Independent politicians in Ireland


Independent politicians, who contest elections without the support of one of the political parties, have played a continuous role in the politics of Ireland since independence in 1922.

Provision for independents in electoral law

If a candidate is not the candidate of a registered political party, they may be nominated for elections to Dáil Éireann with the assent of 30 electors in the constituency, for elections to the European Parliament with the assent of 60 electors in the constituency, and for local elections with the assent of 15 electors in the local electoral area. They may choose to have the designation non-party next to their name on the ballot paper.
In Seanad elections and presidential elections, candidates are not nominated by parties directly, and party labels do not appear on the ballot.

Independents supporting governments

In the case of minority governments, where the party or parties forming the government do not have a majority in the Dáil, they will usually be dependent on independent TDs in votes of confidence. This can be by formal arrangement with the government.

Independents in government

In the Inter-Party Government led by John A. Costello as Taoiseach, James Dillon served as Minister for Agriculture. He was an independent TD, having left Fine Gael in 1942 because he disagreed with the policy of neutrality during the Second World War. He rejoined Fine Gael in 1953 and became leader in 1959.
After the 2016 general election, 3 independent TDs were appointed to a minority Fine Gael–Independent government: Denis Naughten as Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Shane Ross as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Katherine Zappone as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Ross is a member of the Independent Alliance, and other members of the Independent Alliance were appointed as Ministers of State. Naughten resigned as Minister on 11 October 2018.
In 2009, Mary Harney continued as Minister for Health as an independent member of the government after the dissolution of the Progressive Democrats, and served until 2011.

Local government

At the 2019 local elections, independents won 185 of the 949 seats on city and county councils.

European Parliament

has been an MEP for Midlands–North-West since 2014.

President of Ireland

The current President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins was elected in 2011 as a Labour Party candidate, but re-elected in 2018 as an independent candidate.

Election results

General elections

Key for government column:
ElectionSeats won±First Pref votes%Government
1921Southern Ireland onlyNo PollNo Poll
1922 548,6387.8
1923 485,8698.1
1927 3153,37013.4
1927 492,9597.9
19322131,89010.4
1933 568,8825.0
1937 1128,4809.7
1938 160,6854.7
19434116,0248.7
1944 194,8527.8
1948 194,2717.2
1951 3127,2349.6
1954 970,9375.3
1957 472,4925.9
1961 365,9635.6
1965 426,2772.1
1969 142,2303.2
1973 139,4192.9
1977 287,5275.5
198163,8293.7
1982 46,0592.8
1982 138,7352.3
198770,8434.0
1989 154,7613.3
1992 199,4875.8
1997 1123,1027.9
2002 11176,3059.5
2007 12106,4295.2
2011 9269,70312.1
2016 5338,21515.9
2020266,52912.2