Elaine Loughlin: Seanad is padded out with has-beens, wannabes, and losers

Taoiseach's nominees to the upper house include failed election candidates, prospective TDs, and others using the upper house of the Oireachtas as a step-down facility

'Little has changed the make-up of the Seanad, which the Taoiseach has this time packed out with members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Picture: Houses of the Oireachtas

A stale talking shop padded out with has-beens, wannabes, and losers — welcome to Seanad Éireann.

Former taoiseach Enda Kenny may not have gone as far as the above description, but it is now 12 years since he tried to do away with the upper house dubbing it an an “ineffective, powerless body”.