The basics: A quick guide to Election 24

This is your home for General Election 2024. Over the coming weeks, we'll update this page with useful guides and information.

So, now that the polling date is known, here's an introductory explainer on some of the basics.

View: An interactive map of the 43 constituencies here

When is polling day?

On Friday 29 November, voters will cast their ballots to elect the new TDs of the 34th Dáil. But before we get there, we'll see candidates up and down the country vying for your vote, hoping to be your #1.

With such a short election campaign of just three weeks, it means there is an urgency with ensuring you are registered to vote.

Sunday 10 November is the deadline to apply for a postal vote. Postal voting has very limited and strict criteria. Tuesday 12 November is the deadline for ordinary voters to 'check the register'.

If you're 18 or over on polling day, resident in Ireland, an Irish or British citizen, and registered to vote, you can vote in the General Election. As it stands, Irish citizens living abroad can only vote if they are in the country on election day. Exceptions are made in certain circumstances to allow for postal voting, such as for members of the Irish Defence Forces stationed abroad, diplomats and their spouses posted abroad, and voters with physical illnesses or disabilities.

Being registered to vote is key - so you'll be urged to 'check the register' in the weeks ahead.

For candidates, a key date falls next week for the close of nominations.

How many constituencies are there?

There are 43 constituencies this time round. That's a change from Election 2020 when there were 39. Where did the extra constituencies come from, you might wonder? The Electoral Commission proposed various constituency changes after a review - some of the biggest reforms include:

Dublin Fingal: It used to be one constituency but has now been split into Dublin Fingal North and Dublin Fingal South.

The former constituency of Laois-Offaly has been separated in two - Laois and Offaly.

Tipperary has become Tipperary North and Tipperary South.

And you might remember hearing previously about the new constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, taking in south Wicklow and north Wexford, as it was a big talking point when the Electoral Commission’s proposes were first announced.

There are plenty of other constituency changes too. You can read all about them and the lie of the land in our constituency profiles. That page also has an interactive map of the 43.

What's my constituency?

To get a broad sense of the new electoral map, our map above shows all 43 constituencies. And an interactive version is available on our main constituency page.

The Electoral Commission has a handy tool on its site, called 'Find My Constituency'. An Irish and an English version is available:

What's my constituency?
Cén Dáilcheantar ina gcónaím?

So what are the constituencies?

Some constituencies will elect three TDs, some four and others will see five TDs elected. Below is the breakdown. You can click on each constituency link below for more information.

Three-seater constituencies
Cork North-West
Cork South-West
Dublin Fingal East
Dublin Fingal West
Laois
Offaly
Limerick County
Meath West
Roscommon-Galway
Tipperary North
Tipperary South
Wicklow-Wexford

Four-seater constituencies

Clare
Cork East
Dublin Bay South
Dublin Central
Dublin Rathdown
Dublin South-Central
Dún Laoghaire
Galway East
Kildare South
Limerick City
Meath East
Sligo-Leitrim
Waterford
Wexford
Wicklow

Five-seater constituencies

Carlow-Kilkenny
Cavan-Monaghan
Cork North-Central
Cork South-Central
Donegal
Dublin Bay North
Dublin Mid-West
Dublin North-West
Dublin South-West
Dublin West
Galway West
Kerry
Kildare North
Longford-Westmeath
Louth
Mayo

Who are the candidates?

There will be 174 TDs in the next Dáil. That's 14 more than the previous Dáil.

When the constituency boundaries were updated, changes were also made to whether constituencies were three-seaters (meaning they will elect three TDs), four-seaters or five-seaters.

Hundreds of candidates have already been selected by their parties or declared to be running. To see who has declared so far, you can click here and select your constituency.

But we don't yet have the final number of candidates who will be contesting the General Election. The full field will become clear towards the end of next week, after the close of nominations.

We'll update the candidate lists on the constituency pages as more become known.

One TD already knows his fate - the Ceann Comhairle, currently Seán Ó Fearghaíl, is automatically re-elected as a member of the next Dáil.

Looking for your #1

When it comes to polling day, you'll vote for your preferred candidates in order of preference, giving #1 to your first preference. Then you can choose if you wish to continue to rank others, #2, #3, #4 etc.

It's a system called Proportional Representation, Single Transferable Vote (PR-STV). Unlike the 'first past the post' voting system used in other countries, PR-STV makes for a more lengthy counting process where 'transfers' are often a crucial part of getting elected.

Some constituencies might see the count lasting several days.

And when will we know the outcome?

The election of the TDs of the 34th Dáil is one part of the story. The next part of the story is who forms the Government.

The public don't elect a Taoiseach when we vote on polling day. We vote for individual TDs to represent our constituency.

The new arithmetic means that in a Dáil of 174 TDs, a party would need at least 88 TDs elected to win a majority to form a Government. So if a party wins a majority, a clear picture will emerge quickly. But, as we saw with the last election, no single party won enough seats to emerge victorious. It meant months of talks and negotiations between various parties and groupings and Independents, which ultimately led to the creation of a coalition of parties - Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party - as the Government of the day.

So there's much to discuss and consider for both politicians and the public in advance of voting day. The process has just begun…

To help keep you informed about all things Election 24, we’ll update this page with explainers and information in the coming days and weeks.