Ireland General election 2020 — Results

Background

The Irish general election of 8 February 2020 broke the century-old duopoly of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Sinn Féin, led by Mary Lou McDonald, topped the poll in first-preference votes with 24.53% — its best result ever — and won 37 of the 160 seats, having run too few candidates to capitalise fully on its surge. Fianna Fáil finished with the most seats, 38 (including the automatically returned Ceann Comhairle), on 22.18%, while Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael fell to third on 20.86% and 35 seats. The Greens enjoyed a strong night with 7.13% and 12 seats. Turnout was 62.9%.

The voting system

TDs are elected by the single transferable vote (PR-STV) in multi-seat constituencies of three to five members — 39 constituencies in 2020. Voters rank candidates across parties and independents, and votes transfer between candidates as the count proceeds, so first-preference shares and seat totals diverge: Sinn Féin won the popular vote but, having nominated only 42 candidates, could not convert it into the largest bloc of seats. Because each constituency returns several members of different parties, this page shows the national first-preference result and the composition of the Dáil rather than a regional winner map.

Issues and campaign

The dominant issues were the housing and homelessness crisis, the state of the health service — symbolised by hospital trolley waits — and the cost of living, all of which had festered despite the strong economy. Fine Gael's emphasis on its handling of Brexit and the public finances failed to connect with voters' day-to-day concerns, and the two big parties' refusal to govern with Sinn Féin became a central theme as the campaign went on and Sinn Féin surged in the polls.

How the vote went

The result was a three-way split, with the three largest parties separated by fewer than four points and none close to the 80 seats needed for a majority. Labour fell to 6 seats, the Social Democrats held 6, Solidarity–People Before Profit 5, and Aontú won its first seat; independents and others took around 20. For the first time, the combined Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael vote fell below half, and a party other than the two traditional rivals had won the popular vote.

Consequences and aftermath

With Sinn Féin shut out by the larger parties, government formation took four months and was concluded against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020 Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party formed an unprecedented coalition — the first ever to unite the two civil-war parties in government together — with a rotating Taoiseach: Micheál Martin took office first, handing over to Leo Varadkar in December 2022. The election confirmed Sinn Féin as a genuine contender for power and reshaped the strategic landscape of Irish politics.

Data source

Houses of the Oireachtas / Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage — oireachtas.ie.

Compiled and reviewed from official results by ElectioMap. See our data methodology.