The 7th government of Ireland (2 June 1954 – 20 March 1957), commonly known as the second inter-party government, was the government of Ireland formed after the 1954 general election to the 15th Dáil held on 18 May. It was a minority government of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Clann na Talmhan. Clann na Poblachta, which had been in the First inter-party government (1948–1951) with these parties, supported the government but did not form part of it. It lasted for .
Nomination of Taoiseach
The 15th Dáil first met on 2 June 1954. In the debate on the nomination of Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil leader and outgoing Taoiseach Éamon de Valera and former Taoiseach John A. Costello of Fine Gael were both proposed. The nomination of de Valera was defeated with 66 votes cast in favour and 78 against, while the nomination of Costello was approved by 79 to 66. Costello was appointed as Taoiseach by President Seán T. O'Kelly.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="3" bgcolor="#C0C0C0" align=center | 2 June 1954<br/>Nomination of John A. Costello (FG) as Taoiseach<br/>Motion proposed by Richard Mulcahy and seconded by William Norton<br/>Absolute majority: 74/147
|- bgcolor="#D8D8D8"
! width=80px | Vote
! width=610px | Parties
! width=80px align="center" | Votes
|-
| Yes || Fine Gael (50), Labour Party (18), Clann na Talmhan (5), Clann na Poblachta (3), Independents (3) ||
|-
| No || Fianna Fáil (65), Independent (1) ||
|-
| Not voting || Ceann Comhairle (1), Independent (1) ||
|}
Members of the Government
The Ministers of the Government were proposed by the Taoiseach and approved by the Dáil. They were appointed by the president on the same day.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Office
!Name
!Term
!colspan="2"|Party
|-
|Taoiseach
|John A. Costello
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Tánaiste
|rowspan=2|William Norton
|rowspan=2|1954–1957
|rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
|rowspan=2|Labour Party
|-
|Minister for Industry and Commerce
|-
|Minister for Education
|Richard Mulcahy
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Lands
|Joseph Blowick
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Justice
|James Everett
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Agriculture
|James Dillon
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Defence
|Seán Mac Eoin
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
|Michael Keyes
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for External Affairs
|Liam Cosgrave
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Social Welfare
|Brendan Corish
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Finance
|Gerard Sweetman
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Local Government
|Patrick O'Donnell
|1954–1957
|
|-
|Minister for Health
|Tom O'Higgins
|1954–1957
|
|-
|colspan="5"|
Change 2 July 1956
Establishment of the Department of the Gaeltacht.
|-
!Office
!Name
!Term
!colspan="2"|Party
|-
|Minister for the Gaeltacht
|Richard Mulcahy
|1956
|
|-
|colspan="5"|
Changes 24 October 1956
Assignment of separate Minister for the Gaeltacht.
|-
!Office
!Name
!Term
!colspan="2"|Party
|-
|Minister for the Gaeltacht
|Patrick Lindsay
|1956–1957
|
|}
Parliamentary Secretaries
On 3 June 1954, the government appointed the Parliamentary Secretaries on the nomination of the Taoiseach.
|-
!Name
!Office
!Term
!colspan=2|Party
|-
|Dan Spring
|Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government
|1956–1957
|
|-
|colspan=5|
Changes 3 July 1956
Following the establishment of the Department of the Gaeltacht