26th Seanad

The 26th Seanad has been in office since 2020. The 2020 Seanad election followed the 2020 general election to the 33rd Dáil on 8 February. The Constitution of Ireland required a general election for Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), to take place not later than ninety days after a dissolution of 32nd Dáil on 14 January 2020. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels by serving politicians, for which polling closed on 30 March 2020; 6 were elected in two university constituencies, for which polling closed on 31 March 2020; and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach (Micheál Martin) on 27 June 2020.

The government has a clear majority (40 to 20) in the Seanad. Of the 60 members, twenty-four (40%) are women, and thirty (50%) are first-time Senators. Five Senators (8%) are members of the LGBT+ community. 33 members (55%) of the 26th Seanad were unsuccessful candidates at the 2020 general election, 10 of those (17%) being outgoing TDs who failed to get re-elected. In total 41 members (68%) of the 26th Seanad had contested general elections in the past, while 15 (25%) were former TDs. Eileen Flynn is the first Irish Traveller to be a member of the Seanad.

Senator Mark Daly was elected as Cathaoirleach at the opening of the term, and Senator Jerry Buttimer as Leas Cathaoirleach. As part of a government rotation agreement between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green Party, Jerry Buttimer replaced Daly as Cathaoirleach on 16 December 2022, with Daly becoming Leas Cathaoirleach. The political leadership of the Seanad also swapped on 16 December 2022, with outgoing Leader of the Seanad, Regina Doherty becoming Deputy Leader, and outgoing Deputy Leader Lisa Chambers becoming Leader. Outgoing Government Chief Whip of the Seanad, Senator Seán Kyne of Fine Gael also swapped positions with Seanad Government Deputy Chief Whip Senator Robbie Gallagher, who took over as Seanad Chief Whip. The leadership of the Green Party group in the Seanad also changed with Senator Pauline O'Reilly stepping down as Group leader to be replaced by Senator Róisín Garvey.

This rotation in Seanad leadership followed the corresponding rotation of Taoiseach and Tánaiste on 17 December, for the second half of the Dáil/Seanad term.

Electoral system

There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 Senators are elected by the Vocational panels, six elected by the two university constituencies, and eleven are nominated by the Taoiseach. Three seats are elected by graduates of the four colleges of the National University of Ireland (University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Galway and Maynooth University) and three seats are elected by graduates of the University of Dublin (as Trinity College Dublin is the sole constituent college, this is often referred to as the Trinity College constituency).

Article 18.8 of the Constitution requires that an election for Seanad Éireann must take place not later than 90 days after a dissolution of the Dáil. On 21 January, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy signed the orders for the Seanad election.

Timetable

• 24 February 2020: deadline for proposals for nominations to the vocational panels by nominating bodies (civic society groups)
• 2 March 2020: deadline for proposals for nominations to the vocational panels by Members of the Oireachtas (President of Ireland, TDs and Senators)
• 9 March 2020: Seanad Returning Officer completed the panels of candidates
• 16 March 2020: postal balloting began
• 30 March 2020, 11 a.m.: polling closed for the five special panels, counting of votes commences
• 31 March 2020, 11 a.m.: polling closed in the two university constituencies
• 27 June 2020: Taoiseach's nominees announced

Composition of the 26th Seanad

Government parties denoted with bullets (●)

Leadership

• Cathaoirleach
  • Mark Daly (29 June 2020 – 16 December 2022)
  • Jerry Buttimer (16 December 2022 – present)
• Leas-Cheann Comhairle
  • Jerry Buttimer (29 June 2020 – 21 August 2020)
  • Joe O'Reilly (22 August 2020 – 16 December 2022)
  • Mark Daly (16 December 2022 – present)

Government

• Leader of the Seanad
  • Regina Doherty (27 June 2020 – 17 December 2022)
  • Lisa Chambers (17 December 2022 – present)
• Deputy Leader of the Seanad
  • Lisa Chambers (29 June 2020 – 17 December 2022)
  • Regina Doherty (17 December 2022 – present)
• Leader of the Green Party in the Seanad
  • Pauline O'Reilly (until 16 December 2022)
  • Róisín Garvey (16 December 2022 – present)

Opposition

• Opposition Front Bench
• Leader of Sinn Féin in the Seanad: Niall Ó Donnghaile (2020–2024)
• Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad
  • Ivana Bacik (27 June 2020 – 9 July 2021)
  • Rebecca Moynihan (September 2021–present)
• Leader of the Human Dignity Alliance: Rónán Mullen

List of senators

Notes

Changes

References

External links

• "How the Seanad is Elected". Government of Ireland. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 21 January 2020.