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1969 Irish general election
← outgoing members elected members →
144 seats in Dáil Éireann; 73 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.9% 1.8 pp
	Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election; Jack Lynch; Fianna Fáil	Taoiseach after election ; Jack Lynch; Fianna Fáil

The 1969 Irish general election to the 19th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 18 June, following the dissolution of the 18th Dáil on 22 May by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election took place in 42 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 144 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, with boundary changes under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1969. The governing Fianna Fáil won its fourth successive election.

The 19th Dáil met at Leinster House on 21 April to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Lynch was re-appointed Taoiseach, forming the 13th government of Ireland, a single-party majority Fianna Fáil government.

Campaign

The general election of 1969 saw two new leaders of the two main parties fight their first general election. Jack Lynch of Fianna Fáil had become Taoiseach in 1966 and was attempting to win his first election. Liam Cosgrave had taken charge of Fine Gael in 1965 and now leading his party into his first election. Brendan Corish was fighting his third general election as leader of the Labour Party.^[4]

Fianna Fáil had been in office since 1957, and in spite of media predictions, the party was still very popular with the voters. Its leader Jack Lynch proved to be the party's biggest electoral asset. His quiet, easy-going and reassuring style, coupled with the catchy slogan "Let's back Jack!", attracted many new voters to Fianna Fáil.^[5] The party had introduced many innovative pieces of legislation during the 1960s and was now looking for a fresh mandate. Fianna Fáil were also helped by a deeply divided opposition.

Fine Gael had internal divisions. There was tension between the older conservative members, who wanted to keep the party as it was, and the younger deputies who wanted to move the party to the left.^[5] One of the party's policies proposed to abolish compulsory Irish for State examinations and civil service jobs.

The Labour Party on the other hand were predicted to make gains after firmly ruling out a pre-election pact with Fine Gael. The party fielded a number of new, high-profile candidates, including Justin Keating, Conor Cruise O'Brien, David Thornley and Noël Browne.^[4] The slogan "The Seventies will be Socialist" was popular with Labour supporters; however, Fianna Fáil played the "red card", linking the Labour Party with communism. The tactic worked successfully.^[5]

Result


Election to the 19th Dáil – 18 June 1969^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First pref. votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Jack Lynch	75^[a]	+3	52.1	602,234	45.7	–2.0
	Fine Gael	Liam Cosgrave	50	+3	34.7	449,749	34.1	0
	Labour	Brendan Corish	18	–4	12.5	224,498	17.0	+1.6
	Irish Workers' Party	Michael O'Riordan	0	0	0	242	0.0	0
	Independent	N/A	1	–1	0.7	42,230	3.2	+1.1
Spoilt votes						16,010	—	—
Total			144	0	100	1,334,963	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,735,388	76.9%	—

Notes

Independents include Gluaiseacht Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta (1,522 votes).

The result marked a third successive victory for Fianna Fáil, led by Jack Lynch. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael each lost votes, yet gained seats. Labour gained votes, yet lost seats. It was the last election for thirty-three years at which a government was returned to office—until the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats government was returned with an increased majority in the 2002 general election.

Voting summary

First preference vote

Fianna Fáil			45.66%
Fine Gael			34.10%
Labour			17.02%
Irish Workers' Party			0.02%
Independent			3.20%

Seats summary

Dáil seats

Fianna Fáil			52.08%
Fine Gael			34.72%
Labour			12.50%
Independent			0.69%

Government formation

Fianna Fáil formed the 13th government of Ireland, a majority government, led by Jack Lynch as Taoiseach.

Changes in membership

First time TDs

A total of 37 TDs were elected for the first time:

Re-elected TDs

Eugene Timmons

Retiring TDs

Defeated TDs

Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 12th Seanad.

Notes

^ ^a ^b Including Cormac Breslin (FF), returned automatically for Donegal–Leitrim as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act 1963, as adapted by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1969.^[1]^[2]^[3]