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Seanad Éireann
Type Upper house of Oireachtas
Cathaoirleach Pat Moylan, Fianna Fáil
since 13 September 2007
Leader Donie Cassidy, Fianna Fáil
since 16 August 2007
Members 60
Political groups Fianna Fáil
Fine Gael
Labour Party
Independents
Progressive Democrats
Green Party
Sinn Féin
Last elections 2007
Meeting place Leinster House
Web site www.oireachtas.ie

Seanad Éireann (IPA: [ɕan̪ˠad̪ˠ e:rʲan̪ˠ]; English: Senate of Ireland), also known unofficially as the Senate, is the upper house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Ireland. An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house. The Oireachtas (ɛrʲaxt̪ˠasˠ is the "national parliament" or Legislature of Ireland, sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann. Cathaoirleach (plural Cathaoirligh) is the title of the speaker of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the Irish Pat Moylan (born 12 September 1946 is an Irish politician and member of Seanad Éireann for Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Donal ("Donie" Cassidy (born 15 September 1945 is an Irish businessman and Fianna Fáil politician Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party, shortened to Fine Gael (ˌfina gail meaning Family of the Irish or Tribe of the Irish, is the second largest The Labour Party (Páirtí an Lucht Oibre is a Democratic socialist and Social democratic Political party in the Republic of Ireland. In Politics, an independent is a Politician who is not Affiliated with any Political party. The Progressive Democrats (An Páirtí Daonlathach lit The Democratic Party) commonly called The PDs, are a Free market liberal party in The Green Party (Comhaontas Glas lit Green Alliance) is a green Political party in Ireland. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Leinster House (Teach Laighean is the name of the building housing the national parliament of the Republic of Ireland (Oireachtas Éireann An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house. The Oireachtas (ɛrʲaxt̪ˠasˠ is the "national parliament" or Legislature of Ireland, sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. Unlike the lower house, Dáil Éireann, the Senate is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by various methods. ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament Its powers are much weaker than those of the Dáil and it can only delay laws with which it disagrees, rather than veto them outright. It has been located, since its establishment, in Leinster House. Leinster House (Teach Laighean is the name of the building housing the national parliament of the Republic of Ireland (Oireachtas Éireann

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Seanad Éireann consists of sixty members:

Under the Constitution of Ireland the general election for the Senate must occur not later than 90 days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. The Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann came into force on 29 December 1937 after having been passed by a national plebiscite the previous July A general election is an Election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election The election occurs under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote (however in the panel constituencies each vote counts as 1000 meaning fractions of votes can be transferred). Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes Single transferable vote (STV is a preferential Voting system designed to minimize Wasted votes and provide Proportional representation Membership is open to all Irish citizens over 21 and residing within the Republic, but a senator cannot also be a member of Dáil Éireann. However, as stated above, nomination to vocational panel seats is restricted; while nomination in the University constituencies requires signatures of 10 graduates.

Members of the 23rd Seanad (2007—)

Main article: Members of the 23rd Seanad

Party Senators
Fianna Fáil 28
Fine Gael 14
Independents 7
Labour Party 6
Green Party 2
Progressive Democrats 2
Sinn Féin 1
Total 60

Powers

The powers of Seanad Éireann are modelled loosely on those of the British House of Lords. Composition of the 23rd Seanad There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach shortened to Fianna Fáil ( is currently the largest Political party in the Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party, shortened to Fine Gael (ˌfina gail meaning Family of the Irish or Tribe of the Irish, is the second largest In Politics, an independent is a Politician who is not Affiliated with any Political party. The Labour Party (Páirtí an Lucht Oibre is a Democratic socialist and Social democratic Political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Green Party (Comhaontas Glas lit Green Alliance) is a green Political party in Ireland. The Progressive Democrats (An Páirtí Daonlathach lit The Democratic Party) commonly called The PDs, are a Free market liberal party in Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" It was intended to play an advisory and revising role rather than to be the equal of the popularly elected Dáil. While notionally every Act of the Oireachtas must receive its assent, it can only delay rather than veto decisions of the Dáil. In practice the Senate has an in-build government majority due to the Taoiseach's nominees. The constitution imposes the following specific limitations on the powers of the Senate:

The constitution does, however, grant to the Senate certain means by which it may defend its prerogatives against an overly zealous Dáil:

Activities

Seanad Éireann adopts its own standing orders and appoints its president, known as the 'Cathaoirleach' (Chairperson), and a Leader of the Seanad. Rules of order, also known as standing orders or rules of procedure, are the written rules of Parliamentary procedure adopted by a Deliberative assembly Cathaoirleach (plural Cathaoirligh) is the title of the speaker of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the Irish The Leader of the Seanad is the leader of the government senators in Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The Senate establishes its own standing committees and senators also participate, along with TDs (members of the Dáil) in joint committees of the Oireachtas. A maximum of two senators may be ministers in the Government. The Senate currently has three standing committees, one of which has two sub-committees:

Historical origins

Early precursors

The first parliamentary upper house in Ireland was the House of Lords of the Parliament of Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Irish House of Lords (Irish Teach na dTiarnai) was the Upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from mediæval times until 1800 The Parliament of Ireland (Irish Parlaimint na hEireann) was a Legislature that existed from mediæval times until 1800. Like its British counter-part, this house consisted of hereditary nobles. After the abolition of the Irish Parliament under the Act of Union of 1800 no parliament existed in Ireland until the 20th century. The phrase Act of Union 1800 (or sometimes Act of Union 1801) (Acht an Aontais 1800 is used to describe two complementary Acts whose official United Kingdom titles are

In 1919 Irish nationalists established an extra-legal legislature called Dáil Éireann but this body was unicameral and so had no upper house. Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber In 1920 the Parliament of Southern Ireland was established by British law with an upper house called the Senate. The Parliament of Southern Ireland was set up during the Anglo-Irish War under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, evolving out of the Home Rule Act 1914 The Senate of Southern Ireland consisted of a mixture of Irish peers and government appointees. The Senate of Southern Ireland (1921–1922 was the Upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland theoretically established by the 1920 Government The Senate convened in 1921 but was boycotted by Irish nationalists and so never became fully operational. It was formally abolished with the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 but a number of its members were soon appointed to the new Free State senate. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by

Free State Seanad Éireann (1922–1936)

Main article: Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)

The name Seanad Éireann was first used as the title of the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. Seanad Éireann (Senate of Ireland was the Upper house of the Oireachtas (parliament of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936 The first Seanad consisted of a mixture of members appointed by the President of the Executive Council and members indirectly elected by the Dáil, and W. T. Cosgrave agreed to use his appointments to grant extra representation to the state's Protestant minority. William Thomas Cosgrave (Liam Tomás Mac Cosgair 6 June 1880 &ndash 16 November 1965 known generally as W It was intended that eventually the entire membership of the Senate would be directly elected by the public but after only one election, in 1925, this system was abandoned in favour of a form of indirect election. The Free State Senate was abolished entirely in 1936 after it delayed some Government proposals for constitutional changes.

Constitution of Ireland (1937–present)

The modern Seanad Éireann was established by the Constitution of Ireland in 1937. When this document was adopted it was decided to preserve the titles of Oireachtas, for the legislature, and Seanad Éireann, for the upper house, that had been used during the Irish Free State. This new Seanad was considered to be the direct successor of the Free State Seanad and so the first Seanad convened under the new constitution was referred to as the "Second Seanad".

The new system of vocational panels used to nominate candidates for the Senate was inspired by Roman Catholic social teaching of the 1930s, and in particular the 1931 papal encyclical Quadragesimo Anno. The Vocational Panels are one of three methods by which members are elected to Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas ( Parliament) of the Quadragesimo Anno is an Encyclical by Pope Pius XI, issued 15 May 1931, 40 years after Rerum Novarum (thus the In this document Pope Pius XI argued that the Marxist concept of class conflict should be replaced with a vision of social order based on the cooperation and interdependence of society's various vocational groups. Pope Pius XI ( Latin: Pius PP XI; Italian: Pio XI; May 31 1857 &ndash February 10 1939) born

Calls for reform

Since 1928 twelve separate official reports have been published on reform of the Seanad. In the past the Progressive Democrats called for its outright abolition; however, they have benefited most from the Taoiseach's right to select 11 Senators. The Progressive Democrats (An Páirtí Daonlathach lit The Democratic Party) commonly called The PDs, are a Free market liberal party in Today the only party in Ireland calling for the Seanad's abolition is the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party (in Irish Páirtí Sóisialach) is a Political party active in Ireland The post-1937 body has been criticised on a number of grounds. The Senate is accused of being weak and dominated by the Government of the day. There are also allegations of patronage in the selection of its members, with the senators often being close allies of the Taoiseach or those who have failed to be elected to the Dáil. Patronage is the support encouragement privilege and often financial aid given by a person or an organization Many senators have subsequently been elected as TDs.

It has also become widely accepted that the system of vocational panels has not functioned as was originally intended. It is said that candidates seldom have any particular experience relevant to the panel from which they are elected and that, because, despite the vocational nomination process, it is politicians who actually elect the Senate, the election of most senators is an overtly political process dominated by party affiliation.

The universities have a long tradition of electing independent candidates. Nonetheless, many have argued that the system of university senators is elitist. Some, like the pressure group Graduate Equality, argue that the franchise for electing university senators should be extended to the graduates of all third level institutions. Others believe that this does not go far enough and that at least some portion of the Senate should be directly elected by all adult citizens. Calls have also been made for the Senate to be used to represent Irish emigrants or the people of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of In 1999 the Reform Movement called for some of the Taoiseach's nominations to be reserved for members of the Irish-British minority, and other minorities such as members of the Travelling Community and recently arrived immigrants. The Reform Movement is an organisation which has the ultimate goal of the re-establishment of Ireland as a part of the Commonwealth, with the promotion of a British

In the past Taoisigh (prime ministers) have often used their nominations to appoint respected people from Northern Ireland, such as the late peace campaigner Gordon Wilson, and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP. Gordon Wilson ( 25 September 1927 &ndash 27 June 1995) was the father of Marie Wilson one of 12 victims of the Enniskillen Remembrance Seamus Mallon MP first Deputy First Minister of Northern The Social Democratic and Labour Party ( SDLP; Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre is one of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland

The precise composition of the Senate was originally fixed by the constitution. However in 1979 the Seventh Amendment was adopted. The Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland provided that the procedure for the election of six members of the Senate by university graduates could be altered This empowered the Oireachtas to extend the franchise for the election of the six university senators to the graduates of additional institutions by ordinary legislation. The intention at the time was that all third level graduates would be given the right to vote in senatorial elections but to date no such provision has yet been made.

The most recent official report on Seanad reform was made in April 2004 by a Senate subcommittee, and there has been speculation that it has a better chance of success than many of its predecessors. The Report on Seanad Reform recommended no changes to the powers of the Senate. However it recommended that the vocational panels be abolished, that twenty-six seats should be filled by direct elections, that the franchise for electing university senators should be extended to all third level graduates, and that the Taoiseach should be formally required to use his nominees to represent Northern Ireland, the diaspora and marginalised groups. It also suggested that the senate be given new functions, such as a greater role scrutinising the Government and EU legislation. The Law of the European Union is the unique legal system which operates alongside the laws of Member States of the European Union (EU

The reform proposal from April 2004 was formally introduced in the Seanad in late November 2007. [1]

Notable Irish senators

See also

References

  1. ^ University constituencies to go in Seanad reform plan – The Irish Times 28 November 2007. Robert Malachy Burke (aka "Bobby" (1907 &ndash 20 September 1998) was a noted Christian Socialist and philanthropist Douglas Hyde (Dubhghlas de hÍde Pseudonym An Craoibhín Aoibhinn) (17 January 1860 &ndash 12 July 1949 was an Anglo-Irish scholar of the Irish language Oliver Joseph St John Gogarty ( August 17, 1878 - September 22, 1957) was an Irish Physician and ear surgeon Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett, ( 24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932) was an Anglo-Irish unionist, later Irish nationalist James Henry Mussen Campbell 1st Baron Glenavy PC (4 April 1851 – 22 March 1931 was an Irish lawyer, politician in the Parliament of the Seamus Mallon MP first Deputy First Minister of Northern Bríd Rodgers born Bríd Stratford (born 20 February, 1935 in Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Republic of Ireland)(Bríd Arthur Francis Benjamin Guinness 3rd Earl of Iveagh, (20 May 1937 &ndash 1992 known as Benjamin was the son of Arthur Onslow Edward Guinness Viscount Elveden and Elizabeth Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (Máire Mhic Róibín born 21 May 1944 was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997 and the United Nations The Honourable Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, (Caitríona Mac Aonghusa born November 14 1934) President of the Law Reform Commission and a former justice Garret FitzGerald (Gearóid Mac Gearailt born 9 February 1926 was the seventh Taoiseach of Ireland, serving two terms in office (July 1981 to February 1982 December Gordon Wilson ( 25 September 1927 &ndash 27 June 1995) was the father of Marie Wilson one of 12 victims of the Enniskillen Remembrance Noël Christopher Browne (Nollaig de Brún 20 December 1915 &ndash 21 May 1997 was an Irish Politician and doctor. James Ryan (6 December 1891 &ndash 25 September 1970 was a senior Irish politician Conor Cruise O'Brien (Conchubhar Crús Ó Briain (also colloquially known as 'The Cruiser' born 3 November 1917 is an Irish politician writer and academic David Patrick Bernard Norris (born 1 July 1944 is an Irish Civil rights campaigner former university lecturer and longtime member of Seanad Éireann Valerie Hamilton Hon Lady Goulding ( 12 September 1918 &ndash 28 July 2003) was an Irish campaigner for disabled people and Éamon de Buitléar is an Irish writer and film maker He is managing director of Éamon de Buitléar Ltd Brian Friel (born 9 January 1929) is a playwright and more recently director of his own works from Northern Ireland who now resides in County Donegal The Senate of Southern Ireland (1921–1922 was the Upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland theoretically established by the 1920 Government Seanad Éireann (Senate of Ireland was the Upper house of the Oireachtas (parliament of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936 A senate is a Deliberative body, often the Upper house or chamber of a Legislature or Parliament. In Government, bicameralism (bi + Latin la ''camera'' chamber is the practice of having two legislative or Parliamentary chambers Thus a bicameral A university constituency is a Constituency, used in elections to a Legislature, that represents a University rather than a geographical area The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet news paper launched in the late 1850s. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

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