Failed TDs put names forward for Seanad election

Padraig MacLochlainn, Jerry Buttimer, and Michael McNamara are among the failed Dáil candidates putting their names forward for the Seanad.

Fri, 04 Mar, 2016 - 00:00

Elaine Loughlin

A number of high-profile hopefuls are now contesting for a seat in the Seanad including President Michael D Higgins’ daughter, Alice Mary Higgins, Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ David Begg, and Jerry Beades of the Land League.

Former justice minister and leader of the Progressive Democrats Michael McDowell has put himself forward for the National University of Ireland panel which will elect three members.

Former Fianna Fáil TD Niall Blaney is also hoping to re-enter politics through the Seanad. The former Donegal TD pulled out of the 2011 election campaign a month before polling day, but in recent months had expressed a desire to return to politics at “some point in the future”.

Some 43 of the 60 members of the next Seanad will be elected by five panels representing vocational interests namely, culture and education, agriculture, labour, industry and commerce, and public administration.

Another 11 senators are nominated by the Taoiseach, while the final six are elected by university graduates — three each by the National University of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin.

Sinn Féin’s Mr MacLochlainn is expected to be nominated by his party after narrowly losing out on his seat to Independent Thomas Pringle in Donegal.

He said it had been “disappointing” to lose his seat but he still wishes to represent his constituency.

“It’s made me more determined than ever to continue serving the people of Donegal and should Sinn Féin offer me the option of taking up a Seanad post in the next week or two it’s one that I will gladly accept.

“At the end of the day almost 6,000 gave me their first preference vote and I’ve a duty to represent those people,” Mr MacLochlainn said.

Others who failed to win a Dáil seat and will be hoping to enter the Seanad include Fianna Fáil’s Lorraine Clifford-Lee, Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer, and Michael McNamara of Labour.

Independent candidate Ms Higgins has taken unpaid leave from her role with the National Women’s Council of Ireland to run as an Independent civil society candidate for the Seanad on the NUI panel.

“The Seanad is a place where you can put issues on the agenda. It has a history of putting progressive issues on the agenda — issues that might not come up at a constituency levels but cross-cut society,” said Ms Higgins.