Martin sees five of ‘list of 10’ elected

FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin narrowly avoided a potential backlash from within his own party after five out of his chosen “list of 10” candidates were successful in the Seanad elections.

The party has claimed its fight-back has begun after what it believes was a successful Seanad campaign in which it has secured 12 out of the 36 seats allocated so far under the five vocational panels.

With promises by the new Government to hold a referendum on the abolition of the Upper House, long-serving Senator David Norris said incoming members should “give a full performance” because the Seanad is under a “probationary period.”