Senators backing abolition maintain they have mandate

Senators who demanded voters sweep away the “dysfunctional” upper house insist they still have a mandate to serve in the chamber they discredited.

Despite insisting the Seanad was elitist and beyond reform, Government senators have now called for the body to be overhauled.

Sinn Féin senator Kathryn Reilly said her party had not been divided over whether to join forces with the Government and call for the Seanad to be abolished.