Seanad leader promises reform is on the way
On the resumption of the Seanad, its leader Donie Cassidy said a subcommittee of former cathaoirligh and Seanad leaders would be urgently established and tasked with providing a list of recommendations for Seanad reform. “I can tell you now that all colleges will be included and they will be included within next 12 months. That’s a priority of mine,” he told the Irish Examiner. “I’m going to ensure that never again does only 34% of an electorate, as happened on one panel this year, turn out.”
Under the present system, only graduates of Trinity College Dublin, UCD NUI Maynooth, NUI Galway, NUI Limerick and UCC have the opportunity to vote. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has long-campaigned for the inclusion of DCU and institutes of technology on the voting register.
