Private college graduates to be excluded from extension of Seanad election voting rights

Private third-level colleges look set to be excluded from legislation that will extend the franchise to vote in Seanad elections beyond graduates of Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland (NUI), Minister for Local Government Darragh O’Brien has said.
Institutions such as the National College of Ireland, Griffith College and Dublin Business School are unlikely to be included in the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024, which will give voting rights for the first time to graduates of “designated institutions of higher education”.
Technological universities and other publicly funded third-level colleges will have the right, from the general election after next, to elect university senators following the introduction of the necessary legislation some 45 years after it was first approved in a referendum.
A Supreme Court case taken by a former University of Limerick student last year over the failure to act on the 1979 referendum outcome resulted in a judgment giving the Government until next May to reform the university panels.
Mr O’Brien introduced the legislation in the Seanad on Thursday and described it as “a genuine attempt to bring about the start of the reform of the Seanad and deal with the Supreme Court judgment”.
A number of members, including Independent Trinity College Senator Tom Clonan, referred to the “probably unintentional exclusion of the private and independent colleges from the franchise”.
However, Mr O’Brien confirmed “that is not something that will be included in this Bill”, but said that if amendments were tabled on the issue “we will certainly look at them in a constructive way”.
The Bill was condemned as “minimalist”, “a disgrace” and “an insult” that will keep the Seanad as it is, “a rubber stamp”, during the Minister’s appearance before the House.
The legislation will turn the two three-seat university panels into one six-seater constituency with a significantly expanded electorate. A candidate will need the assent of 60 persons who are registered electors at the colleges and will pay a deposit of €1,800, up from the current €500 fee.
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A list system of replacement candidates will also apply in the case of casual vacancies, similar to the European Parliament. No byelection took place following the retirement in January of former senator David Norris after 35 years. It was estimated that such a byelection would cost €500,000.
The NUI will be the central registration authority responsible for maintaining the register of electors.
Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne asked if the move to a list system for casual vacancies in the university panel “is a signal from the Minister’s department that it is something that will also be considered” for the Dáil, Seanad and more generally.
Independent NUI Senator Rónán Mullen said if the Government was serious about modernisation “it would be a good idea to adopt the principle that every citizen should have a vote for the Seanad”.
Sinn Féin Senator Fintan Warfield said his party “fundamentally believes that the majority of the Seanad should be elected by the public, including Irish citizens in the North and overseas”.
Independent Trinity Senator Alice Mary Higgins said the Bill was the “weakest possible proposal, the absolute minimum, that the Government has to put forward because the Supreme Court made it do so”.
Independent NUI Senator Michael McDowell claimed the Bill was “badly drafted and is going to cause serious problems”.