After weeks and months of talk and speculation, Taoiseach Simon Harris is now set to put the wheels in motion to dissolve the current Dáil and kick off a general election campaign.
It is understood that the election will take place on Friday, November 29, and that the Dáil will be dissolved today (Friday, November 8).
This general election will elect TDs for the 34th Dáil. This new Dáil will have 174 members, an increase on 14 seats compared to the outgoing Dáil.
That increase reflects the growing population, which surpassed five million according to Census 2022, which took place during this Dáil. There most be on TD for no more than every 30,000 people in the country.
This means the next Dáil will be the largest in the history of the state, and that 88 seats will be required for a majority.
The number of constituencies will also increase, from 39 to 43.
The current outgoing government is a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green Party, an arrangement that has seen its fair share of tension on a number of issues, including rural ones, such as the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), and the ban on the sale or advertising of turf.
The next government is very likely to also be a coalition, due to the higher number of seats needed for a majority.
The current main opposition party is Sinn Féin. However, if, after this general election, one of the coalition parties was to find itself back in opposition, Sinn Féin could find itself playing second fiddle to a larger opposition party if it is unable to be part of the future government itself.
Ireland uses a very complex variant of the proportional representation voting system for electing TDs. If you want to learn more about that system, you can check out Agriland’s explainer article, published in advance of June’s European and local elections.
If the election is called for November 29, and the Dáil dissolved today as expected, it will kick off a general election campaign of exactly three weeks.
Some familiar faces (for rural voters at least), have already said that they will not be standing in this election.
Perhaps most significantly, former minister for agriculture Simon Coveney said in July that he would not contest the next general election, and, more recently, Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill – one of the most prominent rural and farming-orientated TDs – announced he would not be running.
So there could be change-aplenty after November 29. Stay tuned to Agriland in the coming weeks for coverage of General Election 2024.