1997 Irish general election

The 1997 general election saw the public offered a choice of two possible coalitions. The existing government was a coalition of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left – the so-called "Rainbow Coalition". This in very broad terms could be described as a centre-left coalition. It was opposed by a possible coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, which most Irish commentators regarded as a centre-right coalition.

The outgoing Rainbow parties campaigned to re-elect the coalition and thus emphasized the working relationship that they had developed, running with the slogan 'Partnership That Works'.[1] They claimed credit for a booming economy, improving social services and reforms such as the introduction of divorce. Despite this united front, each party fought its own campaign.

Fine Gael ran as a law and order party, drawing attention to the anti-crime policies it had put in place. Labour emphasised the number of campaign pledges it had managed to implement not only as part of the Rainbow government, but also during its coalition with Fianna Fail.

Despite entering the election with polls suggesting they would overtake Labour as the third biggest party, and with Mary Harney as the most popular party leader, the Progressive Democrats struggled. Initially, it ran a presidential-style campaign that emphasized Harney. However, entering a pact with a resurgent Fianna Fáil meant it struggled to assert itself. In response, the PDs hastily published a manifesto-a move that backfired as it controversially called for single parent benefit to be cut in order to encourage single mothers to live with their parents. This drew fire from Pronsias De Rossa, who accused Harney of 'not have a bull's notion about social welfare'.

28th Irish general election – 6 June 1997[2][3]
Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Fianna Fáil	Bertie Ahern	77	10	46.4	703,682	39.3	0.2
	Fine Gael	John Bruton	54	9	32.5	499,936	27.9	3.4
	Labour	Dick Spring	17	16	10.2	186,044	10.4	8.9
	Progressive Democrats	Mary Harney	4	6	2.4	83,765	4.7	±0.0
	Green	—	2	1	1.2	49,323	2.8	1.4
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams[4]	1	1	0.6	45,614	2.5	0.9
	Democratic Left	Proinsias De Rossa	4	0	2.4	44,901	2.5	0.3
	National Party	Nora Bennis	0	New	0	19,077	1.1	New
	Socialist Party	Joe Higgins	1	New	0.6	12,445	0.7	New
	Christian Solidarity	Gerard Casey	0	New	0	8,357	0.5	New
	Workers' Party	Tom French	0	0	0	7,808	0.4	0.3
	Socialist Workers	N/A	0	New	0	2,028	0.1	New
	Natural Law Party	N/A	0	New	0	1,515	0.1	New
	South Kerry Independent		0	New	0	1,388	0.1	New
	Independent	N/A	6	2	3.6	123,102	7.9	1.1
Spoilt votes						17,947	—	—
Total			166	0	100	1,806,932	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						2,741,262	65.9%	—

• Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats minority coalition government formed.

The outgoing Ceann Comhairle retired at this election. Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (11,607 votes, 1 seat).

The following changes took place as a result of the election:

• 17 outgoing TDs retired, including the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Treacy
• 149 TDs stood for re-election
  • 121 were re-elected
  • 28 failed to be re-elected
• 45 successor TDs were elected
  • 32 were elected for the first time
  • 13 had previously been TDs
• There were 6 successor female TDs, replacing 9 outgoing, decreasing the total number by 3 to 20
• There were changes in 34 of the 41 constituencies contested

Outgoing TDs are listed in the constituency they constested in the election. For some, such as Kildare North, this differs from the constituency they represented in the outgoing Dáil. Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.

Following the election none of the major parties had a clear majority. Negotiations resulted in a Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition taking office. Four Independent Teachta Dála (TDs) also supported the government ensuring an overall majority. Bertie Ahern became the Taoiseach while Mary Harney of the Progressive Democrats became Tánaiste.

Although Fine Gael gained seats, it crossed the Dáil chamber to the Opposition benches. Fianna Fáil also increased its representation, but the Progressive Democrats had a disastrous election, losing more than half their seats – including ones thought safe such as Cork North-Central and Dún Laoghaire, despite no decrease in their vote.

The Green Party picked up an extra seat, with John Gormley elected in Dublin South-East. He was elected by just over 30 votes after a marathon recount, lasting four days, saw Progressive Democrat Michael McDowell defeated.

The main feature of the election, however, was the collapse of the Labour Party vote. Not only did it lose seats it had picked up in the 1992 general election, when its vote was an at all-time high – such as in Clare and Laois–Offaly – but it also lost reasonably safe seats, such as in Dublin North, Dublin Central and Cork South-Central. Dick Spring would later retire as leader of the Labour Party.

Democratic Left also suffered, losing its two gains made in by-elections during the 27th Dáil. Sinn Féin made its debut in the Dáil for the first time since 1957), with the party winning a seat in the Cavan–Monaghan constituency with the election of Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. It also narrowly missed a seat in Kerry North. The Socialist Party, a Trotskyist party which consisted of former members of the Labour Party expelled in 1989, gained a seat in the Dublin West constituency.

• Government of the 28th Dáil
• Members of the 28th Dáil
• Ministers of State of the 28th Dáil

• 1997 election: Party leaders' debate RTÉ archives
• Fianna Fail Election Manifesto 1997 Irish general election