Registration now open for the Seanad Éireann Higher Education constituency

[Brendan Burgess]

SeanadVoter.ie

seanadvoter.ie

You can apply now to be entered on the Register of Electors 2026 for the Seanad Éireann Higher Education constituency.
The deadline for applications is 26 February 2026. This Register of Electors will be published on 1 June 2026.

To register:

1. Visit our website: www.SeanadVoter.ie
2. Complete the online form with:

• Your full name
• Your address
• Details of your degree(s)
• Your PPS Number or a completed Witness Form
• Proof of citizenship (either a photo of your passport or Certificate of Naturalisation)

Paper application forms are also available for download here on SeanadVoter.ie.

Apply Now

 

[Flybytheseat]

Thanks Brendan. I assume I don't need to reregister if already registered for the previous NUI panel ?

 

[Marsupial]

Thanks Brendan. I assume I don't need to reregister if already registered for the previous NUI panel ?

From the FAQs.

Elections held after 31 May 2025 will be on the basis of a new Higher Education constituency and a new register. You must register for the new Seanad Éireann Higher Education constituency if you want to vote in elections in future. You will not be automatically registered for the new Higher Education constituency, even if you were on the NUI or Trinity College Dublin registers.

 

[ClubMan]

Seems confusing. Do people (like me as a DCU/NIHED graduate) who registered on foot of this:

RTÉ: "Third-level alumni encouraged to register for new Seanad constituency"

https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/0122/1492268-graduates-register-seanad-constituency/ Applications to be included in the first Register of Electors for the new constituency can be made online via www.seanadvoter.ie until tomorrow [Friday 24th January 2025]. If eligible voters miss tomorrow’s...

www.askaboutmoney.com

need to register again?

 

[planck]

Does anyone know if you have to be resident in Ireland to register (and also to vote) - it seems it is not required ?

 

[ClubMan]

Does anyone know if you have to be resident in Ireland to register (and also to vote) - it seems it is not required ?

It's not:

You are eligible to register as an elector if you:
Are a citizen of Ireland
AND
Are 18 years of age or older
AND
Hold a degree from a designated institution

 

[planck]

thanks, so in future Seanad elections, non-resident Irish graduates can vote - I was not aware of that

 

[TomEdison]

thanks, so in future Seanad elections, non-resident Irish graduates can vote - I was not aware of that

This has been the case all along. But voting is postal and, depending on where you live and what the postal services are like, you may not receive the ballot paper in time to complete it and send it back before the deadline.

 

[patfert1]

As a graduate of both TCD And NUI, I understand that I will now lose one of my two votes for the seanad elections. Disenfranchised!!

 

[ClubMan]

I understand that I will now lose one of my two votes for the seanad elections. Disenfranchised!!

Great, so with this and the extension to graduates of newer universities like myself it's marginally less undemocratic than before. Maybe some day they'll institute even more reforms that will make it even less undemocratic.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Just scrap the Senate altogether and save ourselves millions of euro.

 

[TomEdison]

Just scrap the Senate altogether and save ourselves millions of euro.

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!!!

 

[Persia]

Just scrap the Senate altogether and save ourselves millions of euro.

Enda Kenny, fine man that he is, gave us that very option but the plain people of Ireland were terrible afeard of what would happen if we got rid it....cue thunder and lightning and 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse scenario playing out in Paddy and Mary's addled brains.

Never mind that most of them can't even vote in it's elections

 

[BIG-notorious]

The Seanad is a rotten borough and always has been. I burned my registration papers immediately they arrived in the post over a quarter of a century ago rather than participate in a clearly undemocratic sham "election". Given also the fact that it has no actual power and its value outside of providing a steady income and some publicity for has-been & wannabe TDs is zero, I've never had reason to regret that decision and neither have I been tempted to register for the panel.

This changes nothing.

 

[ClubMan]

When DCU were lobbying for the franchise to be extended to their graduates I tried to convince them to instead campaign for much more radical reform possibly including universal franchise but they wouldn't listen to me...