Final Seanad Seats Filled After Marathon Counting Process
The Seanad elections concluded with four new members elected after extensive counting
Eileen Flynn, Nicole Ryan, Fiona O’Loughlin, Diarmuid Wilson, Conor Murphy, Mark Daly, Garret Ahearn, Martin Conway, Aidan Davitt, Mary Fitzpatrick, Ollie Crowe, Laura Harmon, Sharon Keogan, Frances Black, Alan Farrell, Lorraine Clifford-Lee, Joe Flaherty, Eileen Lynch, Paraic Brady, Maria Byrne, PJ Murphy, Paul Daly, Niall Blaney, Teresa Costello, Malcolm Noonan, Joanne Collins, Sarah O’Reilly, Victor Boyhan, Chris Andrews, Maria McCormack, Robbie Gallagher, Margaret Murphy O’Mahony, Pat Casey, Mark Duffy, Mike Kennelly, Joe O’Reilly, Nessa Cosgrove, Patricia Stephenson, Gerard Craughwell, Anne Rabbitte, Lynn Ruane, Tom Clonan, Aubrey McCarthy, Katherine Zappone, Michael McDowell, Ronan Mullen, Alice Mary Higgins
Earlier, Fianna Fail’s Mark Daly and Garret Ahearn, along with Martin Conway of Fine Gael, were re-elected to the administrative panel. This panel has seven seats in total.
The counting for the nine seats on the industrial and commercial vocational panel finished in the early hours. Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy, a Stormont veteran, aims to push for Irish unification in his new role.
Other panel seats went to Fianna Fail’s Aidan Davitt, Mary Fitzpatrick, and Ollie Crowe, along with Fine Gael’s Garrett Kelleher and Linda Nelson Murray, Labour’s Laura Harmon, and independents Sharon Keogan and Frances Black.
Former Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell did not win a seat. The make-up of three other vocational panels has already been confirmed.
The 11 seats on both the agricultural and labour panels, plus five on the cultural and educational panel, have all been filled. A total of 111 candidates ran for the 43 available seats.
On the cultural and educational panel, Sinn Fein’s Pauline Tully, Fine Gael’s Cathal Byrne and Sean Kyne, Fianna Fail’s Shane Curley, and independent Joe Conway were elected.
Outgoing Fianna Fail senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee and former TD Joe Flaherty did not get re-elected.
On the agricultural panel, four Fine Gael candidates won seats: Eileen Lynch, Paraic Brady, Maria Byrne, and PJ Murphy.
Fianna Fail candidates Paul Daly, Niall Blaney, and Teresa Costello also secured seats, along with former Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan, Sinn Fein’s Joanne Collins, Aontu’s Sarah O’Reilly, and independent Victor Boyhan.
On the labour panel, former Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews and his party colleague Maria McCormack won seats. The other nine seats went to Fianna Fail’s Robbie Gallagher, Margaret Murphy O’Mahony, and Pat Casey, Fine Gael’s Mark Duffy, Mike Kennelly, and Joe O’Reilly, Labour’s Nessa Cosgrove, Patricia Stephenson of the Social Democrats, and independent Gerard Craughwell.
Counting for the six seats on the Seanad’s two university constituencies has also been completed. The three seats in the Trinity/Dublin University constituency went to returning independent senators Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan, plus independent Aubrey McCarthy.
Former children’s minister Katherine Zappone was among the notable candidates who did not win. On the National University of Ireland (NUI) panel, incumbents Michael McDowell, Ronan Mullen, and Alice Mary Higgins were re-elected.
Most of the public cannot vote in the Seanad elections. The electorate for the five vocational panels includes the Dail’s TDs, outgoing senators, and local authority councillors. Graduates of NUI institutions and Trinity College Dublin vote for the six seats on the two university panels.
The final 11 Seanad seats are appointed by Taoiseach Micheal Martin. Senators debate and amend legislation proposed by the Government but cannot stop a Bill from becoming law.