| Election name | 2025 Seanad election |
|---|---|
| Country | Ireland |
| Ongoing | no |
| Previous election | 2020 Seanad election |
| Previous year | 2020 |
| Outgoing members | 26th Seanad |
| Elected members | 27th Seanad |
| Seats for election | 60 members of the Seanad Éireann |
| Majority seats | 31 |
| Election date | 29–30 January 2025 |
| Leader 1 | Fiona O'Loughlin |
| Leaders seat 1 | Administrative Panel |
| Party 1 | Fianna Fáil |
| Seats before 1 | 18 |
| Last election 1 | 20 seats |
| Seats after 1 | 19 |
| Seat change 1 | 1 |
| Party 2 | Fine Gael |
| Leader 2 | Seán Kyne |
| Leaders seat 2 | Cultural and Educational Panel |
| Last election 2 | 16 seats |
| Seats before 2 | 12 |
| Seats after 2 | 18 |
| Seat change 2 | 2 |
| Party 3 | Sinn Féin |
| Leader 3 | Conor Murphy |
| Leaders seat 3 | Industrial and Commercial Panel |
| Last election 3 | 5 seats |
| Seats before 3 | 2 |
| Seats after 3 | 6 |
| Seat change 3 | 1 |
| Party 4 | Labour Party (Ireland) |
| Leader 4 | Laura Harmon & Nessa Cosgrove |
| Last election 4 | 5 seats |
| Seats before 4 | 2 |
| Seats after 4 | 2 |
| Seat change 4 | 3 |
| Party 5 | Green Party (Ireland) |
| Leader 5 | Malcolm Noonan |
| Leaders seat 5 | Agricultural Panel |
| Last election 5 | 4 seats |
| Seats before 5 | 5 |
| Seats after 5 | 1 |
| Seat change 5 | 3 |
| Party 6 | Aontú |
| Leader 6 | Sarah O'Reilly |
| Last election 6 | 0 seats |
| Leaders seat 6 | Agricultural Panel |
| Seats before 6 | 0 |
| Seats after 6 | 1 |
| Seat change 6 | 1 |
| Party 7 | Social Democrats (Ireland) |
| Leader 7 | Patricia Stephenson |
| Last election 7 | 0 seats |
| Leaders seat 7 | Labour Panel |
| Seats before 7 | 0 |
| Seats after 7 | 1 |
| Seat change 7 | 1 |
| Before election | Lisa Chambers |
| Before party | Fianna Fáil |
| After election | Seán Kyne |
| After party | Fine Gael |
An indirect election to the 27th Seanad took place in January 2025, following the 2024 general election to the 34th Dáil in November 2024. Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas, with Dáil Éireann as its lower house. Polls closed for six senators elected in two university constituencies on 29 January and for 43 senators elected on five vocational panels on 30 January; the remaining 11 senators were nominated by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin.
The election saw senators from Aontú and the Social Democrats elected for the first time.[a][1][2]
Background
The Constitution of Ireland provides that a Seanad election must take place within 90 days of the dissolution of the Dáil Éireann. The 33rd Dáil was dissolved on 8 November 2024.[3] On 15 November 2024, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien, signed an order for the Seanad elections, providing 29 January as the deadline for ballots in the university constituencies and 30 January as the deadline for ballots for the vocational panels.[4][5][6]
Electoral system
There are 60 seats in the Seanad, each elected via one of three methods: direct election via voters who are university graduates, indirect election via a body of other previously elected politicians, or appointment by the Taoiseach.
All votes are cast by postal ballot, and are counted using the single transferable vote. Under this system, voters can rank candidates in order of their preference (1 as their first preference, 2 for second preference, and so on). In counting votes for the vocational panels, ballots are initially given a value of 1,000 to allow calculation of quotas where all ballots are distributed in the case of a surplus, rather than taking a representative sample as is done in counting votes for the university constituencies or Dáil elections. The quota for election is given as:\left( \frac{\text{total valid poll}}{ \text{seats}+1 } \right) + 1.
University constituencies
Six senators are directly elected from two university constituencies: three from the National University constituency and three from the Dublin University (Trinity College Dublin) constituency.[7] This will be the last general election from these constituencies. Under the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Act 2024, at the next Seanad general election held after 21 March 2025, they will be substituted by a new six-seat Higher Education constituency.[8] This legislation was enacted in response to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Heneghan v Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (2023).
Vocational panels
Forty-three senators are indirectly elected by an electorate of elected politicians, consisting of members of the incoming 34th Dáil, members of the outgoing 26th Seanad, and incumbent city and county councillors, who have ballots for each of the five vocational panels.[9][10] There are 1,172 electors for the election of panel members.[11] The clerk of the Seanad is ex officio the returning officer for the panel elections and maintains the register of nominating bodies for each panel.[12] Candidates may be nominated by nominating bodies (outside sub-panel) or by members of the Oireachtas (inside sub-panel). In each vocational panel, there is a minimum number who must be elected from either the inside or the outside sub-panel. If the number of candidates nominated for each sub-panel does not exceed by two the maximum number which may be elected from that sub-panel, the Taoiseach shall nominate candidates to fill the deficiency.[13]
Electors for the panels elect:[14]
- Seven seats from the Administrative Panel, with a minimum of three from inside and outside sub-panels: Public administration and social services (including the voluntary sector).
- Eleven seats from the Agricultural Panel, with a minimum of four: Agriculture and the fisheries.
- Five seats from the Cultural and Educational Panel, with a minimum of two: Education, the arts, the Irish language and Irish culture and literature.
- Nine seats from the Industrial and Commercial Panel, with a minimum of three: Industry and commerce (including engineering and architecture).
- Eleven seats from the Labour Panel, with a minimum of four: Labour (organised or otherwise).
Appointment
The 11 nominated senators will be appointed by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. Under the agreement that formed their government, six senators will be chosen by Martin and five will be chosen by Tánaiste Simon Harris.[15]
Campaign
On 18 December, it was reported that outgoing Green Party senators Róisín Garvey and Vincent P. Martin, as well as Sinn Féin's Fintan Warfield would not be contesting the elections for the new Seanad.[16] Green Party Minister of State and senator Pippa Hackett and Fine Gael's John McGahon said they would be taking a step back from politics.[17] A fourth Green Party senator Pauline O'Reilly also confirmed she would not be returning to the Seanad.[18] Despite initially ruling himself out of a continued career in politics, Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne later confirmed he would contest the election.[19]
Members of the outgoing Seanad not seeking election
Election process
| Deadline | Universities | Vocational Panel |
|---|---|---|
| Nominations close | 6 December 2024 | 18 December 2024 ("outside" panel: nominating bodies — civic society groups) 31 December 2024 ("inside" panel: Oireachtas members) |
| Completion of panels | 8 January 2025 | |
| Ballot papers distributed | 30 December 2024 | 15 January 2025 |
| Polls close | 29 January 2025, 11 a.m. | 30 January 2025, 11 a.m. |
Results
| Party | Cand.[b][26] | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Out. | Elected 2025 | Change | |||
| 37 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 1 | ||
| 35 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 2 | ||
| 8 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 47 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 2 | ||
| colspan=2 | 10 | |||||
| Total | 141 | 60 | ||||
| Source: Oireachtas website[27] | ||||||
To facilitate the transfer of fractional surpluses, each valid ballot paper for the vocational panels is given a value of 1,000.[28]
Agricultural Panel
Returning officer Martin Groves ordered a partial recount (of the 23rd count) because of the narrow margin of victory of Maria Byrne over Angela Feeney (116 notional votes, corresponding to one-ninth of a physical ballot). Feeney sued Groves in the High Court when he refused a full recount (from the first count). The case was heard in July 2025.[29]
Nominated by the Taoiseach
The eleven nominated members were divided among the coalition partners, with 6 Fianna Fáil and 5 Fine Gael members chosen. For the first time since 1989, no Independent senators were nominated.
|}
Notes
- ^ Senator James Heffernan joined the Social Democrats in September 2015; he had been elected as a Labour candidate in 2011 and lost the whip in 2012. Heffernan was a Social Democrat Senator for nine months until the 24th Seanad was dissolved in June 2016, but was never elected as a Social Democrat candidate.
- ^ No party labels appear on ballots for Seanad elections. Party membership is indicated below. Does not include nominated members of Seanad Éireann.
References
- ^ "Former senator gets suspended sentence for arrests following failed by-election bid". BreakingNews.ie. 16 May 2023.
- ^ O'Halloran, Marie (1 February 2025). "Seanad election: Aontú wins first seat in Seanad as Labour loses by tenth of a vote". The Irish Times
- ^ "General Election on 29 November 2024". Government of Ireland. Department of the Taoiseach. 11 November 2024.
- ^ "Minister O'Brien makes Orders appointing dates and times for Seanad Éireann general election". Government of Ireland. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 15 November 2024.
- ^ "Seanad University Members General Election Order 2024". 15 November 2024.
- ^ "Seanad Panel Members General Election Order 2024". 15 November 2024.
- ^ "Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937". 19 November 1937. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "6". "Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Act 2024". No. 40. 29 October 2024.
- ^ "Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1954". 22 February 1954. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947". 19 December 1947. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Electoral Roll". Iris Oifigiúil. 2025 (3A). 10 January 2025.
- ^ "Register of Nominating Bodies as revised at the annual revision and signed by the Seanad returning officer in pursuance of section 19 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947, as amended.". Oireachtas. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "37". "Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947". 1947. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "52". "Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947". 19 December 1947. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
- ^ McQuinn, Cormac (6 February 2025). "Greater gender balance expected to feature in Taoiseach’s 11 nominees to Seanad". The Irish Times
- ^ O'Halloran, Marie. "Minister of State Malcolm Noonan sole Green Party Seanad candidate". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Keegan, Gearoid (2 December 2024). "Offaly's Green minister taking 'step back' from politics". Offaly Express. Archived 20 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Burns, Louise (12 December 2024). "Majority of Green Party senators will not seek to retain their seats". Irish Mirror
- ^ O'Halloran, Marie (29 December 2024). "Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne reverses decision to quit politics and will run again for Seanad". The Irish Times. Archived 29 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Senator and former TD Shane Cassells bows out of politics". The Irish Times. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "Minister of State Malcolm Noonan sole Green Party Seanad candidate". The Irish Times. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Who are the political parties putting forward in the Seanad election?". TheJournal.ie. 31 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Mayo elected representative confirms retirement after record-breaking service". Connaught Telegraph. 24 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
- ^ "Ned's watching brief as six go in search of seats". Killarney Today. 2 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "Outgoing Mayo senator confirms departure from national politics". Connaught Telegraph. 7 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ Cionnaith, Fiachra Ó (13 January 2025). "141 candidates look to secure a seat in Seanad election". RTÉ News
- ^ https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/elections/seanad-general-election-live/
- ^ "Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947". 1947. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
- ^ Gallagher, Fiachra (17 July 2025). "Seanad election returning officer says he had no reason to doubt accuracy of count result". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 July 2025.