section_path: Europe/Ireland
section_name: Ireland
paragraph_text: Ireland
  
  In Ireland, constituency-based proportional representation, the comparative looseness of formal parties, and strong local sentiment have meant that independents have formed a significant part of the parliamentary landscape since the foundation of the state: in the early elections to Dáil Éireann (parliament), independents accounted for 7% of seats in 1922, 8.5% in 1923, 10.5% in 1927, and 9% in 1932, though with the development of relatively more structured parties their numbers declined thereafter. These were similar proportions to the number of independents elected to other interwar European democracies such as France (see above).
  
  It was not until the 2010s that independents would see a similar electoral success, with record scores for independents surpassing the previous interwar highs.
  
  After the Irish general election in 2020, there were 23 independent TDs (parliamentary deputies) in the Dáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament), representing 14% of the total.
  
  There are ten independent senators in the 26th Seanad (the upper house of the Irish parliament), representing 16% of the total. Two of these are elected by the graduates of the National University of Ireland and three from Dublin University. There is also one independent senator who was nominated by the Taoiseach and four elected by the technical panels.