Nation Runner

Flag of IrelandCountry desk · updated 12 Nov

Ireland

174 TDs, and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael hold 86 between them.

Key takeaways

  1. 1

    Parliament. Fianna Fáil holds the most seats: 48 of 174 (28%). A majority needs 88.

  2. 2

    Headlines. The tone is steady: 10% of the last 14 days' headlines read grim, 8% upbeat. Top topic: Politics (26%).

  3. 3

    Government. Government barometer 62/100 (Builder). 0 of 2 moves on file read as smart, 0 as harmful.

Headline mood · 14 days

Line: mood · bars: stories

12 Nov · 8 stories · leaning upbeat1 upbeat · 7 neutral · 0 grim

What the headlines are about

  • Other 43%
  • Politics 26%
  • Economy 11%
  • Security 10%
  • Society 7%
  • Climate 3%

A simple word-list estimate from the daily wire headlines. Not a judgement.

Who holds the seats · Dáil Éireann

174 seats · 88 for a majority (line)

Fianna Fáil

48 seats · 27.6%

48 of 174 on the Oireachtas members list. The Oireachtas members list has 48 sitting Fianna Fáil TDs. Table 3 of the official 2024 results prints Fianna Fáil at 21.86 percent of first preferences. The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll of 24 September 2026 prints 18 percent.

Map · mood compared

Ireland

Overall mood: 10% grim, 8% upbeat · today +13

What changed today

12 Nov

  • 12 Nov: 8 stories (average 8); tone more upbeat than usual.

New headlines

3 more headlines
Earlier this week: 10 more headlines

Headlines and summaries come from the linked sources; the selection is automatic.

Go deeper

Parties, people, promises, money

Members list 11 Oct 2026 · first preferences 2024

174 TDs, and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael hold 86 between them.

The seat map is the Oireachtas members list for the 34th Dáil on 11 October 2026. It shows 174 sitting TDs. Fianna Fáil has 48, Sinn Féin 39, Fine Gael 38, independents 15 including the Ceann Comhairle, the Social Democrats 12, Labour 11, Independent Ireland 4, People Before Profit–Solidarity 3, Aontú 2, the Greens 1 and 100% Redress 1. A majority of 174 is 88. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael hold 86 together, and four independent TDs serve as ministers of state on the gov.ie list. Vote shares are first preferences from the official 2024 results, not seats.

A score on this desk is an editorial average of six work topics, times ten, with the method written on the row.

The room

Dáil Éireann

174 TDs · 88 to govern alone · Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael 86

The deal

Two parties in government, short of a majority on their own

88 seats would be a majority of 174. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have 48 and 38 on the members list, 86 together. The gov.ie list names four independent TDs as ministers of state: Noel Grealish, Seán Canney, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran and Marian Harkin.

The mood

Election vs now

The left bar is the 2024 first-preference share in the official results. The right bar is seats on the members list divided by 174. They are different counts.

  • FF
    18.0%
  • SF
    23.0%
  • FG
    17.0%
  • Independents
    14.0%
  • SD
    8.0%
  • Labour
    4.0%
  • Ind. Ireland
    4.0%
  • PBP–S
    3.0%
  • Aontú
    5.0%
  • Greens
    3.0%
  • 100% Redress
    0.0%

The first point is Table 3 of the official 2024 results, rounded to one decimal place. The second point is Red C for the Business Post, 1,010 adults online on 19–24 June 2026, the turnout-weighted column. The third point is Ipsos B&A for the Irish Times, 1,200 in-person interviews, published 24 September 2026. A sample is not the same question as votes cast.

The trend

From election night to now

Public pollster blend — not a forecast

The split

Seat share beside the 2024 first preferences

The right bar is seats divided by 174. The left bar is the first-preference share. Transfers under single transferable vote mean the two differ.

The mismatch

Seats they hold vs the poll

The seat bar is the October headcount divided by 174. The other bar is the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll of 24 September 2026.

The rude gauge

Growth king or a fight with work

Who grows the pie, who picks a fight with work. Cabinet sits at 62 / 100. The number is an editorial reading, not an official index. Six topics are averaged and multiplied by ten: energy supply, hiring, keeping and investing money, building, hours in paid work, and paperwork. Ten means the public record makes that easier for work. Zero means it makes it harder. A row is not left in the middle on every topic. The band is a label for that average, not a court ruling.

Against the workBuilderGrowth king

Full causal chains live on every promise

This week

The pulse

Dáil

By-elections

Daniel Ennis (Social Democrats) won Dublin Central and Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) won Galway West. The Dáil is back to 174 sitting TDs.

Poll

Irish Times/Ipsos B&A

Sinn Féin 23, Fianna Fáil 18, Fine Gael 17, Social Democrats 8. Satisfaction with the government 29 percent.

Politics 101

How this country actually works

What this chamber drawing is

174 TDs. 88 to govern alone. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have 86.

Counts are sitting TDs on the Oireachtas members list for the 34th Dáil on 11 October 2026. The eleven rows sum to 174. 88 is a majority of 174. Vote shares are first preferences from Table 3 of the official 2024 results. Ireland votes by single transferable vote, so first preferences are not the same as seats.

Who holds the offices this desk names

Martin, Taoiseach. Harris, Tánaiste and Finance. Murphy, Ceann Comhairle.

The gov.ie list of the 35th Government names the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the ministers. The Oireachtas members list gives each TD's party and constituency. Opposition leaders are named from press reports of the September and October 2026 polls.

Elections

What is on the calendar

National elections and the major votes on these desks, for about the next 24 months. The date comes from the election authority. A poll appears only when a named pollster published it in the last 60 days.

Irish general election

Expected

Expected by January 2030

No polling day is set. The 34th Dáil first met on 18 December 2024. Section 10 of the Electoral Act 1963 limits a Dáil to five years from its first meeting, so it must be dissolved by 17 December 2029, and the Electoral Commission says a general election follows within 30 days of dissolution. The Taoiseach can ask the President to dissolve the Dáil earlier.

Date source: Electoral Act 1963, section 10

How foreigners are seen

Openness in Ireland

Published surveys only. Each figure shows its source and year.

Who's welcomed

Share of adults in Ireland with a favourable opinion of each country Pew asked about. A view of a country, not of its people.

UnknownNo country view on file

Pew's 2025 Global Attitudes survey did not poll in Ireland, and no other survey of views of other countries is on this desk yet. Nothing is guessed. The other measures here, and the comparison below, still work.

Welcoming index

Derived from the two published measures below, not a survey result. Each input keeps its own year.

72.5/100

Mean of Gallup 7.74 of 9 (2016), rescaled to 86.0, and MIPEX 59 of 100 (2023).

The measures behind it (shown separately)

What expats say

InterNations Expat Insider 2025: rank out of 46 destinations, 1 is best.

  • Ease of settling in18 of 46
  • Culture and welcome18 of 46
  • Local friendliness14 of 46
  • Finding friends24 of 46

InterNations, Expat Insider 2025

All desks side by side

Pick a measure. Countries without a published figure show Unknown and sit at the end; they are not counted in the average.

Average of the 20 of 22 desks with a figure: 63.3 of 100. Unknown left out: Georgia, Thailand.

  1. Canada85.72024
  2. United States80.72020
  3. Portugal78.42023
  4. Australia76.82019
  5. Spain73.32024
  6. Irelandthis desk72.52023
  7. Netherlands69.92023
  8. Switzerland65.12019
  9. Italy65.12023
  10. United Kingdom64.72020
  11. Germany64.62023
  12. South Korea64.12020
  13. France63.62024
  14. Japan59.22019
  15. Mexico51.92019
  16. Malta51.52024
  17. Cyprus50.62024
  18. United Arab Emirates46.72019
  19. Greece43.12024
  20. Estonia38.72024
  21. GeorgiaUnknownMIPEX does not cover this country, so the index cannot be built.
  22. ThailandUnknownMIPEX does not cover this country, so the index cannot be built.

In plain words

  • Expats ranked Ireland 18 of 46 for ease of settling in (2025); its best sub-score was local friendliness at 14.
  • No published survey here asks people about other countries, so who's welcomed is unknown for this country.

Sources and method are listed under “How we source this” at the bottom of the page.

What it means for you

What it means for you

Only figures with a source and a date. Each source is listed under “How we source this” at the bottom of the page. Anything not listed here is not on file.

  • Taxes

    Revenue’s current VAT rates table says the standard rate is 23 percent, with the row effective from 1 January 2026. Value-added tax is the tax on most goods and services. The same row lists a reduced rate of 13.5 percent and a second reduced rate of 9 percent.

  • Pay

    The National Minimum Wage Order 2025 sets the national minimum hourly rate of pay at €14.15 from 1 January 2026. That is the lowest hourly pay most adult employees can legally get. The order was signed by the enterprise minister on 8 October 2025.

  • Benefits

    The Department of Social Protection page on State Pension (Contributory) rates gives a maximum personal rate of €299.30 a week for 2026 for people under 80. That pension is the main public retirement payment after a contribution record. The same page gives €309.30 a week for people aged 80 or over.

Sources, licences and image credits

Data

  • Wire (public RSS feeds): X, TheJournal.ie, The Irish Times.
  • The left bar is the 2024 first-preference share in the official results. The right bar is seats on the members list divided by 174. They are different counts.
  • Editorial economic-competence gauge, not a court and not a Nobel. Six axes: energy, hiring, capital, building, hours in work, red tape. Scores are a judgement from public records of this term and the last — not a bribery charge, not a voting recommendation.

Survey sources

  • Ireland — Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index 2016: Gallup. Neli Esipova, John Fleming and Julie Ray, “New Index Shows Least-, Most-Accepting Countries for Migrants”, Gallup, 23 August 2017. The full-country table lists Ireland at 7.74. The survey-methods note says the index was asked in 138 countries in 2016, so the year used here is 2016. Source. Gallup allows a contextual citation when the publication date and a link are given. The table and graphics are not reproduced.
  • Ireland — MIPEX overall score 2023: MIPEX. Migrant Integration Policy Index, Ireland country page. The block headed 2023 prints “MIPEX Score (with Health): 59.” The same page says Ireland’s overall score fell by five points after 2021, and links coverage giving 64 for 2019. Source. The overall score is cited from the country page. The report is not reproduced.

Image credits

  • Fianna Fáil mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Sinn Féin mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Fine Gael mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Social Democrats mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Labour Party mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Independent Ireland mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • People Before Profit–Solidarity mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Aontú mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Green Party mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • 100% Redress mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Independents mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Flag of Ireland — Wikimedia Commons · Public domain Source
Questions the desk actually answers

FAQ

Questions the desk actually answers

Is the Ireland desk live on Nation Runner?
Yes. It draws the Oireachtas members list for the 34th Dáil, the official 2024 first-preference table, and the 35th Government named on gov.ie. It is an editorial dashboard, not an official record.
Which culture figures does the Ireland desk show?
Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index for Ireland in 2016 (7.74 out of 9) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index score of 59, with 2023 printed beside that score. No Pew row for Ireland is on the perceptions page, so none is added here.
Does the money tab score Irish political donations?
No. Zeros mean the access scale is not filled. A zero is not a finding that a party has no donors.
How we source this

Seats: Oireachtas members list, 34th Dáil, 11 October 2026. Votes: Oireachtas, 34th Dáil general election results, Table 3. Ballot support: Red C for the Business Post, 19–24 June 2026, and Ipsos B&A for the Irish Times, 24 September 2026. Offices: gov.ie, 35th Government. Culture: Gallup 2016 and the Migrant Integration Policy Index block headed 2023.

How foreigners are seen

Pew asks adults for their opinion of a country. That is a view of the country, not of its people or of any visitor. We never estimate a pair that was not asked; it shows as unknown.

InterNations ranks come from expats living in the country (46 destinations in 2025). Gallup's Migrant Acceptance Index runs from 0 to 9. MIPEX scores integration law and policy from 0 to 100.

Welcoming index: the mean of the Gallup index rescaled to 0–100 (score ÷ 9 × 100) and the MIPEX overall score, rounded to one decimal. It is derived, not a survey result, and the two inputs come from different years. If either input is missing the index is unknown: it is not estimated, it sorts last and it is left out of the average.

What it means for you

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