Dublin Finglas (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Dublin Finglas
Former Dáil Éireann Parliamentary constituency
1977–1981
Seats	3
County/City council	County Dublin

Dublin Finglas was a short-lived parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1977 to 1981. The constituency elected 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known in English as TDs) to the Dáil, using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation (PR-STV).

History

The constituency was created in 1977, under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974^[1], taking in much of the former Dublin North West constituency together with parts of Dublin South West, as part of the redistribution of constituencies (also known as the Tullymander) which attempted to secure the re-election of the outgoing Fine Gael/Labour government. The constituency was abolished in 1981 with much of it going into a revived Dublin North West constituency.

Its only election was notable for marking the debut in national politics of the future Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Future Workers' Party leader and government minister Proinsias De Rossa also contested his first Dáil election.

Boundaries

It covered the Finglas area of Dublin city, together with small parts of Drumcondra and Glasnevin. The 1964 Act defined the constituency's boundaries as consisting of the following wards of the county borough of Dublin: Drumcondra South C, Finglas East A, Finglas East B, Finglas East D, Finglas East E, Finglas East F, Finglas West A, Finglas West B, Finglas West C, Glasnevin B, Inns Quay A.^[1]

TDs

Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Dublin Finglas 1977–1981[2]
Key to parties   FF = Fianna Fáil ·   FG = Fine Gael
Dáil	Election	Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)		Deputy (Party)
21st	1977[3]		Jim Tunney (FF)		Luke Belton (FG)		Bertie Ahern (FF)
22nd	1981	Constituency abolished

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

1977 general election

1977 general election: Dublin Finglas[2][3]
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Fianna Fáil	Jim Tunney	7,963	28.8	1
	Fine Gael	Luke Belton	3,896	13.5	2
	Fianna Fáil	Bertie Ahern	3,729	14.1	3
	Labour Party	Brendan Halligan	3,055	11.0
	Fianna Fáil	Daniel Bell	2,598	9.4
	Fine Gael	Alice Glenn	2,452	8.9
	Independent	Matt Merrigan	1,512	5.5
	Sinn Féin (Workers' Party)	Proinsias De Rossa	1,317	4.8
	Labour Party	Billy Keegan	1,174	4.2
Electorate: 39,953   Valid: 27,696   Quota: 6,925   Turnout: 69.3%

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1974: Schedule (Constituencies)". Irish Statute Book database. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1974/en/act/pub/0007/gen_1.html. Retrieved 12 February 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Walker, Brian M, ed (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–92. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0 901714 96 8. ISSN 0332-0286. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "General election 1977: Dublin Finglas". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1977&cons=93. Retrieved 12 February 2009.