The excitement and drama of the 2024 General Election may be behind us at this point, but the Seanad election is just around the corner.
The election for members of the Seanad often goes somewhat under the radar, given the Dáil’s relative pre-eminence in matters of legislation and government.
However, the outgoing Seanad has, over the last five years, often seen matters of key importance to the farming and rural communities discussed in detail.
Seanad elections must be held within 90 days of the previous Dáil being dissolved. As a result, a new Dáil will have already convened before a new Seanad does.
Of the Seanad’s 60 senators, 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach; six are elected by university graduates from Trinity College and the National University of Ireland (NUI); and the majority of senators – 43 – are elected from across five ‘vocational panels’.
The five vocational panels, and the amount of senators elected from each, are as follows:
- Agricultural Panel (11 senators);
- Labour Panel (11 senators);
- Industrial and Commercial Panel (nine senators);
- Administrative Panel (seven senators);
- Cultural and Educational Panel (five senators).
Unlike general elections, where the general public votes, the voters for the elections of these 43 senators are the members of the new Dáil; the members of the outgoing Seanad; and the members of local authorities (city and county councilors).
The Agriculture Panel has the joint-most number of seats of all the panels in the Seanad, with 11, and also happens to have the most nominees of any panel.
These nominees, of which there’s almost 30, include some notable names.
Among the nominees are a number of current senators who were noteworthy for making agriculture central to their contributions in the house.
These include Tim Lombard, who missed out on a seat in the Dáil in the general election, and who played a significant role in keeping the issue of the nitrates derogation on the Seanad’s agenda.
Other outgoing members seeking a return to the Seanad include Victor Boyhan, Paul Daly, and Eugene Murphy.
Agricultural journalist Matt Dempsey is a first-time nominee for the agricultural panel.
The panel also includes one notable name in the form of outgoing minister Malcolm Noonan.
Noonan, who is currently Minister of State for heritage and electoral reform, lost his seat in the Dáil at the recent general election, in which his party, the Green Party, suffered, with the party only returning one TD compared to the 12 they had going into the election.
In nominating Noonan, the Green Party said that he has “the experience and passion to ensure ‘green issues’ are heard in the Seanad”.
Noonan himself said that the Seanad election “is an important step in rebuilding the party”.
This will also be the first Seanad election contested by the Independent Ireland party. The party has confirmed that Galway County Councilor Noel Thomas has been put forward to run for the Agricultural Panel in the Seanad.
The voting for vocational panels is carried out by postal ballot. Ballot papers for the election of the vocational panels will start issuing from January 15, and polling will close on January 30, with the counting of received ballots starting shortly after.