Counting begins for the Trinity and RDS elections, which will determine six of the 60 seats in Ireland's Upper House, the Seanad. The postal vote deadline for university panels is Wednesday morning, with a turnout below 25 percent expected. Counting for vocational panels ends Thursday, continuing through the bank holiday weekend.
Counting is set to commence for the Trinity and RDS elections, which will determine the six out of sixty seats in the Irish Upper House, the Seanad. The postal vote deadline for these university panels closes on Wednesday morning, with anticipation of a turnout below 25 percent. The postal ballot for the five vocational panels concludes on Thursday at 11 am, after which counting will begin and is projected to continue throughout the bank holiday weekend.
The Seanad, Ireland's Upper House, consists of 60 seats. Filling 43 of these seats across five vocational panels involves 174 TDs in the Dáil, 60 incumbent senators, and 949 local authority councillors as the electorate. Graduates from National University of Ireland (NUI) institutions and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) cast their votes for the six seats (three in each) on the NUI and University of Dublin panels respectively. The remaining 11 Seanad seats are appointed by the Taoiseach, the Irish head of government.Among the candidates vying for the vocational panels are five former TDs who lost their seats in the general election. This notable group includes former Fianna Fáil minister Anne Rabbitte, her Longford-Westmeath colleague Joe Flaherty, former Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell, and former Independent TDs Cathal Berry from Kildare South and Matt Shanahan from Waterford. Counting commences with the Education and Cultural panel, which boasts 21 candidates out of a total of 111 contenders for the five panels. Meanwhile, Trinity College and NUI graduates each elect three senators from the 60-seat Seanad. A total of 76,000 Trinity graduates are eligible to vote, and as of Tuesday, 22 percent had cast their ballots, with 16,729 voting papers returned. The expectation is for more votes to arrive in Wednesday morning's post.The 2020 election saw a turnout of 23 percent. Outgoing Senators Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan are seeking re-election, with one seat vacant following the retirement of David Norris in January 2024. Of the 16 candidates vying for these seats, former minister for children Katherine Zappone holds the most prominent position. Other notable contenders include former Green Party minister Ossian Smyth, party councillor Hazel Chu, Labour's candidate Sadhbh O'Neill, a lecturer and scientist, and former Irish rugby international Hugo MacNeill, who is making his third attempt at securing a seat, having unsuccessfully contested the 2020 election and the 2022 by-election to succeed Labour's Ivana Bacik following her election to the Dáil. Aubrey McCarthy, an entrepreneur and founder of the charity Tiglin, is also in the running.On the NUI panel, the three outgoing senators – Alice Mary Higgins, Michael McDowell, and Rónán Mullen – are all seeking re-election. The 12 candidates also include UCD associate professor Marie Keenan, eye surgeon Dara Joseph Kilmartin, Green Party Dún Laoghaire councillor Eva Dowling, a former advisor to former minister Ossian Smyth, geriatrician Rónán Collins, and arts manager, former solicitor, and political advisor Linda O’Shea Farren, who has contested Seanad elections on several occasions. The electorate for NUI colleges currently stands at 112,832, with a projected turnout of 33,000. Registrar Dr Patrick O'Leary stated that a first count is possible late on Wednesday night, but both NUI and Trinity anticipate final counts by Thursday evening. The NUI will serve as the Central Registration Authority for the newly established higher education constituency, created after legislation expanded the electorate to encompass 15 colleges, including technological universities. The two Seanad panels will amalgamate into one higher education constituency, electing six senators at the next election. “It’s a completely new system and people will have to register again,” said Dr O’Leary. Currently, 65,000 individuals have registered for this new constituency. “Unless you make a claim you won’t be able to vote,” he emphasized.
Seanad Elections Trinity College RDS Irish Politics University Panels Vocational Panels Counting
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