RTÉ Coverage of General Elections - 1973 General Election

1973 General Election

By 1973, Fianna Fáil had been in power for 16 years. Fine Gael and Labour agreed a pre-election pact under a "National Coalition" banner in order to offer an alternative government. Although Fianna Fáil increased its percentage of the vote, they lost six seats, and a Fine Gael-Labour coalition formed a government, led by Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach.

The influence of television on candidates and voters was emerging.  

"People Made up Their Minds Mainly by What They Saw on Television"

Media coverage continued to grow for the 1973 General Election. A "Seven Days" special followed Liam Cosgrave, the Fine Gael leader, on the campaign trail. This clip shows how Cosgrave himself was becoming increasingly aware of the influence of television, while at the same time there was a continuing need to get out and meet and greet the electorate.  

Rodney Rice joins candidates campaigning in County Louth and finds that the voters are somewhat sceptical about the promises being made by the politicians.

Among the smaller parties who contested the 1973 General Election were Sinn Féin, with a commitment that if elected, they would take their seats, Kevin Boland's Aontacht Éireann party and the Communist Party led by Michael O'Riordan. The "Tangents" programme looked at the campaigns of the minority parties and the independent candidates.

In this clip, Michael O'Riordan tells John O'Donoghue how attitudes to the Communist Party have changed since 1965.      

Sean D. Loftus failed to get the Christian Democratic Party registered for the 1973 election. However, by changing his own name by deed poll to Sean D. Christian Democrat Dublin Bay Loftus, the party name appeared on the ballot paper.