As counting continues to elect six university candidates to the Seanad, the votes of an exclusive electorate are being sorted and separated to elect 43 senators to the five vocational panels in the Upper House.
The elite electorate of just under 1,200 voters comprises 174 TDs, outgoing senators not elected to the Dáil, and the State’s 949 councillors. They will decide the fate of some 140 candidates.
Some well-known faces, TDs who lost their seats, potential future TDs and Seanad “lifers” have criss-crossed the country for weeks, canvassing councillors in every local authority as they attempt to woo them into giving them their number one or a high preference.
The councillors, TDs and senators (who get to vote for themselves) have a vote on each of the five panels which represent different areas such as agriculture, business, the arts and industry.
Technically, every senator in the Seanad is independent and there are no political parties, but they all divide politically in the Seanad, and it is a “school for baby TDs” as one cynical observer described it.
The general election was proof of this, with 11 senators elected or re-elected to the Dáil – five from Fine Gael, four in Fianna Fáil and two from the Labour Party.
There are a number of races to watch in the intricacies of the Seanad count, where the electorate usually but not always heeds party headquarters' guidance. Parties will also trade votes for panels where they either have no or a low number of candidates or to agree on second and third preferences.
All eyes will be on Fianna Fáil candidates former minister of state Anne Rabbitte, who lost her Galway East seat, and Joe Flaherty, who lost in Longford-Westmeath.
Fine Gael parliamentary party chair Alan Farrell, who lost his Dublin Fingal East seat, is also one to watch. All were nominated as senators after losing their seats as there were three vacancies for taoiseach’s nominee. This ensures the Government parties retain those three votes for each panel.
Sinn Féin’s Pauline Tully, who suffered a shock defeat in Cavan-Monaghan, is running for the party, as is former Dublin Bay South TD Chris Andrews, who also lost his seat.
Former Independent TD Cathal Berry, who was defeated in Kildare South, is also running for the Seanad, as is former Waterford TD Matt Shanahan, all hoping to retain an Oireachtas presence.
Sinn Féin has also nominated heavy-hitter former finance minister in the Northern Assembly Conor Murphy, with expectations of a firm focus on a united Ireland. And speculation is growing that former unionist senator Ian Marshall, a Queen’s University Belfast lecturer, may get a taoiseach’s nomination in response.
The party also has Dáil hopes for Seanad candidates including Limerick County hopeful Joanne Collins; Maria McCormack in Laois, who ran in the general election against former Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley; and Nicole Ryan, who ran in Cork North-West.
There are some Seanad “lifers” also running, senators who run exclusively for the Upper House. They include former cathaoirleach Mark Daly, who is expected to be comfortably returned, as are Independent senators Victor Boyhan and Gerard Craughwell.
And there are the candidates parties are focusing on who they favour as future TDs in constituencies where they either have no Dáil seats or believe a second or third seat is possible. They include Fine Gael Cork South-West councillor Noel O’Donovan, who is running alongside outgoing party colleague Tim Lombard, who was unsuccessful in his second tilt at the Dáil.
Fianna Fáil is promoting Dee Ryan, the party’s candidate in the Limerick mayoral direct election, as a potential future TD along with Dublin South West Dáil candidate Cllr Teresa Costello, and Tipperary South general election candidate Cllr Imelda Goldsboro.
Also in strong contention for a seat is Navan-based Fine Gael candidate Cllr Linda Nelson Murray, who worked as a parliamentary assistant for former minister Damien English.
Labour, the Social Democrats and the Greens have co-operated to trade votes, and former Green minister Malcolm Noonan, the party’s sole candidate on the vocational panels, is expected to win.
Labour is hopeful for its four councillors Nessa Cosgrove, Angela Feeney, Laura Harmon and Darragh Moriarty, while the Social Democrats who have no Seanad seats, are running Patricia Stephenson and Cllr Joan Hopkins.
Among the more well-known faces are environmentalist and broadcaster Independent candidate Éanna Ní Lamhna and Restaurants Association of Ireland chief Adrian Cummins, a key industry voice during the Covid pandemic.
Also worth watching are former Sinn Féin MEP Liadh Ní Riada, now running as an Independent candidate, and outgoing Senator Eileen Flynn, a strong campaigner on Travellers, disabilities and poverty.
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