Oireachtas

Former Independent TD Cathal Berry eliminated from Seanad race as count continues

Marathon count of 43 seats on five panels expected to finish on Monday

Cathal Berry was eliminated on the second count after coming in last of the 17 candidates on the Administrative panel, with 17,000 votes. Photograph: Alan Betson
Cathal Berry was eliminated on the second count after coming in last of the 17 candidates on the Administrative panel, with 17,000 votes. Photograph: Alan Betson
Marie O'Halloran
Mon Feb 03 2025 - 14:28

Former Independent TD Cathal Berry has failed in his bid to be elected to the Seanad as counting continued on Monday on the final panel to be adjudicated.

After a surprise loss of his Kildare South seat in the general election, Mr Berry launched a campaign for the Seanad as an independent, facing an uphill battle. He was eliminated on the second count after coming in last of the 17 candidates on the Administrative panel, with 17,000 votes.

Votes in the Seanad are multiplied by 1,000 to avoid counting difficulties due to the small electorate, made up of TDs, departing senators and county councillors.

There has been speculation that Mr Berry could be a Taoiseach’s nominee to the Upper House because of his defence expertise as a former Army Ranger, amid ongoing security and defence pressures on the Government.

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He is among a number of former TDs who also lost out in their bid to retain an Oireachtas presence through the Seanad election.

Former Fianna Fáil minister of State Anne Rabbitte, who lost her Galway East Dáil seat in a shock defeat, was also unsuccessful in her bid to win a Seanad seat. So too was her party colleague Joe Flaherty in Longford-Westmeath and Fine Gael parliamentary chairman Alan Farrell in Dublin Fingal East.

It is thought likely all three will secure Taoiseach’s nominee positions, although there is pressure on the Government to increase the number of women represented following trenchant criticism over the poor showing for women in the senior Cabinet appointments.

In the ongoing Administrative panel count Fianna Fáil former cathaoirleach of the Seanad and long-serving senator Mark Daly topped the poll with 169,000 votes, exceeding the 143,626 quota and was elected on the first count.

Sinn Féin newcomer and Cork North-West candidate Nicole Ryan came in second on 140,000 votes and is set to be elected. She will join a totally new Sinn Féin line up in the Seanad with five party colleagues including Stormont economy minister Conor Murphy, who will resign his Northern Assembly role. It will include one veteran Oireachtas member, Chris Andrews, who lost his Dublin Bay South Dáil seat but was successful in the Seanad election.

Outgoing senator Eileen Flynn, who came in third on 115,000 votes, is also expected to retain her seat. The first woman Traveller in the Oireachtas, Ms Flynn was a taoiseach’s nominee in the last Seanad, after losing out in a close-fought contest in the 2020 election.

[ Sinn Féin and Fine Gael gain in Seanad election but Fianna Fáil loses three seats ]

Fianna Fáil senator Fiona O’Loughlin is also likely to retain her seat with 99,000 first-preference votes, while Labour’s candidate, Dublin city councillor Darragh Moriarty, is also thought likely to win a seat, bringing the party’s tally to three, one fewer than in the last Seanad.

Fianna Fáil is expected to retain its three seats on this panel, but is down three to end with 12, while Fine Gael has won an extra seat and is expected to finish with 13 on the vocational panels.

Both parties will have extra seats when the Taoiseach’s 11 nominees are appointed, likely this week.

Cultural and Educational Panel (5 Senators):

  • Pauline Tully (Sinn Féin)
  • Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
  • Shane Curley (Fianna Fáil)
  • Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
  • Joe Conway (Independent)

Agricultural Panel (11 Senators):

  • Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
  • Joanna Collins (Sinn Féin)
  • Victor Boyhan (Independent)
  • Paul Daly (Fianna Fáil)
  • Niall Blaney (Fianna Fáil)
  • Teresa Costello (Fianna Fáil)
  • Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)
  • Sarah O’Reilly (Aontú)
  • Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)
  • Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
  • PJ Murphy (Fine Gael)

Labour Panel (11 Senators):

  • Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fáil)
  • Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
  • Chris Andrews (Sinn Féin)
  • Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
  • Margaret Murphy O’Connor (Fianna Fáil)
  • Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
  • Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
  • Joe O’Reilly (Fine Gael)
  • Pat Casey (Fianna Fáil)
  • Maria McCormack (Sinn Féin)
  • Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

Industrial and Commercial Panel (9 Senators):

  • Sharon Keogan (Independent)
  • Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fáil)
  • Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil)
  • Garret Kelleher (Fine Gael)
  • Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)
  • Laura Harmon (Labour)
  • Frances Black (Independent)
  • Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fáil)
  • Conor Murphy (Sinn Féin)

Administrative Panel (7 Senators):

  • Mark Daly (Fianna Fáil)

National University of Ireland (3 Senators)

  • Michael McDowell
  • Rónán Mullen
  • Alice-Mary Higgins

University of Dublin (TCD) (3 Senators)

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times