A prominent Senator has claimed that members of the Seanad are to blame for the lack of publicity given to their work.

A second Seanad referendum, aimed at broadening its powers and voting base, has been signalled by Government ministers left reeling by the shock move to save the upper house.

Ministers admit the referendum result has left them “scratching their heads” over how to reform the Seanad.

It was a move aimed at boosting his leadership credentials in opposition, and it has ultimately undermined his leadership credibility in Government.

The Government will consider referring the future role of the Seanad to the Convention on the Constitution after the electorate decided in a referendum to retain the upper house.

Senators who demanded voters sweep away the “dysfunctional” upper house insist they still have a mandate to serve in the chamber they discredited.

Crash. Bang. Wallop.

The country said no — but Munster said yes, with the province narrowly voting in favour of scrapping the Seanad.

Next week’s budget is quite rightly the focus of families throughout the country and my party will, in the next few days, set out its alternative for a fairer approach to recovery.

There’s no one reason why Fine Gael lost the abolition of the Seanad referendum in such dramatic style but the court of the media is a good place to start looking.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said the new Court of Appeal, approved by voters in the referendum, would be up and running next autumn and cost up to €3m annually.

The end of the beginning.

When the Taoiseach moved the 32nd Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013 on Friday, Jun 14, he stated that “we are in favour of abolition because the Seanad has not worked and cannot work”.

There’s no one reason why Fine Gael lost the abolition of the Seanad referendum is such dramatic style but the court of the media is a good place to start looking.

The Government says its reviewing its options following yesterday's surprise defeat in the Seanad Referendum.

The referendum on the court of appeal referendum looks set to be passed.

The No side has remained ahead throughout the afternoon in the referendum to abolish the Seanad - but with a very tight margin.

The results are not yet in and the tallies so far show an extremely tight contest that is too close to call

Initial tallies from the referendum to abolish the Seadn suggest it will be a tight race - with a trend towards a No vote in more areas than expected.

Counting of votes has begun this morning in the referendum on whether to abolish the Seanad.

Voter turnout has been reported as low in today's referendums.

Voting in the Seanad and Court of Appeal referendums has now closed.

Ireland votes today on whether to abolish the country’s upper house of parliament.

TWO men sat in a pub arguing about the Seanad referendum last night. This is part of their discussion.

The major parties have been making their final appeals to voters ahead of tomorrow's referendum on the abolition of the Seanad.

There are less than 24 hours left for voters to make up their mind on how they will vote in the Seanad Referendum.

In fitting fashion, the Seanad referendum campaign ended in game playing and a wash-out.

A high-profile former attorney general has said abolishing the Seanad would create a “new entrenched elite” in the Dáil and criticised Enda Kenny for avoiding a TV debate.

The Government suffered its first embarrassing defeat in the Seanad last night as Labour senators failed to turn up for a vote on proposed changes to upward-only rents.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been accused of passing the buck to bailed-out banks over failure to get a grip on the mortgage crisis.

It is outrageous that, as people up and down the country prepare to cast their votes in tomorrow’s referenda on abolishing the Seanad and establishing a court of appeal, the electorate is in the dark on why Taoiseach Enda Kenny wants to get rid of the Upper House.

ABOLISH the Seanad and shut down the best chance we have of making politics truly representative. A reformed Seanad could offer a door to public office for the dark side of the moon of Irish life: the people who don’t have jobs.

‘WE will radically overhaul the way Irish politics and government work. The failures of the political system over the past decade were a key contributor to the financial crisis and the system must now learn those lessons urgently. Government is too centralised and unaccountable.” — Programme for Government 2011.

THE celebrated 19th-century commentator on the British constitution, Walter Bagehot, reached a negative verdict on bicameralism: “with a perfect lower house it is certain that an upper house would be scarcely of any value”.

WHETHER Enda Kenny succeeds in tipping the Seanad into the dustbin of political history or not, Ireland will remain one of the most centralised democracies in the Western world.

The Government has been handed a rare defeat in the Seanad this evening.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned there will be no reform of the Seanad if the public votes to keep it.

An electoral register blunder which saw the wrong polling information sent to 35,000 people has been rectified.

Senator John Crowne has accused Fine Gael of lying in relation to the savings to be made by scrapping the Seanad.

Dublin City Council has apologised for issuing the wrong polling cards to 35,000 voters in the capital, ahead of Friday's referendum.

The Taoiseach's constituency colleague Michael Ring has defended Enda Kenny's refusal to debate the Seanad referendum.

AN APOLOGY is owed to Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore.

Can we trust them? That is the question that voters need to ask themselves as they consider their vote in the Seanad referendum.

HOW will the brave new world look? If the opinion polls are correct, the Seanad will be voted out of existence on Friday.