30th Dáil

30th Dáil
30th Dáil
Overview
Legislative body	Dáil Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	14 June 2007 – 1 February 2011
Election	2007 general election
Government	27th government of Ireland (2007–2008); 28th government of Ireland (2008–2011);
Members	166
Ceann Comhairle	Séamus Kirk; — John O'Donoghue; until 13 October 2009
Taoiseach	Brian Cowen; — Bertie Ahern; until 7 May 2008
Tánaiste	Mary Coughlan; — Brian Cowen; until 7 May 2008
Chief Whip	John Curran; — Pat Carey; until 23 March 2010; — Tom Kitt; until 7 May 2008
Leader of the Opposition	Enda Kenny
Sessions
1st
1st	14 June 2007 – 5 July 2007
2nd	26 September 2007 – 10 July 2008
3rd	24 September 2008 – 10 July 2009
4th	16 September 2009 – 8 July 2010
5th	29 September 2010 – 1 February 2011

The 30th Dáil was elected at the 2007 general election on 24 May 2007 and met on 14 June 2007. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 23rd Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.

The 30th Dáil lasted 1,329 days, and saw a change of Taoiseach from Bertie Ahern to Brian Cowen. The 30th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary McAleese on 1 February 2011, at the request of the Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Composition of the 30th Dáil

Party		May 2007	Jan. 2011^[1]
●	Fianna Fáil	78	71
	Fine Gael	51	51
	Labour	20	20
●	Green	6	6
	Sinn Féin	4	5
●	Progressive Democrats	2	—
	Independent	5	8
	Vacant	—	4
	Ceann Comhairle	—	1

On 14 June 2007, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats, denoted with bullets (●), formed the 27th government of Ireland, led by Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach. On 7 May 2008, after the resignation of Ahern, the parties formed the 28th government of Ireland, led by Brian Cowen as Taoiseach.^[2]^[3]

Graphical representation

This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 30th Dáil in January 2011, shortly before its dissolution. This was not the official seating plan.

Ceann Comhairle

Ceann Comhairle:
- John O'Donoghue (Fianna Fáil), until 13 October 2009
- Séamus Kirk (Fianna Fáil), from 13 October 2009
Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Brendan Howlin (Labour Party), from 26 June 2007

On 14 June 2007, John O'Donoghue (FF) was proposed by Bertie Ahern for the position of Ceann Comhairle. Ruairi Quinn (Lab) was proposed by Pat Rabbitte and seconded by Enda Kenny. O'Donoghue was approved by a vote of 90 to 75.^[4]

On 13 October 2009, O'Donoghue resigned as Ceann Comhairle.^[5] Séamus Kirk was proposed by Brian Cowen and seconded by Mary Coughlan. Dinny McGinley (FG) was proposed by Enda Kenny and seconded by Pádraic McCormack. Kirk was approved by a vote of 87 to 51.^[6]^[7]

Political leadership

Government

Taoiseach:
- Bertie Ahern, until 7 May 2008
- Brian Cowen, from 7 May 2008
Tánaiste:
- Brian Cowen, until 7 May 2008
- Mary Coughlan, from 7 May 2008
Leader of Fianna Fáil:
- Bertie Ahern, until 7 May 2008
- Brian Cowen, until 22 January 2011
- Micheál Martin, from 26 January 2011
Leader of the Green Party:
- Trevor Sargent, until 17 July 2007
- John Gormley, from 17 July 2007(Left government on 23 January 2011)
Leader of the Progressive Democrats:
- Mary Harney, until 17 April 2008
- Ciarán Cannon, until 24 March 2009
- Noel Grealish, from 24 March 2009 to 20 November 2009

Opposition

Leader of the Opposition and Leader of Fine Gael: Enda Kenny
Leader of the Labour Party:
- Pat Rabbitte, until 6 September 2007
- Eamon Gilmore, from 6 September 2007
Leader of the Technical Group: Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Sinn Féin), from 10 December 2010

List of TDs

This is a list of TDs elected to Dáil Éireann in the 2007 general election, sorted by party.^[8] The Changes table below records all changes in party affiliation.

Party		Name	Constituency
	Fianna Fáil (78)	Bertie Ahern	Dublin Central
		Dermot Ahern	Louth
		Michael Ahern	Cork East
		Noel Ahern	Dublin North-West
		Barry Andrews	Dún Laoghaire
		Chris Andrews	Dublin South-East
		Seán Ardagh	Dublin South-Central
		Bobby Aylward	Carlow–Kilkenny
		Joe Behan	Wicklow
		Niall Blaney	Donegal North-East
		Áine Brady	Kildare North
		Cyprian Brady	Dublin Central
		Johnny Brady	Meath West
		Séamus Brennan	Dublin South
		John Browne	Wexford
		Thomas Byrne	Meath East
		Dara Calleary	Mayo
		Pat Carey	Dublin North-West
		Niall Collins	Limerick West
		Margaret Conlon	Cavan–Monaghan
		Seán Connick	Wexford
		Mary Coughlan	Donegal South-West
		Brian Cowen	Laois–Offaly
		John Cregan	Limerick West
		Martin Cullen	Waterford
		John Curran	Dublin Mid-West
		Noel Dempsey	Meath West
		Jimmy Devins	Sligo–North Leitrim
		Timmy Dooley	Clare
		Frank Fahey	Galway West
		Michael Finneran	Roscommon–South Leitrim
		Michael Fitzpatrick	Kildare North
		Seán Fleming	Laois–Offaly
		Pat "the Cope" Gallagher	Donegal South-West
		Mary Hanafin	Dún Laoghaire
		Seán Haughey	Dublin North-Central
		Máire Hoctor	Tipperary North
		Billy Kelleher	Cork North-Central
		Peter Kelly	Longford–Westmeath
		Brendan Kenneally	Waterford
		Michael Kennedy	Dublin North
		Tony Killeen	Clare
		Séamus Kirk	Louth
		Michael Kitt	Galway East
		Tom Kitt	Dublin South
		Brian Lenihan	Dublin West
		Conor Lenihan	Dublin South-West
		Micheál Martin	Cork South-Central
		Jim McDaid	Donegal North-East
		Tom McEllistrim	Kerry North
		Mattie McGrath	Tipperary South
		Michael McGrath	Cork South-Central
		John McGuinness	Carlow–Kilkenny
		Martin Mansergh	Tipperary South
		John Moloney	Laois–Offaly
		Michael Moynihan	Cork North-West
		Michael Mulcahy	Dublin South-Central
		M. J. Nolan	Carlow–Kilkenny
		Darragh O'Brien	Dublin North
		Éamon Ó Cuív	Galway West
		Charlie O'Connor	Dublin South-West
		Willie O'Dea	Limerick East
		John O'Donoghue	Kerry South
		Seán Ó Fearghaíl	Kildare South
Noel O'Flynn	Cork North-Central
Rory O'Hanlon	Cavan–Monaghan
Batt O'Keeffe	Cork North-West
Ned O'Keeffe	Cork East
Mary O'Rourke	Longford–Westmeath
Christy O'Sullivan	Cork South-West
Peter Power	Limerick East
Seán Power	Kildare South
Dick Roche	Wicklow
Eamon Scanlon	Sligo–North Leitrim
Brendan Smith	Cavan–Monaghan
Noel Treacy	Galway East
Mary Wallace	Meath East
Michael Woods	Dublin North-East
	Fine Gael (51)	Bernard Allen	Cork North-Central
		James Bannon	Longford–Westmeath
		Seán Barrett	Dún Laoghaire
		Pat Breen	Clare
		Richard Bruton	Dublin North-Central
		Ulick Burke	Galway East
		Catherine Byrne	Dublin South-Central
		Joe Carey	Clare
		Deirdre Clune	Cork South-Central
		Paul Connaughton Snr	Galway East
		Noel Coonan	Tipperary North
		Simon Coveney	Cork South-Central
		Seymour Crawford	Cavan–Monaghan
		Michael Creed	Cork North-West
		Lucinda Creighton	Dublin South-East
		Michael W. D'Arcy	Wexford
		John Deasy	Waterford
		Jimmy Deenihan	Kerry North
		Andrew Doyle	Wicklow
		Bernard Durkan	Kildare North
		Damien English	Meath West
		Olwyn Enright	Laois–Offaly
		Frank Feighan	Roscommon–South Leitrim
		Charles Flanagan	Laois–Offaly
		Terence Flanagan	Dublin North-East
		Brian Hayes	Dublin South-West
		Tom Hayes	Tipperary South
		Phil Hogan	Carlow–Kilkenny
		Paul Kehoe	Wexford
		Enda Kenny	Mayo
		Pádraic McCormack	Galway West
		Shane McEntee	Meath East
		Dinny McGinley	Donegal South-West
		Joe McHugh	Donegal North-East
		Olivia Mitchell	Dublin South
		Denis Naughten	Roscommon–South Leitrim
		Dan Neville	Limerick West
		Michael Noonan	Limerick East
		Kieran O'Donnell	Limerick East
		Fergus O'Dowd	Louth
		Jim O'Keeffe	Cork South-West
		John O'Mahony	Mayo
		John Perry	Sligo–North Leitrim
		James Reilly	Dublin North
		Michael Ring	Mayo
		Alan Shatter	Dublin South
		Tom Sheahan	Kerry South
		P. J. Sheehan	Cork South-West
		David Stanton	Cork East
		Billy Timmins	Wicklow
		Leo Varadkar	Dublin West
	Labour Party (20)	Tommy Broughan	Dublin North-East
		Joan Burton	Dublin West
		Joe Costello	Dublin Central
		Eamon Gilmore	Dún Laoghaire
		Michael D. Higgins	Galway West
		Brendan Howlin	Wexford
		Ciarán Lynch	Cork South-Central
		Kathleen Lynch	Cork North-Central
		Liz McManus	Wicklow
		Brian O'Shea	Waterford
		Jan O'Sullivan	Limerick East
		Willie Penrose	Longford–Westmeath
		Ruairi Quinn	Dublin South-East
		Pat Rabbitte	Dublin South-West
		Seán Sherlock	Cork East
		Róisín Shortall	Dublin North-West
		Emmet Stagg	Kildare North
		Joanna Tuffy	Dublin Mid-West
		Mary Upton	Dublin South-Central
		Jack Wall	Kildare South
	Green Party (6)	Ciarán Cuffe	Dún Laoghaire
		Paul Gogarty	Dublin Mid-West
		John Gormley	Dublin South-East
		Eamon Ryan	Dublin South
		Trevor Sargent	Dublin North
		Mary White	Carlow–Kilkenny
	Sinn Féin (4)	Martin Ferris	Kerry North
		Arthur Morgan	Louth
		Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin	Cavan–Monaghan
		Aengus Ó Snodaigh	Dublin South-Central
	Progressive Democrats (2)	Noel Grealish	Galway West
	Progressive Democrats (2)	Mary Harney	Dublin Mid-West
	Independent (5)	Beverley Flynn	Mayo
		Tony Gregory	Dublin Central
		Jackie Healy-Rae	Kerry South
		Michael Lowry	Tipperary North
		Finian McGrath	Dublin North-Central

Changes

Date	Constituency			Note
14 June 2007	Kerry South	Fianna Fáil	Ceann Comhairle	John O'Donoghue (FF) is elected Ceann Comhairle^[4]
28 November 2007	Cork East	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Ned O'Keeffe (FF) resigns from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party
27 February 2008	Cork East	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Ned O'Keeffe rejoins the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party
8 April 2008	Mayo	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Beverley Flynn (Ind) re-joins Fianna Fáil^[9]
9 July 2008	Dublin South	Fianna Fáil		Death of Séamus Brennan (FF)^[10]
17 October 2008	Wicklow	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Joe Behan (FF) resigns from Fianna Fáil^[11]
13 November 2008	Donegal North-East	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Jim McDaid (FF) loses the Fianna Fáil party whip after abstaining in a vote on a health issue
2 January 2009	Dublin Central	Independent		Death of Tony Gregory (Ind)^[12]
5 June 2009	Dublin South		Fine Gael	George Lee (FG) gains the seat vacated by the death of Brennan^[13]
5 June 2009	Dublin Central		Independent	Maureen O'Sullivan (Ind) holds the seat vacated by the death of Gregory^[13]
5 June 2009	Donegal South-West	Fianna Fáil		Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) elected as a Member of the European Parliament^[13]
5 August 2009	Sligo–North Leitrim	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Jimmy Devins (FF) resigns the Fianna Fáil party whip in protest at cuts in cancer services at Sligo General Hospital
5 August 2009	Sligo–North Leitrim	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Eamon Scanlon (FF) resigns the Fianna Fáil party whip in protest at cuts in cancer services at Sligo General Hospital
13 October 2009	Kerry South	Ceann Comhairle	Fianna Fáil	John O'Donoghue (FF) resigns as Ceann Comhairle^[5]
13 October 2009	Louth	Fianna Fáil	Ceann Comhairle	Séamus Kirk (FF) is elected Ceann Comhairle^[6]
20 November 2009	Dublin Mid-West	Progressive Democrats	Independent	Mary Harney (PD) becomes an Independent TD following the dissolution of the Progressive Democrats
20 November 2009	Galway West	Progressive Democrats	Independent	Noel Grealish (PD) becomes an Independent TD following the dissolution of the Progressive Democrats
8 February 2010	Dublin South	Fine Gael		George Lee (FG) resigns from Dáil Éireann^[14]
24 March 2010	Waterford	Fianna Fáil		Martin Cullen (FF) resigns from Dáil Éireann^[15]
29 June 2010	Tipperary South	Fianna Fáil	Independent	Mattie McGrath (FF) loses the Fianna Fáil party whip after voting against Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2010. Resigned from Fianna Fáil on 25 January 2011.
2 November 2010	Donegal North-East	Independent		Jim McDaid (Ind) resigns from Dáil Éireann^[16]
26 November 2010	Donegal South-West		Sinn Féin	Pearse Doherty (SF) takes the seat vacated by Gallagher's election to the European Parliament^[17]
13 January 2011	Sligo–North Leitrim	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Scanlon rejoins the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party^[18]
25 January 2011	Sligo–North Leitrim	Independent	Fianna Fáil	Jimmy Devins rejoins the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party^[19]
28 January 2011	Dublin South-Central	Fianna Fáil		Seán Ardagh (FF) resigns from Dáil Éireann^[20]

On 12 July 2010, Pearse Doherty was granted leave to bring judicial review against the government seeking a declaration that due to the length of the vacancy in Donegal South-West, the government was under a duty not to oppose a motion for a writ. On 3 November 2010, Nicholas Kearns, president of the High Court, made a declaration that there has been an unreasonable delay in moving the writ for the by-election in Donegal South-West.^[21] The writ was moved the following day.^[22] However, the moving of the writ was opposed for three remaining vacancies.^[23]

References

^ "Home Page". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
^ "Cowen confirmed as Taoiseach". BreakingNews.ie. 7 May 2008. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
^ "Former Taoisigh". Department of the Taoiseach. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Election of Ceann Comhairle". Dáil Debates – Vol. 637 No. 1. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Statement by An Ceann Comhairle". Dáil Debates – Vol. 691 No. 3. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Election of Ceann Comhairle". Dáil Debates – Vol. 691 No. 3. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^ "Kirk elected Ceann Comhairle". The Irish Times. 13 October 2009. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
^ "TDs & Senators (30th Dáil)". Houses of the Oireachtas.
^ "Beverly Flynn readmitted to FF". RTÉ News. 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
^ "Tributes paid to Séamus Brennan". RTÉ News. 9 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
^ "Full text of Joe Behan TD's resignation letter". The Irish Times. 17 October 2008.
^ "Dublin TD Tony Gregory dies". RTÉ News. 2 January 2009. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Introduction of New Members". Dáil Debates – Vol. 684 No. 1. 9 June 2009.
^ "Resignation of Member". Dáil Debates – Vol. 701 No. 3. 9 February 2010.
^ "Resignation of Member". Dáil Debates – Vol. 705 No. 2. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^ "Resignation of Member". Dáil Debates – Vol. 720 No. 3. 2 November 2010.
^ "Introduction of New Member". Dáil Debates – Vol. 723 No. 3. 30 November 2010.
^ "Sligo's Scanlon Returned To Fianna Fáil Whip". Sligo Today. 14 January 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
^ "FF leadership candidates address party". RTÉ News. 25 January 2011.
^ "Announcement of Business". Dáil Debates – Vol. 727 No. 6. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
^ Doherty v. Government of Ireland [2010] IEHC 369, [2011] 2 IR 222 (3 November 2010), High Court
^ "Issue of Writ: Donegal South-West By-election". Dáil Debates – Vol. 721 No. 1. 4 November 2010.
^ "Issue of Writ: Dublin South By-election". Dáil Debates – Vol. 721 No. 1. 4 November 2010.; "Issue of Writ: Waterford By-election". Dáil Debates – Vol. 721 No. 1. 4 November 2010.; "Issue of Writ: Donegal North-East By-election". Dáil Debates – Vol. 721 No. 1. 4 November 2010.