	1 (-1)	2 (+1)
Longford-Westmeath	4	1 (-1)	2 (+1)	1
Louth	5 (+1)	1 (-1)	2 (+1)	1 (+1)		1
Mayo	5	1	4 (+1)
Meath East	3	0 (-2)	2 (+1)	1 (+1)
Meath West	3	0 (-2)	2 (+1)			1 (+1)
Roscommon-South Leitrim	3	0 (-1)	2						1 (+1)
Sligo-North Leitrim	3	0 (-2)	2 (+1)			1 (+1)
Tipperary North	3	0 (-1)	1	1 (+1)					1
Tipperary South	3	0 (-2)	1						2 (+2)
Waterford	4	0 (-2)	2 (+1)	1					1 (+1)
Wexford	5	1 (-1)	2	1					1 (+1)
Wicklow	5	2	2	1
Totals	166	78	51	20	2	4	6	0	5

Key:
FF: Fianna Fáil
FG: Fine Gael
Lab.: Labour
PD: Progressive Democrats
SF: Sinn Féin
Grn.: Green Party
Soc.: Socialist Party
Other: Independents and/or members of small parties not listed above.

Composition of the Dáil

Party	May 2007 (elected to 30th Dáil)	At dissolution of 30th Dáil	Elected to 31st Dáil
Fianna Fáil	78	72
Fine Gael	51	51
Labour Party	20	20
Progressive Democrats	2	0
Green Party	6	6
Sinn Féin	4	5
Socialist	0	0
Independents	5	5

Cabinet

After travelling to Áras an Uactaráin to receive his Seal of Office from the President, Ahern returned to the Dáil to announce his cabinet. The appointments (listed with previous incumbents and subsequent appointments following Ahern's resignation in May 2008) are as follows:

Cabinet position	29th Dáil (at dissolution)	30th Dáil (new appointment)(member of Fianna Fáil unless indicated otherwise)	30th Dáil (current)
Taoiseach	Bertie Ahern	Bertie Ahern	Brian Cowen
Tánaiste	Michael McDowell	Brian Cowen	Mary Coughlan
Minister for Finance	Brian Cowen	Brian Cowen	Brian Lenihan
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform	Michael McDowell	Brian Lenihan	Dermot Ahern
Minister for Foreign Affairs	Dermot Ahern	Dermot Ahern	Micheál Martin
Minister for Health and Children	Mary Harney	Mary Harney (PD)	Mary Harney (Independent)
Minister for Defence	Willie O Dea	Willie O Dea	Willie O Dea
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism	John O Donoghue	Séamus Brennan	Martin Cullen
Minister for Education and Science	Mary Hanafin	Mary Hanafin	Batt O'Keeffe
Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Food	Mary Coughlan	Mary Coughlan	Brendan Smith
Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government	Dick Roche	John Gormley (Grn.)	John Gormley (Grn.)
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs	Éamon Ó Cuív	Éamon Ó Cuív	Éamon Ó Cuív
Minister for Social and Family Affairs	Séamus Brennan	Martin Cullen	Mary Hanafin
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment	Micheál Martin	Micheál Martin	Mary Coughlan
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources	Noel Dempsey	Eamon Ryan (Grn.)	Eamon Ryan (Grn.)
Minister for Transport and the Marine	Martin Cullen	Noel Dempsey	Noel Dempsey
Attorney General	Rory Brady SC	Paul Gallagher SC (unaffiliated)	Paul Gallagher SC (unaffiliated)

See also

• Catalog of Irish political parties