", "It's game on as campaigning begins in Election 2020", "Aontú's mantra is change but their policies seem like more of the same", "McDonald to face-off with Varadkar and Martin in RTE leaders' debate next Monday", "Cork TD to take part in TV party leaders debate", "Ireland is suffering under Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil", "Personal drug use and a potential grand coalition: The key moments from the first head-to-head TV debate", "As it happened: Claire Byrne Live leaders' debate", "RTÉ and party leaders' debates explained", "Aontú will not seek injunction over RTÉ debate", "Sinn Féin issues legal letter to RTÉ over debate exclusion", "Mary Lou McDonald to take part in leaders' debate", "Voters go to the polls after parties hear demand for change from electorate", "Full house: Here are your 160 TDs elected in the 2020 general election", "The Effective Number of Parties, which measures fragmentation, in the 33rd Dáil is 5.95. [40] This was the first Irish general election in which there was a female candidate running in every constituency. Among the smaller parties, the Green Party showed the largest gains, increasing from three to twelve seats, a gain of nine over the previous election. The incumbent Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl of Fianna Fáil, was re-elected, reducing to 37 the number of Fianna Fáil TDs. [1][2] The leaders of those parties had long ruled out forming a coalition government with Sinn Féin. However, some independent politicians who had expressed anti-immigration views were elected, like Verona Murphy and Noel Grealish.[80][81]. The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. Get the latest news, election analysis and election results on Ireland's General Election 2020 from award winning Irish Independent political journalists. Each ballot is initially credited to its first-preference candidate but may be transferred on later counts to the next available preference where the first preference candidate is elected or eliminated. The total poll was down by 2.2% to 62.9% compared to the previous election, despite it being held on a Saturday. [8][9] The election was set for 8 February, the first time a general election was held on a Saturday since 1918. He was appointed afterward by President Michael D. Higgins and announced his cabinet later that day. [14][15] The commission had some discretion but was constitutionally bound to allow no more than a ratio of 30,000 people per elected member, and was required by law to recommend constituencies of three, four or five seats, and to avoid – as far as was practicable – breaching county boundaries. ", "26% want 'grand coalition' involving Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and smaller parties - poll", "Varadkar resigns as Irish government enters stalemate", "FG and FF to start government formation talks propelled by Covid-19", "Significant progress towards new government - now what? Clare Bailey, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland - a branch of the Irish Green Party - publicly rejected the idea of the Greens being part of the coalition deal with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Voters complete a paper ballot, numbering candidates 1, 2, 3, etc.
If a party does not have a minimum of 30% male and 30% female candidates, it forfeits half of their state funding. [97][98] As of 17 March, those talks were still scheduled for later that week. [74] Marie O'Halloran observed that Sinn Féin transfers affected the outcome of 21 constituencies, favouring other left-wing parties. Polls were published on an approximately monthly basis by The Sunday Business Post (which uses the Red C polling company) and The Sunday Times (which used the Behaviour and Attitudes polling company for all of its polls since 2016 until its final poll prior to the election, for which it used Panelbase). It relied on a confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fáil.
[70][71], The results of the election showed a close contest between three parties. According to Dublin City University political scientist Eoin O'Malley, it was the most fragmented Dáil ever, with the effective number of parties at 5.95. That number dropped to 37 when Ó Fearghaíl was re-elected as Ceann Comhairle on the first day of the 33rd Dáil. Some Fine Gael politicians predicted another election in September, which Fianna Fáil is eager to avoid.