Seanad was saved by the narrowest of margins (52/48%) on the basis that it would be reformed. It was not. Remains a holding pen for wannabe TDs in the main. It has taken 11 years for this simple reform of the ridiculous voting system to make progress.
Even if the election wasn’t going to be called in October, this Bill would never pass before March if they’re only getting Cabinet approval in September. Pre-election optics is all this is.
And the university Senators will drag their heels on it so as not to lose their exalted positions.
As a monocle and top hat voter I am appalled. They never let Oxbridge graduates vote!
As a Trinity graduate this is an assault on my rights.
Who could be better placed to nominate three absolute wasters?
Its even more complicated, so i received my degree from AIT , then did a post grad diploma awarded from NUIG…. i dont qualify to vote for the senate because its the DEGREE that has to be from tcd/nui places. Its such nonsense.
I think the Seanad is a good idea badly executed. Take out the county council votes. Add more university and professional panels, IT, Pharma, Mental Health. Make it a reservoir of experts to critique the complicated legislative issues that populism can’t solve.
I voted to retain the Seanad on the basis that the university senators are usually the only worthwhile people in the whole thing. Say what you like about McDowell but the man knows how to give feedback on draft laws that might have unintended consequences. Joe O’Toole, David Norris, Shane Ross, Feargal Quinn, Mary Robinson, and plenty more were all impressive voices that might not otherwise have had an input.
It will be interesting to see how these candidates are elected in future. Most of the complaints I see in the comments here seem to be conflating the appointed as a friend of the Taoiseach candidates with the ones who are elected by different groups within society.
It’s long overdue looking at who those groups are and amending them according to the modern world.
I don’t get the hate of the seanad.
Some great national initiatives have been driven from there.
The likes of Lynn ruane (who is someone who I disagree on almost everything about) has done excellent work and has highlighted issues around social inequalities regularly.
Just get of it or if they don’t just let everyone have a vote.
Jesus just make the Seanad a nationally elected chamber on a national constituency, give it some power to do something useful, like initiate legislation as well as review Dail legislation and get rid of the boards and appointments.
No tax raising powers and the ability to be overridden after three Dail votes.
The move to centralise all decision making in government is moronic.
We need meaningful devolution – mayors elected prosecutors and top cops.
The Dail attacks every alternative power base it can. Local councils, mayors, the Seanad.
only took them 40+ years for them to enforce he 1979 referendum
Not really sure the point of this anymore in it’s current form.
In the past it was probably to give the Unionist minority a feeling of representation in the political process by giving Trinity three seats.
We now extend it to those who scraped a pass degree in Tralee IT but exclude a qualified electrician or a direct entry Aer Lingus pilot.
I’m an NUI graduate I’d be all for this. Get rid of the weird remnant of elitism
So do TCD graduates not get a vote jow or does every university graduate now get a vote?
We need to be compensated for the depreciation of our degrees.
This is the government stating that TCD and “New Bog Tech” flavour of the month are of the same quality.
Earn the points and earn the vote.
From the article: However, the changes will not come into effect for the next general election – meaning that the next Seanad will be the last to have the Trinity and NUI panels. The changes, extending the franchise to several hundreds of thousands of graduates of other institutions, will not be applied until the following Seanad election – which may not be until 2030.
I voted in the last Seanad election and all of the incumbents got re-elected (NUI panel). I’d say few people who are eligible even bother to register for their postal vote.
That said, giving effect to the 7th amendment is the absolute bare minimum of reform. The referendum was passed 45 years ago, it’s taken too long for something pretty uncontroversial to be enacted.
19 comments
Scrap the Seanad
Seanad was saved by the narrowest of margins (52/48%) on the basis that it would be reformed. It was not. Remains a holding pen for wannabe TDs in the main. It has taken 11 years for this simple reform of the ridiculous voting system to make progress.
Even if the election wasn’t going to be called in October, this Bill would never pass before March if they’re only getting Cabinet approval in September. Pre-election optics is all this is.
And the university Senators will drag their heels on it so as not to lose their exalted positions.
As a monocle and top hat voter I am appalled. They never let Oxbridge graduates vote!
As a Trinity graduate this is an assault on my rights.
Who could be better placed to nominate three absolute wasters?
Its even more complicated, so i received my degree from AIT , then did a post grad diploma awarded from NUIG…. i dont qualify to vote for the senate because its the DEGREE that has to be from tcd/nui places. Its such nonsense.
I think the Seanad is a good idea badly executed. Take out the county council votes. Add more university and professional panels, IT, Pharma, Mental Health. Make it a reservoir of experts to critique the complicated legislative issues that populism can’t solve.
I voted to retain the Seanad on the basis that the university senators are usually the only worthwhile people in the whole thing. Say what you like about McDowell but the man knows how to give feedback on draft laws that might have unintended consequences. Joe O’Toole, David Norris, Shane Ross, Feargal Quinn, Mary Robinson, and plenty more were all impressive voices that might not otherwise have had an input.
It will be interesting to see how these candidates are elected in future. Most of the complaints I see in the comments here seem to be conflating the appointed as a friend of the Taoiseach candidates with the ones who are elected by different groups within society.
It’s long overdue looking at who those groups are and amending them according to the modern world.
I don’t get the hate of the seanad.
Some great national initiatives have been driven from there.
The likes of Lynn ruane (who is someone who I disagree on almost everything about) has done excellent work and has highlighted issues around social inequalities regularly.
Just get of it or if they don’t just let everyone have a vote.
Jesus just make the Seanad a nationally elected chamber on a national constituency, give it some power to do something useful, like initiate legislation as well as review Dail legislation and get rid of the boards and appointments.
No tax raising powers and the ability to be overridden after three Dail votes.
The move to centralise all decision making in government is moronic.
We need meaningful devolution – mayors elected prosecutors and top cops.
The Dail attacks every alternative power base it can. Local councils, mayors, the Seanad.
only took them 40+ years for them to enforce he 1979 referendum
Not really sure the point of this anymore in it’s current form.
In the past it was probably to give the Unionist minority a feeling of representation in the political process by giving Trinity three seats.
We now extend it to those who scraped a pass degree in Tralee IT but exclude a qualified electrician or a direct entry Aer Lingus pilot.
I’m an NUI graduate I’d be all for this. Get rid of the weird remnant of elitism
So do TCD graduates not get a vote jow or does every university graduate now get a vote?
We need to be compensated for the depreciation of our degrees.
This is the government stating that TCD and “New Bog Tech” flavour of the month are of the same quality.
Earn the points and earn the vote.
From the article: However, the changes will not come into effect for the next general election – meaning that the next Seanad will be the last to have the Trinity and NUI panels. The changes, extending the franchise to several hundreds of thousands of graduates of other institutions, will not be applied until the following Seanad election – which may not be until 2030.
I voted in the last Seanad election and all of the incumbents got re-elected (NUI panel). I’d say few people who are eligible even bother to register for their postal vote.
That said, giving effect to the 7th amendment is the absolute bare minimum of reform. The referendum was passed 45 years ago, it’s taken too long for something pretty uncontroversial to be enacted.