Turkeys and Blueshirts: It must be the Seanad

FINE GAEL senators have been likened to “turkeys voting for Christmas” after accepting party leader Enda Kenny’s decision to call for the abolition of the Seanad.

Mr Kenny, meanwhile, was accused of “regurgitating” the fascist legacy of Fine Gael’s notorious first president, Blueshirt leader Eoin O’Duffy.

The exchanges came on a fractious day in the Seanad, which was meeting for the first time since Mr Kenny proposed the House’s abolition in a weekend speech.