27th Dáil

27th Dáil
27th Dáil
Overview
Legislative body	Dáil Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	14 December 1992 – 15 May 1997
Election	1992 general election
Government	23rd government of Ireland (1993–1994); 24th government of Ireland (1994–1997);
Members	166
Ceann Comhairle	Seán Treacy
Taoiseach	John Bruton; — Albert Reynolds; until 15 December 1994
Tánaiste	Dick Spring; — Bertie Ahern; until 15 December 1994; — Dick Spring; until 17 November 1994; — John Wilson; until 12 January 1993
Chief Whip	Jim Higgins; — Seán Barrett; until 23 May 1995; — Noel Dempsey; until 15 December 1994
Leader; of the Opposition	Bertie Ahern; — John Bruton; until 15 December 1994
Sessions
1st
1st	14 December 1992 – 21 July 1993
2nd	20 September 1993 – 1 July 1994
3rd	25 August 1994 – 26 July 1995
4th	20 September 1995 – 25 July 1996
5th	25 September 1996 – 15 May 1997

The 27th Dáil was elected at the 1992 general election on 25 November 1992 and met on 14 December 1992. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 20th Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.

The 27th Dáil saw a change of Taoiseach from Albert Reynolds to John Bruton in December 1994, the only time there was a new Taoiseach with a change in the party composition of the government during a Dáil term. The 27th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary Robinson on 15 May 1997, at the request of the Taoiseach, John Bruton. The 27th Dáil lasted 1,614 days.

Composition of the 27th Dáil

Party		Nov. 1992		May 1997	Change
●	Fianna Fáil	68		67	1
	Fine Gael	45	†	47	2
●	Labour	33	†	32	1
	Progressive Democrats	10		8	2
	Democratic Left	4	†	6	2
	Green	1		1
	Independent	5		3	2
	Ceann Comhairle	—		1	1
Total		166

23rd government of Ireland (1993–1994) coalition parties denoted with bullets (●)
24th government of Ireland (1994–1997) coalition parties denoted with daggers (†)

Graphical representation

This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 27th Dáil from January 1993. This was not the official seating plan.

Ceann Comhairle

On 14 December 1992, Seán Treacy (Ind) was proposed by Albert Reynolds and seconded by John Bruton for the position of Ceann Comhairle. Treacy was approved without a vote.^[1] On 23 April 1997, Treacy announced to the Dáil that would not be availing of his constitutional right to automatic re-election to the 28th Dáil.^[2]

TDs by constituency

The list of the 166 TDs elected is given in alphabetical order by Dáil constituency.^[3]

Members of the 27th Dáil
Constituency	Name	Party
Carlow–Kilkenny	Liam Aylward		Fianna Fáil
	John Browne		Fine Gael
	Phil Hogan		Fine Gael
	M. J. Nolan		Fianna Fáil
	Séamus Pattison		Labour
Cavan–Monaghan	Andrew Boylan		Fine Gael
	Seymour Crawford		Fine Gael
	Jimmy Leonard		Fianna Fáil
	Rory O'Hanlon		Fianna Fáil
	Brendan Smith		Fianna Fáil
Clare	Moosajee Bhamjee		Labour
	Donal Carey		Fine Gael
	Síle de Valera		Fianna Fáil
	Tony Killeen		Fianna Fáil
Cork East	Michael Ahern		Fianna Fáil
	Paul Bradford		Fine Gael
	Ned O'Keeffe		Fianna Fáil
	John Mulvihill		Labour
Cork North-Central	Bernard Allen		Fine Gael
	Liam Burke		Fine Gael
	Gerry O'Sullivan		Labour
	Máirín Quill		Progressive Democrats
	Dan Wallace		Fianna Fáil
Cork North-West	Michael Creed		Fine Gael
	Donal Moynihan		Fianna Fáil
	Frank Crowley		Fine Gael
Cork South-Central	Peter Barry		Fine Gael
	Pat Cox		Progressive Democrats
	Micheál Martin		Fianna Fáil
	Batt O'Keeffe		Fianna Fáil
	Toddy O'Sullivan		Labour
Cork South-West	Jim O'Keeffe		Fine Gael
	P. J. Sheehan		Fine Gael
	Joe Walsh		Fianna Fáil
Donegal North-East	Neil Blaney		Independent Fianna Fáil
	Paddy Harte		Fine Gael
	Jim McDaid		Fianna Fáil
Donegal South-West	Mary Coughlan		Fianna Fáil
	Pat "the Cope" Gallagher		Fianna Fáil
	Dinny McGinley		Fine Gael
Dublin Central	Bertie Ahern		Fianna Fáil
	Joe Costello		Labour
	Tony Gregory		Independent
	Jim Mitchell		Fine Gael
Dublin North	Ray Burke		Fianna Fáil
	Nora Owen		Fine Gael
	Seán Ryan		Labour
	Trevor Sargent		Green
Dublin North-Central	Richard Bruton		Fine Gael
	Ivor Callely		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Haughey		Fianna Fáil
	Derek McDowell		Labour
Dublin North-East	Tommy Broughan		Labour
	Liam Fitzgerald		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Kenny		Labour
	Michael Woods		Fianna Fáil
Dublin North-West	Noel Ahern		Fianna Fáil
	Mary Flaherty		Fine Gael
	Proinsias De Rossa		Democratic Left
	Róisín Shortall		Labour
Dublin South	Séamus Brennan		Fianna Fáil
	Eithne FitzGerald		Labour
	Tom Kitt		Fianna Fáil
	Liz O'Donnell		Progressive Democrats
	Alan Shatter		Fine Gael
Dublin South-Central	Ben Briscoe		Fianna Fáil
	Gay Mitchell		Fine Gael
	John O'Connell		Fianna Fáil
	Pat Upton		Labour
Dublin South-East	Frances Fitzgerald		Fine Gael
	Michael McDowell		Progressive Democrats
	Ruairi Quinn		Labour
	Eoin Ryan		Fianna Fáil
Dublin South-West	Chris Flood		Fianna Fáil
	Mary Harney		Progressive Democrats
	Pat Rabbitte		Democratic Left
	Mervyn Taylor		Labour
	Éamonn Walsh		Labour
Dublin West	Austin Currie		Fine Gael
	Joan Burton		Labour
	Liam Lawlor		Fianna Fáil
	Brian Lenihan Snr		Fianna Fáil
Dún Laoghaire	David Andrews		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Barrett		Fine Gael
	Niamh Bhreathnach		Labour
	Eamon Gilmore		Democratic Left
	Helen Keogh		Progressive Democrats
Galway East	Paul Connaughton Snr		Fine Gael
	Michael P. Kitt		Fianna Fáil
	Noel Treacy		Fianna Fáil
Galway West	Máire Geoghegan-Quinn		Fianna Fáil
	Michael D. Higgins		Labour
	Pádraic McCormack		Fine Gael
	Bobby Molloy		Progressive Democrats
	Éamon Ó Cuív		Fianna Fáil
Kerry North	Jimmy Deenihan		Fine Gael
	Denis Foley		Fianna Fáil
	Dick Spring		Labour
Kerry South	Breeda Moynihan-Cronin		Labour
	John O'Donoghue		Fianna Fáil
	John O'Leary		Fianna Fáil
Kildare	Alan Dukes		Fine Gael
	Bernard Durkan		Fine Gael
	Charlie McCreevy		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Power		Fianna Fáil
	Emmet Stagg		Labour
Laois–Offaly	Ger Connolly		Fianna Fáil
	Brian Cowen		Fianna Fáil
	Charles Flanagan		Fine Gael
	Pat Gallagher		Labour
	Liam Hyland		Fianna Fáil
Limerick East	Peadar Clohessy		Progressive Democrats
	Jim Kemmy		Labour
	Michael Noonan		Fine Gael
	Willie O'Dea		Fianna Fáil
	Desmond O'Malley		Progressive Democrats
Limerick West	Gerry Collins		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Finucane		Fine Gael
	Michael J. Noonan		Fianna Fáil
Longford–Roscommon	John Connor		Fine Gael
	Seán Doherty		Fianna Fáil
	Tom Foxe		Independent
	Albert Reynolds		Fianna Fáil
Louth	Dermot Ahern		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Bell		Labour
	Séamus Kirk		Fianna Fáil
	Brendan McGahon		Fine Gael
Mayo East	Jim Higgins		Fine Gael
	Tom Moffatt		Fianna Fáil
	P. J. Morley		Fianna Fáil
Mayo West	Pádraig Flynn		Fianna Fáil
	Enda Kenny		Fine Gael
	Séamus Hughes		Fianna Fáil
Meath	John Bruton		Fine Gael
	Noel Dempsey		Fianna Fáil
	Brian Fitzgerald		Labour
	Colm Hilliard		Fianna Fáil
	Mary Wallace		Fianna Fáil
Sligo–Leitrim	Declan Bree		Labour
	Matt Brennan		Fianna Fáil
	John Ellis		Fianna Fáil
	Ted Nealon		Fine Gael
Tipperary North	Michael Lowry		Fine Gael
	John Ryan		Labour
	Michael Smith		Fianna Fáil
Tipperary South	Theresa Ahearn		Fine Gael
	Noel Davern		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Ferris		Labour
	Seán Treacy		Independent
Waterford	Martin Cullen		Progressive Democrats
	Austin Deasy		Fine Gael
	Brendan Kenneally		Fianna Fáil
	Brian O'Shea		Labour
Westmeath	Paul McGrath		Fine Gael
	Mary O'Rourke		Fianna Fáil
	Willie Penrose		Labour
Wexford	John Browne		Fianna Fáil
	Hugh Byrne		Fianna Fáil
	Avril Doyle		Fine Gael
	Brendan Howlin		Labour
	Ivan Yates		Fine Gael
Wicklow	Johnny Fox		Independent
	Joe Jacob		Fianna Fáil
	Liam Kavanagh		Labour
	Liz McManus		Democratic Left
	Godfrey Timmins		Fine Gael

Changes

Date	Constituency			Note
14 December 1992	Tipperary South	Independent	Ceann Comhairle	Seán Treacy takes office as Ceann Comhairle^[1]
4 January 1993	Mayo West	Fianna Fáil		Resignation of Pádraig Flynn on nomination as EC Commissioner^[4]^[5]
24 February 1993	Dublin South-Central	Fianna Fáil		Resignation of John O'Connell^[6]
31 March 1993	Limerick West	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Michael J. Noonan loses whip after criticism of party leader and Taoiseach^[7]
7 July 1993	Clare	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Síle de Valera resigns from parliamentary party in opposition to government policy on Shannon Airport^[8]
7 July 1993	Clare	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Tony Killeen resigns from parliamentary party in opposition to government policy on Shannon Airport^[8]
13 May 1994	Cork South-Central	Progressive Democrats	Independent	Pat Cox resigns from PDs to contest the 1994 European Parliament election as an Independent^[9]
9 June 1994	Dublin South-Central		Democratic Left	Eric Byrne takes the seat vacated by the resignation of O'Connell
9 June 1994	Mayo West		Fine Gael	Michael Ring takes the seat vacated by the resignation of Flynn
15 June 1994	Clare	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Síle de Valera returns to parliamentary party^[10]
15 June 1994	Clare	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Tony Killeen returns to parliamentary party^[10]
19 July 1994	Cork South-Central	Independent		Resignation of Pat Cox following his re-election to Munster at the European Parliament election^[11]
5 August 1994	Cork North-Central	Labour		Death of Gerry O'Sullivan
5 September 1994	Waterford	Progressive Democrats	Fianna Fáil	Martin Cullen joins Fianna Fáil^[12]
10 November 1994	Cork North-Central		Democratic Left	Kathleen Lynch takes the seat vacated by the death of O'Sullivan
10 November 1994	Cork South-Central	Independent	Fine Gael	Hugh Coveney takes the seat vacated by the resignation of Pat Cox
18 January 1995	Limerick West	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Whip restored to Michael J. Noonan^[13]
17 March 1995	Wicklow	Independent		Death of Johnny Fox
29 June 1995	Wicklow		Independent	Mildred Fox holds the seat vacated by the death of her father Johnny Fox
3 October 1995	Limerick West	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Michael J. Noonan loses whip after abstaining on divorce amendment^[14]
1 November 1995	Dublin West	Fianna Fáil		Death of Brian Lenihan Snr^[15]
8 November 1995	Donegal North-East	Independent Fianna Fáil		Death of Neil Blaney^[16]
2 April 1996	Dublin West		Fianna Fáil	Brian Lenihan Jnr holds the seat vacated by the death of his father Brian Lenihan Snr
2 April 1996	Donegal North-East		Fianna Fáil	Cecilia Keaveney takes the seat vacated by the death of Blaney
14 May 1997	Limerick West	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Whip restored to Michael J. Noonan^[17]

On 24 February 1994, Proinsias De Rossa (DL) sought to direct that the writ be moved for the by-elections in Dublin South-Central, and Enda Kenny (FG) sought to direct that the writ be moved for the by-elections in Mayo West. This was opposed by the government.^[18] The government moved the writs on 18 May 1994.^[19] The by-elections were held at the same date as the European Parliament election and the local elections.