Seanad Éireann

[culloty82]

All third-level guarantees will be able to vote for the university seats, now the decision has been made to legislate for the 1979 referendum. Looking at the CSO website, it appears that amounts to 38% of the current population, so the question now is whether the political parties will seek to place their own candidates, evicting Crown, Norris and Quinn, to name but three? Either way, a token gesture on 10% of the seats will mean little set against the 43 panel members and the Taoiseach's XI.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I doubt it. They can play ball with any of the people you mention, and override them if it comes right down to it. Anyway, the turnout for Seanad elections tends to be abysmally low anyway, so that number can be divided by three.

Invoking a 33 year old referendum result will be spun as meaningful reform, but it is nothing of the sort. It's an expansion of an elitist travesty.

[Eminence Grise]

I agree that it's not a deeply meaningful reform, but it is the only way of extending the franchise that does not require another referendum. Unless we are guaranteed root and branch reform (which could be a long time coming...) it would enfranchise hundreds of thousands of people who have been unfairly denied a right to vote because politicians faffed around for three decades and never enacted the legislation they were constitutionally mandated to do. I think that the more people who feel that they have a voting interest in the Seanad, the greater the level of public scrutiny and the greater potential for real reform.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I think you're over-estimating the interest people will have the Seanad, regardless of how many new electors it gets. So few even bother going to the trouble of posting that vote back and the people they elect have no power.

[Eminence Grise]

Maybe, though most of my friends with Seanad votes take it seriously and do return their ballots. At the moment, though, there is no interest in the Seanad among graduates from the 'wrong' colleges because they have no self-interest in the house; if even the same percentage of those graduates were to vote as currently vote from among NUI and TCD graduates, that would result in an increased electorate. I can't see any merit in denying anybody the right to vote just because a large number of their peeer group won't vote. (Referendums and local authority elections next would be very vulnerable if we applied that criterion!) Anyway, I only want the graduates' franchise increased as a temporary measure until we can properly reform the Seanad. I think we agree on that much, NFB!

[mypost]

It’s surprisingly difficult to come out on one side or the other when you don’t feel so strongly about abolition or reform. As I was voting yes I figured it would be best to throw the kitchen sink at it. 

I think that this result may be the only way that reform can happen as it seem a fait accompli that YES would win.

And if you didn't have an argument for or against the referendum, you should have left it alone.

When you throw the kitchen sink at things, you can still end up with egg on your face.