By-elections - Delaying poll an affront to democracy

In the past it was generally assumed that by-elections should be held within six months of a Dáil seat being vacated.

In the history of the Dáil there have been 125 by-elections, and the overwhelming number of those were held within six months.

Since 1980 there have been 22 bye-elections, 16 of which were necessitated by the deaths of Dáil incumbents. Seventeen, or over 77%, of those by-elections were held within six months. All but one of the other by-elections was held within 11 months.

Of the 125 by-elections only one was held more than a year after the vacancy occurred. This was the by-election of June 1994 to replace Pádraig Flynn, following his appointment to the European Commission in January 1993. Over 16 months have passed since Pat “The Cope” Gallagher’s election to the European Parliament in June 2009, but there has still been no indication of the Government calling a by-election. Is it trying to set a new record for political procrastination? One might understand a degree of sensitivity in waiting to call a by-election after the death of a deputy, but this is not the case in any of the three current Dáil vacancies – in Donegal South West, Dublin South and Waterford. All three are due to voluntary resignations.

The last by-election was held in Dublin South – in conjunction with the European and local elections of 2009. It was to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Seamus Brennan. Fianna Fáil was thought to have an excellent chance of holding the seat with the late deputy’s son representing the party, but George Lee of Fine Gael won the seat comfortably. Little over eight months later, Deputy Lee resigned from the Dáil in disgust. The following month – in March of this year – Martin Cullen of Fianna Fáil resigned his Dáil seat on health grounds.

The final report of an Oireachtas committee examining possible electoral reform, recommended in July that by-elections should be held within six months of the death or resignation of a Dáil deputy. Fine Gael introduced legislation earlier this year to ensure that vacancies are filled within six months, but the Government blocked it.

Delaying by-elections indefinitely is a subversion of the will of the people, and it undermines the essence of the Republic. Instead of listening to the electorate, the Government is contemptuously ignoring them.

Voters in those three constituencies being denied proper democratic representation may well retaliate once given the opportunity to vote. No government has won a by-election since 1982. Ironically, that by-election was held just five weeks after the death of John Callanan of Fianna Fáil.

It is an outrage that Senator Pearse Doherty should find it necessary to appeal to the High Court to ensure that the date for a by-election in Donegal South West should be set after a delay of more than sixteen months. A defined time should be stipulated within which all by-elections should be held.