The 31st Dáil was elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and first met at midday on 9 March 2011 in Leinster House. The members of Dáil ÃÂireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 24th Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.
The 2011 election saw 17 Dáil constituencies return 3 TDs each, 15 constituencies return 4 TDs each and 11 constituencies return 5 TDs each, for a total of 166. Seán Barrett was elected as Ceann Comhairle in the first sitting of the Dáil. For the first time, Fine Gael, led by Enda Kenny, became the largest party. It formed a coalition government with the Labour Party, led by Eamon Gilmore, who had achieved their highest number of seats in the party's history. In July 2014, Joan Burton won a Labour Party leadership election to become the leader of the Labour Party and Tánaiste.
Fianna Fáil secured 20 seats, the lowest in the party's history, and was the largest opposition party. The leader of the party, Micheál Martin became the Leader of the Opposition. Gerry Adams as leader of Sinn Féin became the second opposition leader. A technical group was formed following the election composed of 16 independent politicians and members of the United Left Alliance, who failed to win enough seats to gain speaking rights.
Almost half of the members of the 30th Dáil were absent from the 31st: 31 members retired before the poll and a further 45 TDs lost their seats at the election. 76 new TDs were elected to the Dáil, 46% of the total.
The 31st Dáil was dissolved by President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February 2016, at the request of the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The 31st Dáil lasted .
Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed a two-thirds 'supermajority' government with 68% of all TDs in the Dáil being part upon its formation. Through resignations and deaths, it would be reduced to a majority of 99 TDs (60% of Dáil). It holds the record for largest government majority in Irish history.
While the two parties were the 1st and 2nd largest parties in the Dáil, it was not considered a grand coalition. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were traditionally rivals, while Labour was typically Fine Gael's coalition partner. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would form a grand coalition with the Green Party as a junior partner in 33rd Dáil.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny became the Taoiseach and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore became the Tánaiste.
The following illustrates the composition of the 31st Dáil at the time of its first sitting on 9 March 2011 (after Seán Barrett (Fine Gael) took office as Ceann Comhairle). This is not the official seating plan. The government parties sit to the left of the Ceann Comhairle and opposition parties sit to the right.
The following illustrates the composition at the time of its dissolution in February 2016.
The Socialist Party, People Before Profit Alliance, Workers and Unemployed Action Group and some Independent TDs sat together as a technical group, which was later joined by Renua and the Social Democrats.
On 9 March 2011, Seán Barrett (FG) was proposed by Enda Kenny for the position of Ceann Comhairle. He was approved without a vote.
This is a list of TDs elected to Dáil ÃÂireann in the 2011 general election, sorted by party. Note this table is a record of the 2011 general election results. The Changes table below records all changes in party affiliation.