The 2016 Ireland General Election Friday February 26,2016 to elect 158 Members of Dáil Éireann(Parliament of Ireland),a reduction of 8 from the current 166 members.
More than 3 million people are eligible to vote, and there are 552 candidates contesting 157 seats in the Dáil, the Irish parliament
The Out-going Govt is a Fine Gael - Labour Party Coalition led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Joan Burton
Irish prime minister and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and the Labour party leader, Joan Burton,
Opinion polls in the run-up to the vote suggest that the existing Fine Gael-Labour coalition will fall short of the required 79 seats needed for another working majority.
All polls throughout the three-week campaign forecast that Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael party would retain its No 1 spot, but Labour faces savage losses to opposition candidates critical of the government’s austerity programme
Fine Gael: A party born out of loyalty to Irish independence military leader Michael Collins, who was assassinated by republican diehards for accepting the 1921 Anglo Irish Treaty that partitioned Ireland. Now centre-right in economic policy, strongly pro-European and increasingly socially liberal. Won 76 seats in the 2011 general election – an all-time high.
Fianna Fáil: Founded by Michael Collins’ great civil war rival Éamon de Valera, the party ultimately accepted the Anglo Irish settlement and became the most successful political force in post-independence Irish history. Economically centrist, often populist, it was blamed for the collapse of the Celtic Tiger amid allegations that the party was too close to property speculators and bankers. In the last election it crashed to just 20 seats
Sinn Féin: The party once known around the world as the political wing of the Provisional IRA has benefited enormously from the Northern Ireland peace process. Led by Gerry Adams,it had 14 seats in the last Dáil and is expected to return with at least 20 in this election, positioning itself as a party of protest against austerity cuts.
Labour: The oldest party in the state and rooted in the trade unions, Labour faces the possibility of electoral meltdown akin to the Liberal Democrat wipeout in the UK last year. Labour was at the vanguard of social change as junior partner in the current government, championing the Gay Marriage Referendum, but it also took flak over the coalition’s unpopular tax rises and public spending cuts.
Anti Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit: Both parties are rooted in the far-left Socialist party (former Militant Tendency) and the Socialist Workers party. They draw support, likeSinn Fein, from urban working-class areas where there is widespread discontent over austerity.
More than 3 million people are eligible to vote, and there are 552 candidates contesting 157 seats in the Dáil, the Irish parliament
Opinion polls in the run-up to the vote suggest that the existing Fine Gael-Labour coalition will fall short of the required 79 seats needed for another working majority.
All polls throughout the three-week campaign forecast that Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael party would retain its No 1 spot, but Labour faces savage losses to opposition candidates critical of the government’s austerity programme
Parties Contesting the Election
Fine Gael: A party born out of loyalty to Irish independence military leader Michael Collins, who was assassinated by republican diehards for accepting the 1921 Anglo Irish Treaty that partitioned Ireland. Now centre-right in economic policy, strongly pro-European and increasingly socially liberal. Won 76 seats in the 2011 general election – an all-time high.
Fianna Fáil: Founded by Michael Collins’ great civil war rival Éamon de Valera, the party ultimately accepted the Anglo Irish settlement and became the most successful political force in post-independence Irish history. Economically centrist, often populist, it was blamed for the collapse of the Celtic Tiger amid allegations that the party was too close to property speculators and bankers. In the last election it crashed to just 20 seats
Sinn Féin: The party once known around the world as the political wing of the Provisional IRA has benefited enormously from the Northern Ireland peace process. Led by Gerry Adams,it had 14 seats in the last Dáil and is expected to return with at least 20 in this election, positioning itself as a party of protest against austerity cuts.
Labour: The oldest party in the state and rooted in the trade unions, Labour faces the possibility of electoral meltdown akin to the Liberal Democrat wipeout in the UK last year. Labour was at the vanguard of social change as junior partner in the current government, championing the Gay Marriage Referendum, but it also took flak over the coalition’s unpopular tax rises and public spending cuts.
Anti Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit: Both parties are rooted in the far-left Socialist party (former Militant Tendency) and the Socialist Workers party. They draw support, likeSinn Fein, from urban working-class areas where there is widespread discontent over austerity.
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