Editing Gerrymandering (section)

===Ireland===
Until the 1980s [[Dáil]] boundaries in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] were drawn not by an independent commission but by government ministers. Successive arrangements by governments of all political characters have been attacked as gerrymandering. Ireland uses the [[single transferable vote]], and as well as the actual boundaries drawn, the main tool of gerrymandering has been the number of seats per constituency used, with three-seat constituencies normally benefiting the strongest parties in an area, whereas four-seat constituencies normally help smaller parties.

In 1947 the rapid rise of new party [[Clann na Poblachta]] threatened the position of the governing party [[Fianna Fáil]]. The government of [[Éamon de Valera]] introduced the [[Electoral (Amendment) Act 1947]], which increased the size of the Dáil from 138 to 147 and increased the number of three-seat constituencies from fifteen to twenty-two. The result was described by the journalist and historian [[Tim Pat Coogan]] as "a blatant attempt at gerrymander which no [[Northern Ireland|Six County]] Unionist could have bettered."<ref name="coogan637">Tim Pat Coogan, ''De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow'' (Hutchinson, London, 1993) hardback. page 637 {{ISBN|0-09-175030-X}}</ref> The following February the [[1948 Irish general election|1948 general election]] was held and Clann na Poblachta secured ten seats instead of the nineteen they would have received proportional to their vote.<ref name="coogan637" />

In the mid-1970s, the Minister for Local Government, [[James Tully (Irish politician)|James Tully]], attempted to arrange the constituencies to ensure that the governing [[Fine Gael]]–[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] [[Government of the 20th Dáil|National Coalition]] would win a parliamentary majority. The [[Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974]] was planned as a major reversal of previous gerrymandering by Fianna Fáil (then in opposition). Tully ensured that there were as many as possible three-seat constituencies where the governing parties were strong, in the expectation that the governing parties would each win a seat in many constituencies, relegating Fianna Fáil to one out of three.

In areas where the governing parties were weak, four-seat constituencies were used so that the governing parties had a strong chance of still winning two. The election results created substantial change, as there was a larger than expected collapse in the vote. Fianna Fáil won a landslide victory in the [[1977 Irish general election]], two out of three seats in many cases, relegating the National Coalition parties to fight for the last seat. Consequently, the term "[[Tullymandering]]" was used to describe the phenomenon of a failed attempt at gerrymandering.