A Seanad election invariably produces a predictable outcome, a comfortable working majority for the government in office. This is again assured, once the Taoiseach announces his 11 nominees for seats in the upper house, which he may do later today. The Seanad election result has produced few real surprises, no major upsets, and some disappointments.
The votes of some 1,000 politicians (Dáil members, outgoing senators, and local councillors) have elected 43 senators. The graduates of just two of our universities, Trinity College and the National University of Ireland, have returned six members. A further 11 will be nominated to complete the composition of the second chamber.
More than two thirds of the 60 seats in the Seanad are mainly decided by the votes of local councillors, who reflect the voting strength of their parties at the last local election. A tight voting discipline is essential in order to maximise the number of Seanad seats won, while electoral pacts certainly do help. Fianna Fáil, in particular, can be well pleased with the election outcome. Despite a poor local election performance in 2004, a two-seat loss in this election was better than expected. The party's relative success is explained, in part, by the voting pact with its coalition partners, the Greens and the Progressive Democrats.
Likewise, Labour too can be satisfied with its showing, which will help to re-invigorate the party after a poor performance in the general election. A two-seat gain for the party was helped by its voting alliance with Sinn Féin, which wins Seanad representation for the first time. In contrast, Fine Gael has less reason to celebrate. This time, unlike 2002, the party had a much larger electoral base of support, with many more TDs and local councillors. Nevertheless it lost a seat, due to poor vote management. Among the university senators, a major surprise was the unanticipated success of newcomer Ronan Mullen, who won the final seat on the NUI panel.
No institution has come under such scrutiny, analysis and prescription for so long as the Seanad, but to such little net effect, by way of actual reform. Three years ago, a Seanad Committee made some sweeping recommendations for change. Nothing happened. As the Committee on the Constitution in its report pointed out in 1967: "A great many fundamental changes in relation to the Seanad can be brought about simply by the enactment of ordinary legislation".
A change in the Constitution is not required. In 1979, voters were asked to amend the Constitution to enable the Oireachtas to give all third-level graduates voting rights in a Seanad election, and not just those from Trinity College and the NUI. They did so. Nine elections later, however, the enabling legislation has still not been introduced. That shows an extraordinary contempt as much for the will of the people, as it does for the Seanad itself. The Government should now purge its contempt by doing what it should have done nearly 30 years ago, and without further delay.