Eligibility to vote for Seanad

Why not extend the electorate to cover IT graduates? I have been asked a few times if I am going to vote but when I explain I went to an IT they say "oh you went to a crap college".

The cheek!

Clubman, I reckon the whole taoiseachs nominees are a type of honours system for the FF party.

ClubMan said:

An honours system by the back door? No thanks. I'd prefer to live in a Republican meritocracy to be honest.

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Yeah me too ! I agree! A hatred of all things aristocratic is one of my major hang ups and I'm happy to have such a hang up.
But the Seanad appears to be already an ' honours system by the back door' with party cronies and hacks being appointed there.

As I said, I have no idea of what use the Seanad actually is to anybody but if it remains in existance I'd much prefer to see sitting there someone with a business/intellectual background who's already achieved a lot and probably would earn much more money by not being there than Mary O'Rourke for example.
Not that I have anything against her (shes better than Beverly) but if she had achieved something in the real world while waiting to be reelected instead of leeching off the Seanad budget for the last 5 years I would have a bit more respect for her abilities and talents. If someone cant make it in the real world not only does it it hark back to notions of aristrocracy but also how dare they think they can govern those of us who do make it in the real world.

Markjbloggs said:

Of course, we could go to the other extreme and select Senators based on front cover appearances in Hello magazine

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Has anyone seen the election paper for the seanaid ? If they have, what do you think of the one with the hat?

More hats in the Seanad I say. Oh sorry - I forgot that I don't have a say...

bond-007 said:

Clubman, I reckon the whole taoiseachs nominees are a type of honours system for the FF party.

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and a way to bolster the meagre Oireachtas representations of the PD's (and the slightly less meagre one of the Greens)

How can I get into the Seanad ? it sounds cushy ?

The guy with the hat and moustache that look as though someone painted them on after the photo taken? It looks like a spoof. But in the way of things...

the senators elected by university graduates are a very small proportion of the overall numbers in the Senate. What about the nomimees, and those elected by Co Councillors - who will vote along party lines. The whole system needs to be overhauled.

Wikipedia said:

Seanad Éireann consists of sixty members:

• Eleven appointed by the Taoiseach (prime minister), see Nominated by the Taoiseach (Seanad Éireann).
• Six elected by the graduates of certain Irish universities:
  • Three by graduates of the University of Dublin.
  • Three by graduates of the National University of Ireland.
• 43 elected from five special panels of nominees (known as vocational panels) by an electorate consisting of TDs (member of Dáil Éireann), senators and local councillors. Nomination is restrictive for the panel seats with only Oireachtas members and designated 'nominating bodies' entitled to nominate. Each of the five panels consists, in theory, of individuals possessing special knowledge of, or experience in, one of five specific fields. In practice the nominees are party members, often, though not always, failed or aspiring Dáil candidates:
  • Cultural and Educational Panel: Education, the arts, the Irish language and Irish culture and literature.
  • Agricultural Panel: Agriculture and the fisheries.
  • Labour Panel: Labour (organised or otherwise).
  • Industrial and Commercial Panel: Industry and commerce (including engineering and architecture).
  • Administrative Panel: Public administration and social services (including the voluntary sector).

Under the Constitution of Ireland the general election for the Senate must occur not later than 90 days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. The election occurs under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote (however in the panel constituencies each vote counts as 1000 meaning fractions of votes can be transferred). Membership is open to all Irish citizens over 21, but a senator cannot also be a member of Dáil Éireann. However, as stated above, nomination to vocational panel seats is restricted; while nomination in the University constituencies requires signatures of 10 graduates.

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From the above it would clearly indicate that reform is badly needed.

Vanilla said:

The guy with the hat and moustache that look as though someone painted them on after the photo taken? It looks like a spoof. But in the way of things...

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Any fans of Fair City......resemblance to Sylvestor Garrigan ( only in appearance tho, no inference here to any other resemblance )

bond-007 said:

From the above it would clearly indicate that reform is badly needed.

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Plus the fact that most of the university candidates have party political affiliations - which they do not have to declare - and in fact don't!

Graham_07 said:

Any fans of Fair City......resemblance to Sylvestor Garrigan ( only in appearance tho, no inference here to any other resemblance )

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Is that the bloke who used to own the garage or something? I used to always bump into him in Tesco, Phibsboro.