Parties make final appeal before Seanad referendum

The major parties have been making their final appeals to voters ahead of tomorrow's referendum on the abolition of the Seanad.

Polls open at 7am tomorrow morning, but the national broadcast moratorium kicks in at 2pm this afternoon.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin says that those supporting the No campaign do not want to give the Government more power.

"People are extremely concerned about giving too much power to Government, and to this Government in particular, and that has become a very strong factor on the doorstep in moving people towards No."

Fine Gael's campaign director Richard Bruton has been telling voters that the Seanad is an expensive waste of time.

"That €20m can be put to much better purposes and we can have a more effective parliamentary democracy by reforming the Dáil, which is the institution elected by all of our citizens," he said.