| Election Name: | 2002 Irish general election |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1997 Irish general election |
| Previous Year: | 1997 |
| Previous Mps: | 28th Dáil |
| Next Election: | 2007 Irish general election |
| Next Year: | 2007 |
| Seats For Election: | 166 seats in Dáil Éireann |
| Majority Seats: | 84 |
| Election Date: | 17 May 2002 |
| Elected Mps: | 29th Dáil |
| Leader1: | Bertie Ahern |
| Leader Since1: | 19 December 1994 |
| Party1: | Fianna Fáil |
| Leaders Seat1: | Dublin Central |
| Last Election1: | 77 seats, 39.3% |
| Seats1: | 81 |
| Seat Change1: | 4 |
| Popular Vote1: | 770,748 |
| Percentage1: | 41.5% |
| Swing1: | 2.2% |
| Leader2: | Michael Noonan |
| Leader Since2: | 9 February 2001 |
| Party2: | Fine Gael |
| Leaders Seat2: | Limerick East |
| Last Election2: | 54 seats, 27.9% |
| Seats2: | 31 |
| Seat Change2: | 23 |
| Popular Vote2: | 417,619 |
| Percentage2: | 22.5% |
| Swing2: | 5.4% |
| Leader3: | Ruairi Quinn |
| Leader Since3: | November 1997 |
| Party3: | Labour Party (Ireland) |
| Leaders Seat3: | Dublin South-East |
| Last Election3: | 17 seats, 12.9% |
| Seats3: | 21 |
| Seat Change3: | 4 |
| Popular Vote3: | 200,130 |
| Percentage3: | 10.8% |
| Swing3: | 2.1% |
| Leader4: | Mary Harney |
| Leader Since4: | 12 October 1993 |
| Party4: | Progressive Democrats |
| Leaders Seat4: | Dublin South-West |
| Last Election4: | 4 seats, 4.7% |
| Seats4: | 8 |
| Seat Change4: | 4 |
| Popular Vote4: | 73,628 |
| Percentage4: | 4.0% |
| Swing4: | 0.7% |
| Leader5: | Trevor Sargent |
| Leader Since5: | 6 October 2001 |
| Party5: | Green Party (Ireland) |
| Leaders Seat5: | Dublin North |
| Last Election5: | 2 seats, 2.8% |
| Seats5: | 6 |
| Seat Change5: | 4 |
| Popular Vote5: | 71,470 |
| Percentage5: | 3.8% |
| Swing5: | 1.0% |
| Leader6: | Gerry Adams |
| Leader Since6: | 13 November 1983 |
| Party6: | Sinn Féin |
| Leaders Seat6: | N/A |
| Last Election6: | 1 seat, 2.6% |
| Seats6: | 5 |
| Seat Change6: | 4 |
| Popular Vote6: | 121,020 |
| Percentage6: | 6.5% |
| Swing6: | 3.9% |
| Taoiseach | |
| Posttitle: | Taoiseach after election |
| Before Election: | Bertie Ahern |
| Before Party: | Fianna Fáil |
| After Election: | Bertie Ahern |
| After Party: | Fianna Fáil |
| Turnout: | 62.6% 3.3pp |
The 2002 Irish general election to the 29th Dáil was held on Friday, 17 May, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday, 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The general election took place in 42 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, with a revision of constituencies since the last election under the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1998.
The 29th Dáil met at Leinster House on Thursday, 6 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Bertie Ahern was re-appointed Taoiseach, forming the 26th government of Ireland, a majority coalition government of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats.
The general election was significant for a number of reasons:
The most noticeable feature of the election was the collapse in Fine Gael's vote. It suffered its second worst electoral result ever (after the 1948 general election), with several prominent members failing to get re-elected, including:
The party's losses were especially pronounced in Dublin, where just three TDs (Richard Bruton, Gay Mitchell and Olivia Mitchell) were returned, fewer than Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Progressive Democrats or the Greens.The reasons for the drop in support for Fine Gael are many and varied:
In the immediate aftermath of the election, Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan announced his resignation from the leadership and Enda Kenny was chosen as the new leader in the subsequent election.
| Party | Fianna Fáil | Fine Gael | Labour Party | Sinn Féin | Progressive Democrats | Green Party | Socialist Party |
| Leader | Bertie Ahern | Michael Noonan | Ruairi Quinn | Gerry Adams | Mary Harney | Trevor Sargent | Joe Higgins |
| Votes | 41.5%, 770,748 | 22.5%, 417,619 | 10.8%, 200,130 | 6.5%, 121,020 | 4.0%, 73,628 | 3.8%, 71,470 | 0.8%, 14,896 |
| Seats | 81 (48.8%) | 31 (18.7%) | 20 (12.7%) | 5 (3.0%) | 8 (4.8%) | 6 (3.6%) | 1 (0.6%) |
| 81 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |
| Fianna Fáil | PDs | Inds | Fine Gael | Labour Party | Green Party | Sinn Féin |
Independents include Independent Health Alliance candidates (12,296 votes, 1 seat) and Independent Fianna Fáil (6,124 votes, 1 seat).
Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats formed 26th government of Ireland, a majority coalition government. it is the only coalition government in Irish politics to have been returned after a general election.
The following changes took place as a result of the election:
Outgoing TDs are listed in the constituency they contested in the election. For some, such as Marian McGennis, this differs from the constituency they represented in the outgoing Dáil. Where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only.
The cross-party seat transfers are summarized thus:
| Party | 1997 | 27th Dáil | Gain from (loss to) | 2002 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FF | FG | Lab | SF | PD | Grn | Soc | Ind | ||||||||||||||
| Fianna Fáil | 77 | (3) | 7 | (1) | 2 | (1) | 81 | ||||||||||||||
| Fine Gael | 54 | - | (7) | (2) | (1) | (4) | (4) | (5) | 31 | ||||||||||||
| Labour Party | 21 | - | 2 | (2) | 1 | (1) | 21 | ||||||||||||||
| Sinn Féin | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Progressive Democrats | 4 | - | 4 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Green Party | 2 | - | 4 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| Socialist Party | 1 | - | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Independents | 6 | 3 | 1 | (2) | 5 | 1 | (1) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Total | 166 | - | 2 | (9) | 23 | - | 3 | (3) | - | (4) | - | (4) | - | (4) | - | - | 3 | (7) | 166 | ||
The Dáil election was followed by the election to the 22nd Seanad.