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OUTGOING FIANNA FÁIL TDs Malcolm Byrne, Timmy Dooley and Margaret Murphy O’Mahony have received nominations to the Seanad.
The trio lost their seats during this month’s general election, but are hoping to return to government via the country’s upper house in a few weeks’ time.
They could each do so as one of 43 senators who are elected from panels of candidates representing five different vocational interests.
Dooley, the party’s former communications spokesperson, is running for election on the Industrial and Commercial Panel after receiving a nomination from the Restaurants Association of Ireland today – the last day for an outside body to do so.
He was a long-serving front-bench spokesperson until last year’s Votegate controversy, and lost his Dáil seat in Clare.
Meanwhile, Byrne – who became the second-shortest serving TD ever after he lost his seat in Wexford – has been nominated to the Cultural and Educational Panel.
Murphy O’Mahony, who lost her seat in Cork South-West, has also been nominated to the Cultural and Educational Panel.
Nominees for the five panels are formed before the Seanad General Election from candidates who are deemed to have knowledge and practical experience of relevant interests and services.
The Cultural and Educational Panel deals with national language and culture, literature, art, education, law and medicine, and is made up of five elected senators.
The Agricultural Panel deals with agricultural and allied interests and fisheries, and is made up of 11 elected senators.
The Labour Panel deals with both organised and unorganised labour, and is also made up of 11 elected senators.
The Industrial and Commercial Panel deals with industry and commerce, including banking, finance, accountancy, engineering and architecture, and is made up of nine elected senators.
And the Administrative Panel deals with public administration and social services, including voluntary social activities, and is made up of seven elected senators.
Individuals can receive nominations from one of a number of bodies who are deemed to be representative of the interests and services of a relevant panel, and whose primary interests are not for profit-making purposes.
Candidates were required to be nominated by these bodies by noon today, and those put forward will now have their names on the ballot as part of the overall Seanad elections.
Nominees can also come from the Oireachtas, via any newly elected TDs or outgoing senators, who may nominate one candidate for any panel between them. Each TD or outgoing senator may join in one nomination only.
The deadline for Oireachtas nominations closes on 2 March. Ballot papers will be issued from 16 March to those eligible to vote for one of the five panels, which includes members of the incoming Dáil, the outgoing Seanad, and members of local authorities.
Voting for the 43 Seanad seats will close on 30 March, when counting will begin.
When failed politicians remain on the gravy train waiting for the next election to try their luck again,do these people not get the hint they are not wanted
@nicknack: to be fair,the public had their vote to scrap it,but for some reason decided against it. We can’t complain.
@Bobby McLoughlin: I,m for having a second chamber, but I’d like the senators to be elected by the public and not the way they are at present.
@Bobby McLoughlin: Can we go again??
@Bobby McLoughlin: I can complain!
Yes, we were given the chance to abolish the Seanad and voted to keep it.
We were promised that if it was kept it would be reformed and improved,
Didn’t happen! Worse than ever now. They failed to deliver reform, time to dump them all.
@Al Fresco: was that part of the vote? Not sure it was
@Bobby McLoughlin: Here you go; https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/government-yet-to-move-on-road-to-seanad-reform-1.4035283?mode=amp
@Al Fresco: Remember that was a promise from Enda Kenny
@Seanboy: I cannot understand how so many people can have the wool pulled over their eyes. We had 158 TDs and we went to the country and upped the number to 160. Compared with the rest of EU we have one of the highest political representations. We do need a second house but why not allow the Election to this house at the same time as GE. We need to regulate representation to a higher no of electorate. It would be more appropriate to have 1(one) TD per 100,000 which would give about 50 TDs, the upper house could be reduced proportionately. In a country where we have such a high concentration of councillors for local business I believe the figures would make sense. The question we should ask is how was this greed allowed to get out of hand. Time for someone to stand up, we cannot afford the present extravagance
How many times does Byrne have to hear “no” before he understands it??
@roberto Mankini: I think he got elected before Christmas.
We had our chance to abolish the seanad and were conned into keeping it.
Rid us now of this carriage of the gravy train for fired , failed politicians .
@Willy Mc Entire: conned? Conned by who? It was a simple yes no decision. Unless you dumb enuf not to understand that much.
@JPM: we were promised reform,it hasn’t happened.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/government-yet-to-move-on-road-to-seanad-reform-1.4035283?mode=amp
@JPM: at the time, anything that Enda Kenny proposed would have been defeated
@JPM: voter apathy was the only reason the referendum did not pass….nobody turned out for the vote.
@Gerry Ryan: really. So what you’re saying is that Enda Kenny in knowing that that election promise would be defeated was in fact a brilliant tactical genius who played the entire country for fools by implementing it in the first place.
@JPM: no actually, he was so unpopular and his Govt at that time but he didn’t know it, a political lightweight.
Many referenda have been rejected in similar circumstances because the electorate take their frustrations with useless taoisigh when the useless Taoiseach gives them the opportunity.
@Gerry Ryan: NO. What you are in fact saying is that the people who voted for this institution to be kept in place should not be heeded or listened to. And really it should be the ones who could not be bothered to vote on this in the first place who should really be listened to on this.
@Ananya Sharma: if you actually read that article you would have seen that the two salient points in it were
1: Leo’s opinion that the Seanad is a waste of time and
2: that after that reform report was resented there was huge cross party disagreement between FF SF and FG on how it should be implemented.
Yet you want any sort of reform rammed through and damn the consequences.
@Willy Mc Entire: No body was conned into the referendum outcome but less 39% bothered their ass to vote . .. and of those who voted to retain it .. 52% v 48% …. same as Brexit Ref in UK
Enda Kenny was very clear he committed as part of the 2011 election manifesto and FG proposed the permanent dissolution of Seanad .. not reform of it ..the referendum was held in Oct 2013.
FF , Labour and SF campaigned against it …. why because FF and SF had the largest number of county councillors in the country …
SF proved they have the exact same power grabbing motives & tactics as FF or FG
so why don’t you park the hypocrisy ..
if you want contribute at least be try to be semi factual … most of the stuff you post on the journal is either fake news or un-substantiated opinion….
Another reason not to vote for FF FG candidates in council elections, as FF FG councillors will vote for their party colleagues, so the less they have on councils the less chance they have have of getting elected into the creche for failed politicians.
@@mdmak33: and other political parties are different??? Cop on.
great dimmy tooley in seanad as much of an asset there as he was in the dail.
@ed w: I presume this is some kind of Dilbert Principle thing where they have to put him where he can do the least damage. There must be fears for what would happen if Dimmy had to operate in the real world.
They are delighted down in Killnascully. Well done Timmy.
Keeping the snout in the trough
Has there been any Seanad reform, as promised?
@Paul Power: yep. They now get top shelf biscuits with their afternoon tea.
Bizarre system we have!
Jobs for the boys!
If you loose your seat in an election, then you shouldn’t be considered. What a ridiculous jobs for me mates con!
Wonder who will Mr Dooley get to do his voting in the upper house ???
@Matdrum Murdtam: Lisa Chambers will likely be there to lend him one of her 6 hands
How the f did we vote to keep the Seanad with this continued nonsense happening.
@M Co: Like always the electorate was lied to, seanad reform hasn’t happened.
@Ananya Sharma: politicians lied to us? Oh my god, somebody call a newspaper! I voted to abolish the Seanad because I knew full well those promises were empty. I think we have a very niave electorate. We could have scrapped it and brought it back anew if we really needed it.
Jobs for the FFS JOBS FOR THE BOYS
The snouts, they never come out!
Timmy Dooley just made people poorer .. did nothing about the odious unfair 2-Tier car tax … O!O!O
Pierce Doherty said the Green Party “Car Tax” “just makes people poorer”. Correct!
38,000 who signed this Petition agree … make it 50,000 ….
https://www.change.org/p/unfair-irish-car-carbon-tax-law
Politics must be the only profession that rewards failure
@Sean Dempsey: “Politics must be the only profession that rewards failure”
If only that were true. Incompetence gets rewarded in many professions in this country.
And I’m not just talking about the public sector.
Look at the banks!
I thought it was Tony Blair there for a sec
This should not be allowed.
Only supporters of 24% of politics participating here
Press that bell I’m here,!! Not!!! Seriously Ireland has a major problem with democracy,! 100 years like !
Timmy is a little dim.
Tony Killen has known this for a while.
People of Clare only recently.
For christ sake abolish this charade it’s only another trough for the pigs to feed from
Best place for him
@Crocodylus Pontifex: err no its not
@ed w: cheerfully withdrawn
@Crocodylus Pontifex: actually I’d like to see him in a 9 to 5 on about 25k a year.
the last time I saw a local ff minister near me she delighted in telling me that she doest have to work anymore. in her 50′s and exactly the same age as me
GRAVY TRAIN
Westbrit Timmy ,fianna fraud failure looking for another way to leech of the taxpayers
Sickening stuff
Up bobby sands and the dirty protests
have your say