Adrian Kavanagh, 10th August 2018

Following on similar posts that were completed ahead of the 2011 General Election and the 2016 General Election, this post will list all of the Dail deputies who have retired/stepped down during the lifetime of the current Dail or who have announced that they will not be contesting the next general election. This list will not include any outgoing Dail deputies, who did contest their party’s selection convention but failed to win a nomination

Nineteen of the TDs who were elected in 2016 will be retiring at the next election/not contesting the next election, amounting to 12.0% of the Dáil deputies who held seats after the 2016 Dail contest. (This does not include the four TDs who relinquished their Dáil seats after winning seats at the 2019 European Parliament elections – Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael, Dublin Mid-West), Clare Daly (Independents4Change, Dublin Fingal), Mick Wallace (Independents4Change, Wexford) and Billy Kelleher (Finna Fáil, Cork North-Central). The total number would increase to twenty three (14.6% of the total number elected in 2016) if this group of new MEPs were also included.) Seventeen of the TDs in this group (so far) are male (89.5%), while two are female (10.5%). This means that 13.0% of the current group of male TDs will be stepping down at the next general election, as against 2.9% of the current group of female TDs. 8 of the retiring TDs are Fine Gael TDs, 4 are Sinn Féin TDs, 2 are Labour Party TDs and 4 are Independent/Non-Party TD.

So far, the level of TDs retiring/stepping down at the coming general election is not on a par with the level for the 2011 and 2016 General Elections, as discussed in greater detail here and here. 38 of the TDs who were elected in 2007 retired during the lifetime of the 30th Dail or retired at the 2011 contest, amounting to 22.9% of the TDs elected at the 2007 election. 6 of the retiring TDs in 2011 were female (15.8% of the total number of retiring TDs and 27.3% of the females elected at the 2007 contest) and 32 were male (22.2% of males elected at 2007 election). 21 of the TDs who were elected in 2011 (including the Dublin West by-election) retired/resigned during the lifetime of the 31st Dail or else retired/decided not to contest the 2016 General Election, amounting to 12.7% of the Dail deputies who held seats after the 2011 Dail contests. Nineteen of the TDs in this group were male and two were female.

Carlow-Kilkenny:

Cavan-Monaghan: Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin SF

Clare: Michael Harty IND

Cork East:

Cork North Central: Dara Murphy FG*, Jonathan O’Brien SF, (Billy Kelleher FF)

Cork North-West:

Cork South-Central:

Cork South-West: 

Donegal:

Dublin Central: Maureen O’Sullivan IND

Dublin Mid-West: (Frances Fitzgerald FG)

Dublin Fingal: Brendan Ryan LAB, (Clare Daly IND/I4C)

Dublin Bay North: Finian McGrath IND, Tommy Broughan IND

Dublin North-West:

Dublin South Central:

Dublin Bay South:

Dublin South-West:

Dublin West:

Dublin Rathdown:

Dun Laoghaire: Sean Barrett FG, Maria Bailey FG

Galway East:

Galway West:

Kerry: Martin Ferris SF

Kildare North:

Kildare South:

Laois-Offaly:

Limerick City: Michael Noonan FG

Limerick County:

Longford-Westmeath: Willie Penrose LAB

Louth: Gerry Adams SF

Mayo: Enda Kenny FG

Meath-East:

Meath-West:

Roscommon-Galway:

Sligo-Leitrim: Tony McLoughlin FG

Tipperary:

Waterford: John Deasy FG, John Halligan IND

Wexford: (Mick Wallace IND/I4C)

Wicklow:

* Dara Murphy officially resigned from his seat in the Dáil in December 2019, but there is unlikely to be a by-election to fill this seat ahead of the next general election being called.

This post will be updated if, and when, more TDs announce that they have decided not to contest the next general election.