Garret FitzGerald Fine Gael Charles Haughey Fianna Fáil The 1987 Irish general election to the 25th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 17 February, four weeks after the dissolution of the 24th Dáil on 20 January by President Patrick Hillery, on the request of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.

A continuing crisis over public finance and a rejection of the budget had led to the Labour Party withdrawing from the Fine Gael–led coalition government.

Rather than attempt to press on with the government's agenda, the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, Garret FitzGerald, sought a dissolution of the Dáil.

The Progressive Democrats (PD), founded only two years earlier, surpassed Labour as the third-biggest political party in the Dáil.

Although the majority of the PD party consisted of Fianna Fáil defectors, it mainly took seats from Fine Gael.