|
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The newly elected members of the 29th Dáil assembled on Thursday 6 June 2002. The general election took place in 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 165 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. ==Overview== The general election was significant for a number of reasons: *The election was considered a success for Fianna Fáil, with the party coming within a handful of seats from achieving an overall majority. The only high-profile loss was Mary O'Rourke losing her seat in Westmeath. *The re-election of the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats government, the first occasion since 1969 when an Irish government won re-election. *The meltdown in Fine Gael support, which saw the main opposition party drop from 54 to 31 seats, and lose all but three seats in Dublin. *The failure of the Labour Party, contrary to all expectations, to increase its seat total. Later in the year, Ruairi Quinn stepped down as leader of the Labour Party. He was replaced by Pat Rabbitte. The most high-profile loss for the party was the defeat of former leader Dick Spring in Kerry. *The success of the Green Party, which increased its TDs from two to six, including its first Teachta Dála (TD) outside of Dublin. *The electoral success of Sinn Féin, which increased its seat number from one to five. *The election of a large number of independent candidates. *Contrary to what opinion polls and political pundits were predicting, the Progressive Democrats kept all of their seats, and picked up four more. *It was the first time electronic voting machines were used in an Irish election. They were used in three constituencies: Dublin North, Dublin West and Meath. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Irish general election, 2002」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|