Ireland has a parliamentary system of government consisting of a president and two houses - the Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. The Dáil is directly elected by Irish and UK citizens over 18 using a single transferable vote system. It dissolves within 5 years but can be dissolved earlier. The Seanad is selected after Dáil elections through nominations. A general election is held within 30 days of the Dáil dissolving. The president is elected every 7 years by Irish citizens over 35 and must be nominated.

1. Elections in Ireland
Daria Judge

2. Just to recap
• Ireland is run by a parliament.
• The Government is run by a president and two houses within
the parliament.
• There are two houses in the legislature, the DáilÉireann and
the Seanad Éireann.
• The President is the Head of State and appoints a Head of
Government.

3. Election basics
• A general election can be held within the 30 days that the Dail dissolves.
The Dail can not be in power for longer than 5 years, but it can be
dissolved sooner. Normally the head of government, the Taoiseach, will
recommend the life of the Dail in power to dissolve before the 5 year
mark.
• The President is elected every seven years and has a two term limit.
• After the Dail is dissolved, the Seanad is elected within 90 days. The
Seanad isn’t directly elected like the Dail, but are elected through various
nominations and appointments.
• The Taoiseach is nominated by the Dail and then appointed by the
President.

4. Electing the Dáil
Who can vote?
•Citizens of both Ireland and the UK can vote in Dail
elections
•Must be 18 years of age
Who can run?
• Irish citizens
•Must be 21 years of age

5. Electing the Dáil
•When voting for the Dail, you may only vote once, its done in secret and in a public
building.
•The voting process is a little tricky. They have a single transferable vote system. Basically
that means that if the person they initially voted for doesn’t need the vote to win or has no
chance at winning, their vote can transfer to their second choice candidate. They number
their candidates by putting a “1”, “2”, etc on the ballot to signal their first choice, second
choice, and so on.
•Voters get a ballot paper which has their information on it, such as political parties.
•Votes are counted at 9 am the next day.
•A quota needs to be reached and the formula is below:
If nobody reaches the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their
votes go to the voters second choices.
Total valid votes
___________________________ + 1
Number of seats plus 1

6. The Seanad
• The Seanad isn’t directly elected by the people, but by various nominations:
•11 members appointed by the Taoiseach
•6 by graduates from the two universities
•43 by the 5 panels
The Seanad is selected shortly after the
elections of the Dail

7. Electing the President
• The President is elected every seven years, with a max of two terms.
• Only Irish citizens 35 years and older can run for the office of president.
• A possible candidate also has to be nominated:
• If only one candidate is nominated, then a ballot is unnecessary.
•At least 4/34 city or council members
•At least 20/226 members of parliament
•If they are an incumbent or a former
president who has served one term, they may
nominate themselves.

8. Electing the President
• Money in Presidential elections:
The presidential election has spending limits. It
is now €750,000, but the candidate can be
reimbursed by the state for €200,000
€2,539 is the limit on direct donations from a single person in a year
€6,348 is the limit on third party donations in a year.

9. Final notes
• By elections can be held in the event that a
seat suddenly opens up within the Dail.
• There are also local elections as and European
elections. To vote in local elections, you don’t
need to be an Irish, British, or EU citizen. To
vote in European elections, you have to be a
British, Irish, or EU citizen.
as and
European
elections.
To vote in
local
elections,
you don’t
need to
be an
Irish,
British, or
EU citizen.
To vote in
European