Sinn Féin denies U-turn on abolition of Seanad

Sinn Féin has denied doing a U-turn on its position regarding the abolition of the Seanad and said that, without reform, there is no option but to close down the upper house.

The party says it will outline alternative political reform proposals in the coming weeks to fill the gap if the public votes to abolish the Seanad in the October referendum.

Referendum campaign director Pearse Doherty yesterday said that the Seanad had no role to play in a modern Ireland.

He denied he had done a U-turn on his position since interviews he gave last year on the issue.

“It is elitist, it is out of touch and it is an apartheid system in how it is elected,” he said.

Despite claims that the upper house should be retained to act as a buffer to the Dáil, Mr Doherty, TD for Donegal South West, said senators supported the Government on every occasion, on issues including the introduction of the property tax, cuts to disability payments, and the promissory note deal.

“And it was the same in the previous 14 years when Fianna Fáil-led governments blocked any reform of the Seanad and used it to reward their political cronies,” he said.

The decision to support the Government’s position — a yes vote in the referendum — will see Sinn Féin campaign alongside Coalition TDs and ministers for the abolition of the Seanad.

However, the opposition party had voted against the Government’s legislation to abolish the Seanad when it went through the Houses of the Oireachtas earlier this month.

Mr Doherty said the party had wanted the Government to refer the issue of the future of the upper house to the Constitutional Convention for debate.

He claimed that senators, down through the years, had given him “sweeteners” in a bid to get support at election time.

“I was a councillor for many years. I received gifts from many senators,” he said.

“I received a tie, the wallet [credit card] holders, the chocolates, the calendars. That’s the way the Seanad has operated for many years.

“You keep a hundred councillors sweet and you’re guaranteed a seat for life in the Seanad.”

Only 1% of the population, including college graduates and politicians, are eligible to elect the Seanad.

The majority of Fine Gael senators and all of Labour’s representatives in the upper house said during the week that they intend to vote against the Government’s plans to abolish the Seanad in the referendum.

However, Sinn Féin senators said yesterday that they would stick by their party’s position and vote yes.

Sinn Féin senator David Cullinane said he and his two party colleagues in the upper house — despite thinking the house should be abolished — would not resign, as every political platform was needed to get “issues across the line”.

The party had continuously called for the Seanad’s abolition at their annual ard fheis, he said.

“We’re supporting the referendum, not the Government,” said Mr Cullinane.