The February 1982 Irish general election to the 23rd Dáil was held on Thursday, 18 February, three weeks after the dissolution of the 22nd Dáil on 27 January by President Patrick Hillery on the request of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald on the defeat of the government's budget. The general election took place in 41 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.
The 23rd Dáil met at Leinster House on 9 March to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Charles Haughey was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 18th government of Ireland, a minority single-party Fianna Fáil government.
Background
The first general election of 1982 was caused by the sudden collapse of the Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government when the budget was defeated. The Minister for Finance, John Bruton, attempted to put VAT on children's shoes. This measure was rejected by Jim Kemmy, a left-wing independent Teachta Dála, and Joe Sherlock of Sinn Féin The Workers' Party.
Dissolution of the Dáil
On 27 January 1982 Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald sought an immediate dissolution of the Dáil following the collapse of his minority government. While FitzGerald met with President Patrick Hillery at Áras an Uachtaráin, several Fianna Fáil members (including party leader Charles Haughey and former Foreign Minister Brian Lenihan Snr) attempted to contact the president. Their aim was to persuade Hillery to deny the dissolution, which would have forced FitzGerald to resign and allowed the Dáil to nominate a new Taoiseach, paving the way for Haughey's potential return to office.
|image = center|360px
|}
Independents include Independent Fianna Fáil (11,732 votes, 1 seat).
Voting summary
Seats summary
Government formation
Fianna Fáil emerged from the election as the largest party and appeared most likely to form a government. However, internal divisions within the party threatened Charles Haughey's bid for Taoiseach. Despite speculation about a potential leadership challenge by Desmond O'Malley, which ultimately failed to materialise, Haughey was confirmed as the party's nominee. To secure the necessary support for his return to office, Fianna Fáil struck a deal with socialist TD Tony Gregory, Independent Fianna Fáil TD Neil Blaney, and the three Sinn Féin The Workers' Party deputies, including Joe Sherlock. With this backing, Haughey was appointed Taoiseach, allowing Fianna Fáil to form a government, the 18th Government of Ireland.