Fine Gael senator and former government chief whip Seán Kyne has reversed his decision to quit politics and will run again for the Seanad on the cultural and educational panel.
Mr Kyne said after the general election he was stepping away from politics following his unsuccessful attempt to win back the Galway West Dáil seat he lost in 2020.
But on Friday he said: “I received lots of calls from constituents in Galway West and colleagues in the parliamentary party to stay in politics. Also there is now no TD of any party resident in Connemara so I feel there is a role to be played.”
The Moycullen-based Irish speaker is the only one of five incumbents on the panel seeking re-election. There are 60 senators, of whom 43 are elected to five vocational panels by an electorate of just under 1,200 of incoming TDs, outgoing senators and local councillors. Six are elected by NUI and Trinity College graduates and 11 are appointed by the taoiseach.
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Senator John McGahon is stepping back from politics following the election controversy over an assault outside a Co Louth pub in 2018 for which he was found not guilty in a criminal trial but 65 per cent liable in a subsequent civil trial.
Fianna Fáil senator Malcolm Byrne was elected to the Dáil for Wicklow-Wexford while Senator Lisa Chambers is retiring from politics after she too was unsuccessful in her attempt to win back the Mayo Dáil seat she lost in 2020.
Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield is also standing down after two terms to pursue a career in music.
Separately Fianna Fáil faces a fracturing of its vote because of the large number of candidates seeking election to the five vocational panels in the Seanad elections, not all with party support.
There are two ways to get nominated. A candidate can receive an “inside” nomination from four Oireachtas members and political parties generally control these.
Nominations can also be made by “outside” professional nominating bodies representing various sectors of society and some of these are supported by the parties. Candidates can also seek such nominations independently of their political parties.
December 18th was the deadline for outside candidates and the Seanad office received 104 nominations including 26 from Fianna Fáil.
Political parties are finalising their inside nominations ahead of the New Year’s Eve deadline but Fianna Fáil already has eight candidates for the cultural and educational panel.
They include inside nominee and former TD Joe Flaherty, who lost his Longford-Westmeath seat in the general election and was nominated to the Seanad by Taoiseach Simon Harris to replace Senator Byrne. Outgoing senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, a taoiseach’s nominee in 2020, is also running on this panel.
Cllr Bernard Moynihan, brother of Cork North-West TD Michael Moynihan is among the six Fianna Fáil candidates running on the Labour panel, as is Michael Smith, nephew of former ceann comhairle Rory O’Hanlon, and former Cork South-West TD Margaret Murphy O’Mahony.
Minister of State Anne Rabbitte, who lost her Galway East Dáil seat, is an inside candidate on this panel, as is outgoing senator Pat Casey.
Sinn Féin will have six new Seanad candidates running, including Pauline Tully and Chris Andrews, who lost their Dáil seats. Laois county councillor Maria McCormack, Cork North-West general election candidate Nicole Ryan and Co Limerick candidate Joanne Collins are also candidates. A final inside candidate will be added before the December 31st deadline.
In 2020 the party started with five senators but two Northern Ireland members resigned, Elisha McCallion and Niall Ó Donnghaile, while Senator Lynn Boylan was elected to the European Parliament. Senator Warfield is standing down and Senator Paul Gavan did not receive ardchomhairle approval to run again, although he did receive an outside nomination for the Labour panel.
The election is by postal vote with ballots issued on January 15th. Counting begins on January 30th.
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