electionstracker

Ireland 1965 general election

What was the result of the 1965 general election in Ireland?

Fianna Fáil won 72 of 144 seats with 47.7% of the vote. 75.1% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Ireland
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Fianna Fáil won 72 of 144 seats with 47.7% of the vote; 75.1% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 4.5 points on 1961.

  • Fianna Fáil 72 +2 seats 47.7% +3.8 points
  • Fine Gael 47 0 seats 34.1% +2.1 points
  • Labour Party 22 +6 seats 15.4% +3.7 points
  • Clann na Poblachta 1 0 seats 0.8% −0.4 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Ireland 1961 general election, party by party.

73 of 144 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 47.7%

    Share of the vote won by Fianna Fáil

    Fianna Fáil won 72 of 144 seats. A majority needs 73.

  2. +6 seats

    Seats gained by Labour Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1961.

  3. 75.1%

    Voter turnout

    Up 4.5 points on 1961.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Fianna Fáil72+247.7+3.8597,414
Fine Gael47034.1+2.1427,081
Labour Party22+615.4+3.7192,740
Clann na Poblachta100.8−0.49,427
Largest party without seats000.0−0.1183
Independents2−4

± is the change against the Ireland 1961 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Fianna Fáil 597,414
  • Fine Gael 427,081
  • Labour Party 192,740
  • Clann na Poblachta 9,427
  • Largest party without seats 183
  • Independents

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

75.1% of the 1,683,019 registered voters cast a ballot (1,264,666 ballots), up 4.5 points on 1961. 1,253,122 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1954 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Fianna Fáil47.7% of votes50.0% of seats
  • Fine Gael34.1% of votes32.6% of seats
  • Labour Party15.4% of votes15.3% of seats
  • Clann na Poblachta0.8% of votes0.7% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.7 by votes and 2.6 by seats; Fianna Fáil led Fine Gael by 13.6 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of