Abolition of Seanad is not a certainty

YESTERDAY, the 49 elected seats to the Seanad were filled, and it now only remains for the Taoiseach to nominate the remaining 11 senators for what is supposed to be the final Seanad.

Of course, the Seanad can only be abolished with the approval of the electorate in a constitutional referendum.

The French have a popular saying, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, which translates as “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. This seems particularly applicable in relation to the Seanad.

Almost three-quarters of a century ago, the Seanad rose for what was supposed to be the last time at 4.10pm on May 19, 1936.

It was formally abolished a little more than three weeks later, but the same day the Government announced the formation of a non-party commission to make recommendations regarding a possible second chamber of the Oireachtas.

The Seanad was duly established its present form less than two years later, following the introduction of the current Constitution in 1937. Have we seen this movie before?