Students’ union wants all third-level graduates to be able to vote for Seanad

THE Government should fast-track legislation to give all third-level graduates a vote in Seanad elections, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) said last night.

Six members of the upper house of the Oireachtas are elected by third-level graduates, three by Trinity College Dublin alumni and three by graduates of the four National University of Ireland colleges in Dublin (UCD), Cork, Galway and Maynooth.

Despite 93% approval for a 1979 referendum seeking to extend the vote to graduates of all higher education institutions, no subsequent Government has introduced the legislation required to implement the change.