The birth of PR

Parties can promise what they like at election time but we have a constitution, which limits what they can do.

 

Before the last election, most parties promised to reduce the number of TDs in the Dáil and there is now a certain amount of disappointment when we seem to be facing a minimal reduction of less than 10 seats.

One of the items controlled by the constitution is the number of TDs relative to our population so the Government cannot simply decide on the reduction they want and neither can they abolish the Senate without our permission. Our proportional representation voting system is also protected by the constitution.

Fianna Fáil, in government, made two attempts to end PR, in 1959 and 1968. Both were defeated.
In 1959 the referendum was held on the same day as the Presidential Election and was narrowly defeated by 51.7% to 47.2% a margin of only 33,677 votes. In 1969, the defeat was comprehensive, 60.8% to 39.1% a margin of 234,402 votes. No party has attempted to change the system since.

PR is also used for election to the Northern Ireland Assembly having last been used for the local elections in 1920. In 1922, after the foundation of that regime, they suppressed 21 nationalist controlled local authorities and rushed through legislation abolishing PR in local government elections.

The Westminster government hadn’t the stomach to face down the Unionists and the bill became law. They proceeded to fix the boundaries of councils to suit themselves and gave a perfect lesson in gerrymandering.

A typical example was in the next local elections for the Omagh Council. Even though Nationalist candidates received over 5,000 more votes than Unionist candidates, the Unionists had an 18 seat majority on the council.

Until the establishment of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, most Governments tried to do the same not always successfully, particularly with the “Tullymander” of the 1970s.

During the 1800s, societies in Britain and Ireland advocated for the introduction of PR. It was part of the Home Rule Bills of 1912 and 1914 but they fell by the wayside because of the Great War. Once the war was over, there were renewed calls for a PR voting system for Ireland.

Elections were held for Sligo Corporation in 1920 and, by virtue of a special act passed in parliament, PR was used especially to elect members for that one corporation. There followed widespread parliamentary debate, which culminated in the passing of the Local Government Ireland Bill in 1919.

There was opposition, in that some MPs felt if PR were to be introduced, it should be for all the United Kingdom. Others dismissed it as being incapable of giving representation to minorities on local councils. One of the clinching arguments were the results from Sligo. There had been no Unionist member of Sligo Corporation for almost 30 years but after the 1920 election there were nine Unionist members out of a corporation of 34.

The bill was eventually passed and it was ordered that the local elections for 1920 would be held under a system of proportional representation.

Those local elections, the first and indeed, because of partition, the only time in which PR voting was used in a nationwide election, were held on June 28, 1920 – 92 years ago this week.