Seanad elections - Government must reform vote system

Counting the votes for the Seanad elections begins today, and we should know the outcome by the end of the week.

It is unlikely to make much difference to our political life, because that institution is little more than an irrelevant talking shop, or a political convalescent home for defeated politicians who retain hopes of making a comeback.

Since 1928 there have been 12 major reports advocating reform of the Seanad. There was a major change in the mid-1930s after the Seanad managed to delay important legislation. The Fianna Fáil government of the day essentially abolished the Senate and replace it with another body under the 1937 Constitution.