The Green Party has chosen Minister of State Malcolm Noonan as its sole candidate to run in the Seanad election. The Carlow-Kilkenny former deputy who has responsibility for heritage will run for the agricultural panel.
Twelve party members put their names forward but following an internal party process Mr Noonan was selected and outgoing senators Róisín Garvey and Vincent P Martin will stand down. Most of the party’s 10 TDs who lost their seats did not wish to run for the Seanad, including Minister for Arts and Media Catherine Martin.
Minister of State Ossian Smyth, who lost his Dáil seat, and Cllr Hazel Chu are, however, running as candidates on the Dublin University (Trinity College) panel.
Sinn Féin’s Pauline Tully of Cavan-Monaghan and Chris Andrews of Dublin Bay South who unexpectedly lost their seats will run for the Seanad on the vocational panels. The party is running up to seven candidates on the “inside” sub-panels for the 43 vocational seats, including a Northern Ireland candidate.
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Inside candidates require nominations from four Oireachtas members, who can each nominate just one person. Outside nominees seek the support of professional nominating bodies from various sectors including agriculture, the arts, industry and commerce, administrative fields and industrial relations.
The party’s two outgoing senators will not be running again. Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield is at 32 the youngest retiree in the Oireachtas. He is leaving to pursue music full time after two terms and eight years in the Seanad. Mr Warfield, who plays guitar and sings traditional and folk music, has performed with his cousin Derek Warfield and his band The Young Wolf Tones, and will spend time in the US.
Senator Paul Gavan did not receive the backing of the party’s ardchomhairle to run as an “inside” candidate. He has, however, received an outside nomination and will run on the Labour panel..
Former Fianna Fáil senator Eugene Murphy, who ran as an Independent when he failed to make the ticket in the general election in Galway-Roscommon, has secured an outside nomination to run on the agricultural panel as an Independent.
Former Labour senator Kevin Humphreys, an organiser for Dublin West, has been co-opted to Fingal County Council as a “temporary place holder appointment”. This is to allow the local branch to co-opt a permanent replacement councillor after a full selection process between two interested candidates.
Co-opting Mr Humphreys ensures the party keeps its council vote for the Seanad elections as incoming TDs, outgoing senators and all local authority councillors can vote for the 43 vocational panel seats. Labour has four Seanad election candidates.
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