ABSTRACT
The National Coalition government proved a coherent and, on the whole, unified administration – more unified, certainly, than the Fianna Fail government that had preceded it. It hiccoughed in July 1974 when a bill to legalise the use of ‘artificial contraception’ was defeated due to the defection of seven Fine Gael TDs – including, to the amazement of other members of the government, the Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave. The coalition’s main problem, though, as the end of its term approached, was the rise in the level of unemployment, which grew to a level 50 per cent higher than when it had entered office. The 1977 election showed that these assumptions were not accurate, and foreshadowed the surge in support for candidates outside the main parties that was to be seen in elections over the next thirty years.
