Senators won’t let the Seanad go down without a fight

Senators of all parties work just as hard, if not more so, than their Dáil counterparts, says John Whelan

I THINK it was Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte who said there were some “exotic birds” residing in the rarefied atmosphere of the gilt-edged cage that is the Seanad. However unkind a characterisation that might be, the latter-day senator is certainly an endangered species caught in the crosshairs of an impending referendum aimed at killing them off.

Senators are a strange breed indeed, a rare hybrid of TD-lite-councillor and quasi-community welfare officer; for even though we are not supposed to have a formal constituency, we are expected to have constituency offices and all that that entails.