Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947
The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 (No. 31) was a law in Ireland which revised Dáil constituencies. The new constituencies were first used for the 13th Dáil, elected at the 1948 general election on 4 February 1948.
| Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Oireachtas | |
| |
| Citation | No. 31 of 1947 |
| Signed | 27 November 1947 |
| Commenced | 27 November 1947 & 18 February 1948 |
| Repealed | 15 September 1961 |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill citation | No. 34 of 1947 |
| Introduced by | Minister for Local Government (Seán McEntee) |
| Introduced | 4 July 1947 |
| Amends | |
| Electoral Act 1923 | |
| Repeals | |
| Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 | |
| Repealed by | |
| Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961 | |
| Status: Repealed | |
This Act repealed the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935, which defined the constituencies since the 1937 general election. It also increased the number of seats in the Dáil by 9 from 138 to 147. It was used at the 1951, 1954 and 1957 general elections.
The 1947 revision was repealed by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961, which created a new schedule of constituencies first used at the 1961 general election for the 17th Dáil.[1]
Background
In 1947 the rapid rise of new party Clann na Poblachta threatened the position of the governing party Fianna Fáil. The government of Éamon de Valera introduced the Act, which increased the size of the Dáil from 138 to 147 and increased the number of three-seat constituencies from fifteen to twenty-two. The result was described by the journalist and historian Tim Pat Coogan as "a blatant attempt at gerrymander which no Six County Unionist could have bettered".[2] The following February, at the 1948 general election, Clann na Poblachta secured ten seats instead of the nineteen they would have received proportional to their national vote.[2] No Dáil constituency has had more than five seats since 1948. The Constitutional Convention's 2013 recommendation to increase proportionality by having larger constituencies was rejected by the Fine Gael–Labour government on the grounds that "the three, four or five seat Dáil constituency arrangement has served the State well since 1948".[3]
Constituencies 1948–1961
- Key to columns
- Constituency: The name of the constituency. Compass points follow the area name in this list, which was not always the case in the official version of the name.
- Created: The year of the election when a constituency of the same name was first defined.
- Seats: The number of TDs elected from the constituency under the Act.
- Change: Change in the number of seats since the last distribution of seats (which took effect in 1937).
| Constituency[4] | Created | Seats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borough constituencies | |||
| Cork | 1921 | 5 | + 1 |
| Dublin North (Central) | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Dublin North (East) | 1937 | 5 | + 2 |
| Dublin North (West) | 1921 | 3 | − 2 |
| Dublin South (Central) | 1948 | 5 | + 5 |
| Dublin South-East | 1948 | 3 | + 5 |
| Dublin South-West | 1948 | 5 | + 5 |
| County constituencies | |||
| Carlow–Kilkenny | 1948 | 5 | + 5 |
| Cavan | 1921 | 4 | none |
| Clare | 1921 | 4 | − 1 |
| Cork East | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Cork North | 1923 | 3 | − 1 |
| Cork South | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Cork West | 1923 | 3 | − 2 |
| Donegal East | 1937 | 4 | none |
| Donegal West | 1937 | 3 | none |
| Dublin County | 1921 | 3 | − 2 |
| Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Galway North | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Galway South | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Galway West | 1937 | 3 | none |
| Kerry North | 1937 | 4 | none |
| Kerry South | 1937 | 3 | none |
| Kildare | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Leix–Offaly | 1921 | 5 | none |
| Limerick East | 1948 | 4 | + 4 |
| Limerick West | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Longford–Westmeath | 1948 | 5 | + 5 |
| Louth | 1923 | 3 | none |
| Mayo North | 1923 | 3 | none |
| Mayo South | 1923 | 4 | − 1 |
| Meath | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Monaghan | 1921 | 3 | none |
| Roscommon | 1923 | 4 | + 1 |
| Sligo–Leitrim | 1948 | 5 | + 5 |
| Tipperary North | 1948 | 3 | + 3 |
| Tipperary South | 1948 | 4 | + 4 |
| Waterford | 1923 | 4 | none |
| Wexford | 1921 | 5 | none |
| Wicklow | 1923 | 3 | none |
Summary of changes
This list summarises the changes in representation. It does not address revisions to the boundaries of constituencies.
| Constituency | Created | Seats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athlone–Longford | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Carlow–Kildare | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | 1948 | 5 | new constituency |
| Clare | 1921 | 4 | loses 1 seat |
| Cork Borough | 1921 | 5 | gains 1 seat |
| Cork East | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Cork North | 1923 | 3 | loses 1 seat |
| Cork South | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Cork South-East | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Cork West | 1923 | 3 | loses 2 seats |
| Dublin County | 1921 | 3 | loses 2 seats |
| Dublin North (Central) | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Dublin North (East) | 1937 | 5 | gains 2 seats |
| Dublin North (West) | 1921 | 3 | loses 2 seats |
| Dublin South | 1921 | 7 | abolished |
| Dublin South (Central) | 1948 | 5 | new constituency |
| Dublin South-East | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Dublin South-West | 1948 | 5 | new constituency |
| Dublin Townships | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Galway East | 1937 | 4 | abolished |
| Galway North | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Galway South | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Kildare | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Kilkenny | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Leitrim | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Limerick | 1923 | 7 | abolished |
| Limerick East | 1948 | 4 | new constituency |
| Limerick West | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Longford–Westmeath | 1948 | 5 | new constituency |
| Mayo South | 1923 | 4 | loses 1 seat |
| Meath | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Meath–Westmeath | 1937 | 5 | abolished |
| Roscommon | 1923 | 4 | gains 1 seat |
| Sligo | 1937 | 3 | abolished |
| Sligo–Leitrim | 1948 | 5 | new constituency |
| Tipperary | 1923 | 7 | abolished |
| Tipperary North | 1948 | 3 | new constituency |
| Tipperary South | 1948 | 4 | new constituency |
See also
References
- Electoral (Amendment) Act 1961, s. 9: Repeals (No. 19 of 1961, s. 9). Enacted on 14 July 1961. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 29 December 2021.
- Coogan, Tim Pat (1993). De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow. London: Hutchinson. p. 637. ISBN 0-09-175030-X.
- "Fourth Report of the Constitutional Convention on the Dáil Electoral System: Statements (Continued)". Dáil Éireann debates. Oireachtas. 18 December 2014. pp. no.47. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947, 1st Sch.: Constituencies (No. 31 of 1947, 1st Sch.). Enacted on 27 November 1947. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 19 November 2021.