FORMER MAYOR of Galway Niall Ó Brolcháin is the Green Party’s nominee for the Seanad vacancy caused by the election of Labour’s Alan Kelly to the European Parliament in June.
Mr Ó Brolcháin is the only nominee from a Government party following an agreement between Fianna Fáil and the Greens.
Fianna Fáil Louth County Councillor James Carroll from Monasterboice, Drogheda, is expected to fill the vacancy caused by the death in April of Senator Tony Kett from Dublin. The deadline for nominations for the vacancies on two of the Seanad’s vocational panels was yesterday.
TDs and Senators are entitled to vote in the two byelections. The ballot papers will be sent out on November 27th and the results are expected to be announced on the day the polls close, Thursday,December 14th.
A date has yet to be set for a byelection for the third vacancy, caused by the death last month of Fianna Fáil Senator Peter Callanan, from Innishannon, Co Cork.
Of the 60-member Upper House, 43 senators are elected to represent five vocational panels: cultural and educational, commercial and administrative, agricultural, labour and industrial.
Eleven senators are nominated by the Taoiseach and six are elected by the graduates of the National University of Ireland and the University of Dublin.
Mr Ó Brolcháin was nominated for the agriculture panel by Green Party chairman Senator Dan Boyle, following a discussion at the party’s national executive last Saturday.
Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan has nominated James Heffernan, a national teacher, bloodstock owner and breeder, from Kilfinane, Co Limerick, for the same position.
Fine Gael TD Michael Creed has nominated Monaghan County Councillor Owen Bannigan, who is a farmer from Castleblaney.
There are two nominees for the vacancy on the administrative panel.
Mr Carroll, a qualified lawyer who works as parliamentary assistant to Fianna Fáil Cavan-Monaghan TD Margaret Conlon, was elected to Louth County Council in June.
The support of the Greens would ensure that Mr Carroll is elected, as Fianna Fáil does not have a majority of Oireachtas members.
The second nominee, also involved with Fianna Fáil, is Dr Kevin Byrne, a genetics researcher at Trinity College Dublin. Last night Dr Byrne said he had intended to seek the “official” nomination but now he did not intend to campaign and wished Mr Carroll well.
Voting in the 23rd Seanad elections took place after the last general election. Of the seats on the vocational panels Fianna Fáil won 28, Fine Gael 14, Labour six and Sinn Féin one.
The six university members were all elected as Independents although Ivana Bacik has since aligned with the Labour Party.
Of the Taoiseach’s 11, six took the Fianna Fáil whip and one was Independent, two were Greens and two Progressive Democrats.
The former PD senator Ciarán Cannon has joined Fine Gael and Fiona O’Malley is now described as an Independent.
