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.
quondam47 on
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.
marquess_rostrevor on
As a monocle and top hat voter I am appalled. They never let Oxbridge graduates vote!
floor-pie on
As a Trinity graduate this is an assault on my rights.
Who could be better placed to nominate three absolute wasters?
Reasonable_Yak7899 on
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.
BXL-LUX-DUB on
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.
Cilly2010 on
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.
AgainstAllAdvice on
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.
Leavser1 on
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.
10 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.