RTÉ Coverage of General Elections - February 1982

General Election February 1982

In 1982, there were two general elections. The first, held in February, followed the collapse of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition after the Government's budget had been defeated. Minister for Finance John Bruton had attempted to put VAT on children's shoes and the left-wing independent TDs who had been supporting the government had voted against the budget.

Although Fianna Fáil emerged as the largest party, they would rely on the support of independent TD Tony Gregory and three Sinn Féin The Workers Party TDs to form a government.

For the first time on Irish television, the Taoiseach of the day, Garret Fitzgerald, and the leader of the opposition, Charles Haughey, debate live on television. On the night of the debate, the interest resembled that given to prizefighters before they enter the ring. The press were there in force to cover the arrival of Fitzgerald and Haughey at the television studios.

In a "Today Tonight" special two days before the election, the prospective Taoisigh debate the election issues live on air. Presenter Barry Cowan outlines the background to the election and introduces the debate.      

Tony Gregory was elected as an independent TD for the first time in February 1982. He immediately came to national attention when he brokered what would become known as the "Gregory Deal" with Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey. In return for Gregory's support for the Government, Haughey promised a massive cash injection for Gregory's north inner city constituency.

Days after the election results, RTÉ's "Féach" programme went to visit Tony Gregory in his constituency. This clip shows the new TD outlining some of the problems in this, one of the poorest areas of the country.      

On the morning of the election for Taoiseach, with Fianna Fáil in need of the support of independents to form a government, Albert Reynolds was giving nothing away on any deals that might have been been made. Ted Nealon of Fine Gael was pragmatic, and couldn't but see Charles Haughey being elected Taoiseach, although he predicted another election within a year.

An RTÉ documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into covering a general election. This includes what can go wrong, such as when a power cut takes RTÉ's studio coverage of the elections off the air.