FG goes on the road with Seanad abolition campaign

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Finance Minister Michael Noonan are set to address a series of “town hall”-style meetings over the coming weeks as Fine Gael takes its abolition of the Seanad roadshow to the country.

With the latest opinion poll predicting a close contest in the upcoming Oct 4 referendum, Fine Gael’s director of elections for the referendum Richard Bruton has announced a series of public meetings which will be addressed by senior Cabinet ministers.

“Public meetings will be held in a number of locations, including several in Dublin and town hall style meetings in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Meath, Louth and Tipperary among others,” he said.

The meetings would be addressed by senior members of the Cabinet, he said.

“These would include the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance, and would feature independent guest speakers who would explain why they believed it was time that we abolish the Seanad,” Mr Bruton said.

The party is also planning to distribute up to a million leaflets in its efforts to convince the electorate that a Yes vote will bring Ireland into line with other small countries in Europe.

Mr Bruton said the party would be communicating a number of key issues, including the fact that the Seanad can only delay legislation and not overturn it.

“As a watchdog, the Seanad hasn’t blocked any piece of government legislation since 1964, so a watchdog that barks once every 50 years isn’t effective,” he argued.

Mr Bruton was accompanied by his deputy director of elections, Meath East TD Regina Doherty, as they launched the campaign outside the Dáil.

Commenting on the fact that there were no Fine Gael senators present, Mr Bruton recognised there was “opposition within Fine Gael to this proposition”.

But he insisted every Fine Gael politician that stood in the last general election did so on a five-point programme which included political reform with, at its heart, the abolition of the Seanad.

Mr Bruton said during the course of the campaign his party would outline in detail a series of “meaningful” political reforms so “the people will see how it will be implemented”.

“There isn’t a one single fix to the weaknesses that were exposed in politics in the recent crisis; new powers of Dáil inquiry will be really important.”

The main message of the campaign to abolish the Seanad will:

nSave €20m a year.

nReduce the number of national politicians by a third.

nBring Ireland into line with best practice in other small European countries, such as Sweden and Denmark.

The latest Sunday Independent/Millward Brown poll shows 39% of voters want to see the Seanad abolished, 33% want to see the Upper House reformed, while 7% want to see the second chamber retained.

Voter turnout could play a crucial role in the Oct 4 referendum with a low turnout most likely favouring those campaigning against its abolition.

The first of the Fine Gael roadshow meetings will take place in Dublin Bay North tonight.