Northerners 'should be allowed vote in Seanad elections'

Sinn Féin has called for people in the North and emigrants registered with Irish Embassies abroad to be given the right to vote in Seanad elections in Ireland.

The party's submission to an Oireachtas committee on Seanad reform said people over the age of 16 on both sides of the border should be allowed to elect Irish Senators.

Party spokesman Pat Doherty said: "There is a need for the complete overhaul of the Seanad to make it democratic, accountable and relevant. We propose that it is transformed in terms of its membership, its electorate and what it is responsible for."

At present, TDs, outgoing Senators and local councillors elect 43 Senators, the universities elect six and the Taoiseach is entitled to make 11 nominations.