Irish general election, 2016

Irish general election, 2016

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157 of 158 seats in Dáil Éireann 80 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	65.1%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Enda Kenny Micheál Martin Gerry Adams Party Fine Gael Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Leader since 2 June 2002 26 January 2011 13 November 1983 Leader's seat Mayo Cork South-Central Louth Last election 76 seats, 36.1% 20 seats, 17.4% 14 seats, 9.9% Seats before 66 21 14 Seats won 50 44 23 Seat change 16 23 9 Popular vote 544,140 519,356 295,319 Percentage 25.5% 24.3% 13.8% Swing 10.6 pp 6.9 pp 3.9 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Joan Burton — — Party Labour Party AAA–PBP Independents 4 Change Leader since 4 July 2014 — — Leader's seat Dublin West — — Last election 37 seats, 19.4% 4 seats, 2.2% New party Seats before 33 4 4 Seats won 7 6 4 Seat change 26 2 0 Popular vote 140,898 84,168 31,365 Percentage 6.6% 3.9% 1.5% Swing 12.8 pp 1.7 pp New party   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall Stephen Donnelly Eamon Ryan Lucinda Creighton Party Social Democrats Green Party Renua Ireland Leader since 15 July 2015 27 May 2011 13 March 2015 Leader's seat Wicklow Kildare North Dublin North-West Dublin Bay South Dublin Bay South (defeated) Last election New party 0 seats, 1.8% New party Seats before 3 0 3 Seats won 3 2 0 Seat change 0 2 3 Popular vote 64,094 57,999 46,552 Percentage 3.0% 2.7% 2.2% Swing New party 0.9 pp New party
Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election Enda Kenny Fine Gael Elected Taoiseach Enda Kenny Fine Gael

Enda Kenny
Fine Gael

Enda Kenny
Fine Gael

The Irish general election of 2016 took place on 26 February to elect 157 Teachtaí Dála (TDs) across 40 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's parliament. The 31st Dáil was dissolved by President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February, at the request of Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Following the election, Kenny's Fine Gael remained the largest party in the Dáil, albeit having lost 26 seats compared with the previous election. The main opposition party Fianna Fáil, which had suffered its worst-ever election result of 20 seats in 2011, increased its seats to 44. Sinn Féin was expected to make gains, encouraged by opinion polls placing it ahead of Fianna Fáil, and it became the third-most numerous party with 23 deputies. The Labour Party, which had been the junior party in coalition government with Fine Gael and which had returned its best-ever showing of 37 seats in 2011, fell to just seven deputies, its lowest-ever share of Dáil seats. Smaller parties and independent politicians made up the remaining 34 seats.

The members of the 32nd Dáil met on 10 March to elect a new Ceann Comhairle, the first to be elected by secret ballot, and Seán Ó Fearghaíl of Fianna Fáil was elected to succeed Seán Barrett of Fine Gael. Kenny formally resigned as Taoiseach that same day, but remained in office as a caretaker until a new government was formed. Kenny sought an agreement with Fianna Fáil to form a government, and negotiations continued through most of April. An agreement was finally reached for a Fine Gael-led minority government on 29 April, 63 days after the election, and the Dáil formally re-elected Kenny as Taoiseach on 6 May. Kenny is the first Taoiseach from Fine Gael to win re-election.