Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael bolster Seanad nominees with failed election candidates
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are set to add numbers to the Seanad election race from candidates who lost their Dáil seats.
Nominations for seats for the two university panels and from outside civic society bodies for the remaining five themed panels have closed, but internal party choices remain to be decided shortly.
Party figures who lost their seats in the shock election will be put forward for the 26th Seanad.
Fianna Fáil is expected to put forward Lisa Chambers, the party's former Brexit spokeswoman, former Louth TD Declan Breathnach and former Roscommon-Galway TD Eugene Murphy.
Former party TDs Margaret Murphy O'Mahony, Malcolm Byrne, Thomas McEllistrim, Niall Blaney, Kevin O'Keeffe, Timmy Dooley and Fiona O'Loughlin have all been nominated already on panels by outside bodies.
Outside nominating bodies have put forward a number of Fine Gael TDs who lost their seats in elections. These include Aine Collins, Gabrielle McFadden and current government chief whip Sean Kyne.
Fine Gael TDs who failed to get re-elected are also expected to be added to the Seanad ticket by nominating sitting deputies or senators in the days ahead, including Noel Rock, Kate O'Connell and Michael D'Arcy.
But the party could struggle to appoint some people to the Upper House, with large numbers seeking election on the panels.
The Seanad elections will also be added to by the fact the Green Party has quadrupled its councillor numbers to 49 and increased its Dáil deputies from two to 12, giving it more voting power.
And the Social Democrats could also be in position to influence the Seanad elections with its Dáil tally of six. Labour will have less of an influence than before with its Oireachtas numbers reduced from 10 to 8.
While many new names have been added to the university panels, which can be voted on by former students, the six current sitting senators there are expected to be in a strong position to return to the Upper House.
The remaining five themed panels will be voted on by an electorate made up of 949 councillors, 52 senators and 160 TDs.
Ballot papers for the Seanad elections will be posted out on March 16 and must be returned by registered post by 11am on March 30, when counting will start.
While some 49 places in the Seanad are decided by panels and the universities, the Taoiseach of the day gets to allocate the remaining 11 seats.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will both decide their final candidates in the coming days while the final comprehensive list of penal nominations should be known by March 9.
- Abbas Ali O'Shea, director of AFA Consultancy
- Jennifer Butler, university lecturer
- Ruth Coppinger, former TD
- Eoin Delahunty, operations manager
- Karen Devine, university lecturer
- Eva Elizabeth Dowling, councillor
- Garbhan Downey, publisher
- Mick Finn, councillor
- Peter Finnegan, member Maynooth University governing authority
- Laura Harmon, coordinator, National Women’s Council of Ireland
- Michelle Healy, member of University College Cork governing body
- Rory Hearne, Asst Prof, Maynooth University
- Alice-Mary Higgins, Senator
- Marcus Matthews, managing director
- Michael McDowell, senator
- Rónán Mullen, senator
- Brendan Mary Price, CEO Irish Seal Sanctuary
- Keith Scanlon, engineer
- Ann Staunton Barrett, retailer
- David Norris, senator
- Abbas Ali O'Shea, consultant
- Tom Clonan, academic, journalist
- Derek Byrne, academic / media professional
- Hugo MacNeill, consultant / non profit
- Lynn Ruane, senator
- William Priestley, councillor
- Ivana Bacik, senator
- Joseph O'Gorman, company director /administrator
- Keith Scanlon, engineer
- Margaret Murphy O'Mahony, former TD
- Éamonn Walsh, barrister
- Shane Curley, councillor/teacher
- Fintan Warfield, senator
- Jack Mulcahy, publisher and businessman
- Malcolm Byrne, former TD
- Michael “Moegie” Maher, chair of an Education and Training Board (ETB)
- Gabrielle McFadden, senator
- Mary Newman Julian, veterinary practitioner
- Deirdre Conroy, councillor
- Joe Conway, councillor
- Kate Feeney, councillor
- Seán Kyne, Áire Stait don Ghaeilge, Seanadóir
- Angela Flynn, president of Irish Federation of University Teachers
- Brian Ó Domhnaill, senator
- Denis O’Donovan, senator
- Victor Boylan, senator
- Tim Lombard, senator
- Ian Marshall, senator
- Paul Daly, senator
- Thomas McEllistrim, former TD, farmer
- Niall Blaney, former TD
- Dominic Hannigan, former TD
- Maria Byrne, senator
- Kevin O’Keeffe former TD
- Seamus Coyle, councillor
- Shane P. O’Reilly, councillor
- Paddy Burke, senator
- Richard Mulcahy, businessman/farmer
- Dermot Cantillon, farmer
- Pat Deering, former TD
- Paul Hayes, councillor
- Orla Leyden, councillor
- Aengus O'Rourke, councillor
- John Hanafin, barrister
- Sarah Walshe, HSE complaints manager
- Robbie Gallagher, senator
- Ned O'Sullivan, senator
- Gerard Craughwell, senator
- Paul Gavan, senator
- Martina Harkin-Kelly, INMO president
- Marie Sherlock, councillor
- Michael Smyth, vice president of FORSA
- Aidan Davitt, senator
- Joe Corr, president of Irish Planning Institute
- Pat Hynes, councillor
- Catherine Noone, senator
- Áine Collins, former TD/chair British Irish Trade Alliance
- Garret Kelleher, councillor
- Barry Ward, councillor
- Michael Anthony Vaughan, lodge owner
- Tom MacSharry, councillor
- Frances Black, senator
- Arthur Griffin, barrister
- James Geoghegan, councillor
- Gerry Horkan, senator
- Tom Sheahan, business owner
- Declan James Allen, lecturer
- Danny Byrne, councillor
- Timmy Dooley, former TD
- Patrick Connor-Scarteen, councillor
- Patrick Hunt, Snr Ass chief fire officer
- Edward Timmins, councillor
- Linda O’Shea Farren, arts manager/lawyer
- Emma Blain, councillor
- Ollie Crowe, councillor
- Patsy O’Brien, councillor
- Éamonn Walsh, barrister
- Patrick Kinsella, entrepreneur
- Martin Conway, senator
- Diarmuid Wilson, senator
- Mark Daly, senator
- Mick Cahill, councillor
- John Dolan, senator, CEO Disability Federation of Ireland
- Joe Malone, councillor
- Salome Mbugua Henry, commissioner with Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
- Anne Marie Flanagan, mental health professional
- Tony Geoghegan, former CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland
- John Bosco Conama, Asst Prof TCD
- Fiona O'Loughlin, former TD
