1981 Irish General Election
11 June 1981 · Three elections in eighteen months · 166 seats, 84 for a majority
Fianna Fáil finished first with 78 of 166 seats on 45.3% of the vote. Turnout 76.2%.
Taoiseach before
Charles Haughey
Fianna Fáil
Taoiseach (continued)
—
Largest force
Fianna Fáil
78 of 166 seats
Turnout
76.2%
The result
| Share of Dáil Éireann | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | Charles Haughey | 78 | -6 | 777,616 | 45.3% | — | |
| Fine Gael | Garret FitzGerald | 65 | +22 | 626,376 | 36.5% | — | |
| Labour | Frank Cluskey | 15 | -2 | 169,990 | 9.9% | — | |
| Sinn Féin The Workers' Party | Tomás Mac Giolla | 1 | +1 | 29,561 | 1.7% | — | |
| Socialist Labour | Noël Browne | 1 | — | 7,107 | 0.4% | — | |
| Socialist Party | Eamonn O'Brien | 0 | — | 571 | 0.0% | — | |
| Communist | Eugene McCartan | 0 | 0 | 358 | 0.0% | — | |
| Independent | — | 6 | +2 | 106,632 | 6.2% | — |