Irish general election 1973: Encyclopedia II - Irish general election 1973 - Campaign

Irish general election 1973 - Campaign

By the time the general election was called in 1973, Fianna Fáil had been in power for almost sixteen consecutive years. During that period the party had seen three different leaders, Eamon de Valera, Seán F. Lemass and the current leader of the party, Jack Lynch. As a result of this, much of the electorate believed it was time for a change of government. Lynch had hoped to dissolve the Dáil in December of 1972, however events conspired against him and the election was eventually called for February of 1973.

While Fine Gael and the Labour Party had pursued their own opposition policies since 1957 they now realised that the only way to oust Fianna Fáil would be to join forces. Not long after the general election was called both parties agreed to a pre-election pact in order to fight the election together on the issues that united them. The National Coalition as it was known offered the electorate the first alternative credible government in many years.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Campaign", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki