Members of the 26th Seanad
There are 60 members of the 26th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). Of these, 49 were elected on a restricted franchise, polls closing on 30–31 March; subsequently the remaining 11 members were nominated by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, on 27 June 2020.
| 26th Seanad Éireann | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Seanad Éireann | ||||
| Jurisdiction | Ireland | ||||
| Meeting place | Leinster House | ||||
| Election | 30–31 March 2020 | ||||
| Members | 60 | ||||
| Cathaoirleach | Mark Daly (FF) | ||||
| Leas-Chathaoirleach | Jerry Buttimer (FG) | ||||
| Leader of the Seanad | Regina Doherty (FG) | ||||
| Deputy Leader of the Seanad | Lisa Chambers (FF) | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | Niall Ó Donnghaile (SF) Ivana Bacik (Lab) | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
| |||||
The government has a clear majority (40 to 20) in the Seanad.
Of the 60 members, twenty-four (40%) are women, and thirty (50%) are first-time Senators.
33 members of the 26th Seanad were unsuccessful candidates at the 2020 general election, 10 of those being outgoing TDs who failed to get re-elected. In total 41 members of the 26th Seanad had contested general elections in the past, while 15 were former TDs.
Eileen Flynn is the first Irish Traveller to be a member of the Seanad.[1]
Electoral system
There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 Senators are elected by the Vocational panels, six elected by the two University constituencies, and eleven are nominated by the Taoiseach. Three seats are elected by graduates of the four colleges of the National University of Ireland constituency (University College Cork, University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Galway and Maynooth University) and three seats are elected by graduates of the University of Dublin constituency (as Trinity College Dublin is the sole constituent college, this is often referred to as the Trinity College constituency).[2]
Article 18.8 of the Constitution requires that an election for Seanad Éireann must take place not later than 90 days after a dissolution of the Dáil. On 21 January, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy signed the orders for the Seanad election.[3]
Timetable
- 24 February 2020: deadline for proposals for nominations to the vocational panels by nominating bodies (civic society groups)
- 2 March 2020: deadline for proposals for nominations to the vocational panels by Members of the Oireachtas (President of Ireland, TDs and Senators)
- 9 March 2020: Seanad Returning Officer completes the panels of candidates
- 16 March 2020: postal balloting begins
- 30 March 2020, 11 a.m.: polling closes for the five special panels, counting of votes commences[4][5]
- 31 March 2020, 11 a.m.: polling closes in the two university constituencies
- 27 June 2020: Taoiseach's nominees announced
Composition of the 26th Seanad
Origin Party |
Admin Panel |
Agri Panel |
Cult & Educ Panel |
Ind & Comm Panel |
Labour Panel |
NUI | University of Dublin |
Nominated by the Taoiseach |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● | Fianna Fáil | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20 | |
| ● | Fine Gael | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 | |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| Labour Party | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| ● | Green Party | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| Human Dignity Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independent | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| Total | 7 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 60 | ||
Government parties denoted by "●".
List of senators
- Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics
References
- Holl, Kitty; Correspondent, Social Affiars. "Seanad nominees welcomed by National Women's Council". The Irish Times.
- "Seanad elections - everything you need to know". RTÉ. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- "Seanad Éireann General Election". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- O'Halloran, Marie. "New FG Senator expected to be appointed for few weeks before Seanad election". The Irish Times.
- Oireachtas, Houses of the (February 6, 2020). "Seanad general election 2020 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie.