Coalition won’t seek Seanad majority

Coalition leaders have insisted they will not try and restore their majority in the Seanad by cutting deals with rebels after the defeat of Government candidate John McNulty.

Independent candidate Gerard Craughwell won the tight by-election race, in which only Oireachtas members were allowed to vote, following a bruising controversy which left Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s grip on Fine Gael shaken.

In a further blow to Mr Kenny’s authority, many Government TDs and senators defied demands not to back Mr McNulty.

The result saves the embarrassment of Mr McNulty having to immediately resign, but leaves the Government in a 31-29 minority in the Seanad ahead of next week’s budget. The upper chamber can only delay money bills for 90 days, but the situation is troublesome for the Government.

Fine Gael and Labour have seen senators leave the whip, but party chiefs say they will not seek to cobble together a majority by opening talks with them.

Mr McNulty asked people not to vote for him after uproar ensued when it emerged he had been appointed to a prestigious cultural post by Arts Minister Heather Humphreys six days before Mr Kenny nominated him for a vacancy on the Seanad’s cultural panel.

Mr Kenny denied he had tried to pull off a political stroke, but admitted the controversy had not been his “finest hour”.

Mr Craughwell, who was seconded by Fianna Fáil, won the seat on the second count after picking up 11 votes that had gone to the Sinn Féin candidate in the first round. In a close race, the former TUI president secured 87 votes on the first count against Mr McNulty’s 84 as Sinn Féin’s Catherine Seeley took 22 votes.