SEANAD:THE SEANAD could still have a future if Senators can show they have a real contribution to make to the political life of the country, according to the president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Dr Maurice Manning.

In an address to the Seanad yesterday, the former leader of the House said it needed to address the issues of how it could make a valuable contribution to the political life of the country and who should be in it.

“These are two questions you must wrestle with as referendum day approaches. It is a great responsibility and a huge challenge. But, bear one thing in mind – the Irish people are fair-minded. They don’t like being told what to do,” said Dr Manning.

He said that people might be indifferent but they were not hostile to the Seanad. “If they see a House united in its determination in showing it has a real and relevant contribution to make, determined to give value, then I believe anything is possible.”

Dr Manning said there can be no doubt that the Seanad had, to an extent, lost its way and much of its confidence over the past few decades and had become an easy target.

He also blamed successive governments for the decline of the institution, saying that in his experience no government had taken the Seanad seriously although some voices were raised and 11 different reports urging change had appeared over the years.

“I have to say the report of the committee chaired by then senator Mary O’Rourke in 2004 was a serious and honest attempt to carve out a distinctive role for a modern Senate. Sadly, and to my mind inexplicably, that report was not seriously acted upon. It was a crucial mistake and made the case for abolition . . . easier to make.”

Dr Manning quoted the conclusion of the O’Rourke committee report that the Seanad had no distinctive role in the Irish political system, while its outdated system of nomination and election diminished its political legitimacy.

“It was a brave report and these two observations get to the heart of the matter with two key questions: what is the Senate to do – how does it make a valuable contribution to the political life of the country and who should be in it – and how should they get there.”

He said that when he looked around the chamber yesterday he was struck by a sense of vitality, commitment and diversity which made him almost wish he was still part of it,

“There is the beginning of real diversity here. A beginning, but a genuine one and in welcoming diversity I am not undervaluing the key role of our political parties. I am a believer in the centrality of parties in our politics. Without distinctive coherent parties there would be chaos.

“We need them to give us coherent choice and the leadership to deliver change. There is no conflict between diversity and a coherent party structure,” said Dr Manning