According to widespread reports in the press, a representative of the Green Party is expected to claim the Seanad by-election, filling the void left by Sinn Féin’s Niall Ó Donnghaile since the start of this year. It appears that this follows the Green Party’s agreement with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael regarding the two Seanad by-elections of 2021, all part of the coalition government’s spoils. If consensus between Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, and Eamon Ryan has indeed been agreed upon and if their TDs and senators are set to vote in favour of a Green Party nominee, then media speculation of a foregone win might not be far off the mark.
However, during the High Court hearing of Heneghan v Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government in March 2021, the incumbent government insisted that the so-called vocational panel elections for the Seanad were indirect. They posited that councillors, TDs and senators cast votes on behalf of the general public. The proposition was that if citizens prefer specific individuals for the Seanad, they should make their preferences known to their councillors, TDs and senators, who would then cast their votes accordingly.
In essence – according to the government’s own hypothesis – the public should liaise with the 218 eligible TDs and senators currently able to vote, informing them of their preferred candidate. Alternatively, the Seanad elections may not reflect the people’s wishes indirectly, despite the government’s contrary argument in the High Court a few years ago.
My recommendation is for everyone to get in touch with the 218 TDs and senators eligible to vote in the imminent Seanad by-elections. This is exactly what I will do. The purpose of Seanad Éireann is to provide a platform for independent voices, not party politics or potential TDs. This principle was implicitly accepted and upheld by the Green Party in their endorsement of Seanad reform plans during their 2020 election campaign.
I look forward to welcoming a new independent senator into the Upper House of the Oireachtas, joining others in advocating for the long-delayed implementation of the suggestions of the Seanad Reform Implementation Group.
TOMÁS HENEGHAN,
Dublin 3.