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A TD (plural TDs in English, TDanna in Irish; full Irish form Teachta Dála) is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" (MP) or "Member of Congress" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal translation is "Assembly Delegate".

Overview[]

For electoral purposes, the country is divided into areas known as constituencies, each of which elects either three, four or five TDs. Under the Constitution there must be at least one TD for every 20,000 to 30,000 people. A candidate to become a TD must be an Irish citizen and over 21. Members of the judiciary, the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces are disqualified from membership of the Dáil.

There are 166 TDs in the 31st Dáil. The next general election will elect 158 TDs, a reduction of 8, following the passing of the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013.

History[]

The term was first used to describe those Irish parliamentarians who were elected at the 1918 general election, and who, rather than attending the British House of Commons in London, to which they had been elected, assembled instead in the Mansion House on 21 January 1919 to create a new Irish parliament: the First Dáil Éireann. The term continued to be used after this First Dáil and was used to refer to later members of the Irish Republic's single chamber Dáil Éireann (or "Assembly of Ireland") (1919–1922), members of the Free State Dáil (1922–1937), and of the modern Dáil Éireann.

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