The next Irish general election will take place on Friday, 26 February 2016. The 31st Dáil was dissolved by President Michael D. Higgins on the advice of Taoiseach Enda Kenny on 3 February 2016. The members of the 32nd Dáil will meet on Thursday, 10 March 2016 to elect a Taoiseach to head theGovernment of the 32nd Dáil.Ireland uses proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR–STV). The general election will take place throughout the state to elect 158 members of Dáil Éireann, a reduction of 8 from the current 166 members. This follows the passing of theElectoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013.
The Ceann Comhairle is automatically re-elected unless he opts to retire from the Dáil. The election will take place in 40 parliamentary constituencies. Each multi-member constituency elects three, four or five Teachtaí Dála (Dáil deputies, lit. Assembly Delegates).
Polling - Polls will be open from 7 am to 10 pm on 26 February 2016. Islands off the coast ofDonegal, Mayo, and Galway vote one day early. A total of 551 candidates were nominated by the deadline of 11 February.
All resident Irish and UK citizens are eligible to be on the Dáil electoral register. The 2016–17 register was published on 1 February by the local authorities, who are responsible for maintaining it. Applications for the supplementary register for the general election closed on 9 February.
