1921 Irish elections

Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil. Where contested, the elections used single transferable vote.

1921 Irish elections

24 May 1921
All 180 seats in the Second Dáil 91 seats were needed for a majority
Leader Éamon de Valera James Craig Joe Devlin Party Sinn Féin UUP Nationalist Leader since October 1917 7 June 1921 14 December 1918 Leader's seat Clare East and Down Down Belfast West Seats won 130 (124 unopposed) 40 6 Popular vote 104,917 343,347 60,577 Percentage 20.5% 66.9% 11.8%
President of Dáil Éireann before election Éamon de Valera Sinn Féin Elected President of the Republic Éamon de Valera Sinn Féin

Southern Ireland result

1921 Southern Ireland general election

24 May 1921
128 seats in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland
Leader Éamon de Valera Party Sinn Féin Leader since 1917 Leader's seat Clare East Seats won 124 Popular vote Unopposed

No actual polling took place in Southern Ireland as all 128 candidates were returned unopposed. Of these, 124 were won by Sinn Féin and four by independent Unionists representing the University of Dublin (Trinity College).[1] When the date of the elections was announced in the House of Commons, the Conservative MP Sir William Davison, who had been born in Broughshane, County Antrim, had asked "What is the object of holding elections in Southern Ireland when any candidates who do not support Sinn Fein would be shot?" Other members had replied "How do you know?"[2]

John Dillon and T. P. O'Connor both agreed that the Irish Party should not fight Sinn Féin for seats for the Southern parliament as things stood.[3] Former Irish Parliamentary Party MP Stephen Gwynn, now a member of the Irish Dominion League, advocated putting up League candidates against Sinn Féin. In early March he met with southern Unionists Viscount Midleton and Lord Oranmore, requesting them to pool their resources to contest the election and contest the election on a platform opposing the IRA's violence, under Midleton's leadership. Midleton declined the invitation, just as he had declined a previous request for his Unionist Anti-Partition League to join the Dominion League.[4]

A single Unionist candidate had been selected to contest the constituency of Donegal: Major Robert L Moore, who had contested East Donegal in 1918.[5] Moore however later withdrew his candidacy just before the election.[6][7]

1921 Southern Ireland general election
Party		Leader	No. of seats	% of seats
	Sinn Féin	Éamon de Valera	124	96.9
	Independent Unionist		4	3.1
Totals			128	100

Parliamentary seats Sinn Féin   96.88% Independent Unionist   3.13%

Only Sinn Féin candidates recognised the Dáil and five of these had been elected in two constituencies (Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Arthur Griffith, Seán Milroy and Eoin MacNeill) one in each part of Ireland. The total number of members who assembled in the Second Dáil was 125: 119 elected solely in Southern Ireland, 1 solely in Northern Ireland (Seán O'Mahony), and 5 in both.

In Southern Ireland, there were fresh elections in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Northern Ireland result

1921 Northern Ireland general election

24 May 1921
All 52 seats to the Northern Ireland House of Commons 27 seats were needed for a majority
Leader James Craig Éamon de Valera Joe Devlin Party UUP Sinn Féin Nationalist Leader since 1921 1917 1918 Leader's seat Down Down Belfast West Seats won 40 6 6 Popular vote 343,347 104,917 60,577 Percentage 66.9% 20.5% 11.8%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party.
Prime Minister before election N/A (New office) Elected Prime Minister James Craig UUP

The general election to the Northern Ireland House of Commons occurred on 24 May. Of 52 seats, including Queen's University of Belfast, 40 were won by Unionists, 6 by moderate nationalists and 6 by Sinn Féin.

1921 Northern Ireland general election
Party		Leader	Seats	% of seats	Votes	% of votes
	Ulster Unionist Party	James Craig	40	76.9	343,347	66.9
	Sinn Féin	Éamon de Valera	6	11.5	104,917	20.5
	Nationalist Party (NI)	Joe Devlin	6	11.5	60,577	11.8
	Belfast Labour Party		0	0	3,075	0.6
	Independent		0	0	926	0.2
Totals			52	100	512,842	100

Voting summary

First preference vote Ulster Unionist   66.95% Sinn Féin   20.46% Nationalist   11.81% Belfast Labour   0.60% Independent   0.18%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Ulster Unionist   76.92% Sinn Féin   11.54% Nationalist   11.54%

See also

• Members of the 2nd Dáil
• Government of the 2nd Dáil
• 1918 Irish general election

References

1. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
2. "New Parliaments". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 140. HC. 5 April 1921. col. 91–92.
3. Catholic Belfast and Nationalist Ireland in the Era of Joe Devlin, 1871-1934 p.226
4. Stephen Gwynn and the failure of constitutional nationalism in Ireland, pp. 741–742
5. The Evening Leader, Corning, NY, 22 April 1921, P2
6. The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) May 15, 1921, Section One, Image 3
7. New-York tribune., May 14, 1921, Page 2, Image 2, citing Associated Press