FF ‘unlikely’ to lose control of Seanad

THE possibility of Fianna Fáil losing control of the Seanad and struggling to pass crucial government legislation was yesterday deemed feasible but unlikely by Fine Gael.

The loss of 100 seats in the 2004 local elections has curtailed Fianna Fáil’s voting strength by 20% in the Seanad elections which close on July 24 and may propel the party to seek the support of Independent TDs in the event of it losing any of its existing 34 seats.

Any seat losses to Fine Gael and the Green Party or Sinn Féin, both of which are considering running candidates for the first time, would seriously undermine Fianna Fáil’s ability to ensure the smooth passage of legislation through the Seanad.

However, a Fine Gael spokesman insisted yesterday that the possibility of Fianna Fáil failing to obtain an overall majority was “technically feasible but unlikely”.

The success of the Green Party and Sinn Féin in increasing their seats by 10 and 33 respectively in the 2004 local elections leaves both in a position to contest the five Seanad panels for the first time.

With the Green Party commanding around 30 Seanad votes and Sinn Féin 58 votes, a pact between the parties would facilitate the election of candidates.

In the event of Sinn Féin contesting the Seanad elections, Sean Crowe who lost his seat in Dublin South-West and Joanne Spain who contested the election in Dublin Mid-West are two candidates likely to receive the nominations.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Sinn Féin said a subcommittee had been established to assess the possibility of running candidates on some panels and would make a decision in the next week.

Over the coming days, that committee will most likely contact some of the 100 Independent councillors elected in 2004 and Green Party representatives in a bid to create a voting pact.

To date, the Green Party has endorsed two candidates, Martin Hogan and David Hutchinson-Edgar.

The period for nominations by members of the Oireachtas expires at noon on Friday, June 22.