27th Seanad | |||
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Overview | |||
Legislative body | Seanad Éireann | ||
Jurisdiction | Ireland | ||
Meeting place | Leinster House | ||
Election | 29–30 January 2025 | ||
Government | 35th government of Ireland | ||
Members | 60 | ||
Cathaoirleach | Mark Daly (FF) | ||
Leader of the Seanad | Seán Kyne (FG) | ||
Deputy leader of the Seanad | Fiona O'Loughlin (FF) | ||
Leader of the Opposition | Conor Murphy (SF) | ||
Sessions | |||
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The 27th Seanad has been in office since February 2025. The 2025 Seanad election took place in January 2025, following the 2024 general election to the 34th Dáil on 29 November 2024. It was fully composed on 7 February 2025 on the nomination of members by the taoiseach.
The Constitution of Ireland requires a general election for Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas, to take place no later than ninety days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels by serving politicians; 6 were elected in two university constituencies; and 11 are nominated by the taoiseach who was appointed after the assembly of the 34th Dáil. It will remain in office until the close of poll for the 28th Seanad.
The 33rd Dáil was dissolved on 8 November 2024. On 15 November 2024, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien, signed orders for the Seanad election, providing 29 January as the deadline for ballots in the university constituencies and 30 January as the deadline for ballots for the vocational panels. [1] [2] [3] [4] Under the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Act 2024, this is to be the last Seanad in which the two university constituencies will exist. At the next Seanad general election, they will be replaced by a new Higher Education constituency.
On 7 February 2025, the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, nominated eleven members with their prior consent to be members of the Seanad. [5]
Origin Party | Vocational panels | NUI | DU | Nominated | Total | ||||||
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Admin | Agri | Cult & Educ | Ind & Comm | Labour | |||||||
● | Fianna Fáil | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19 | |
● | Fine Gael | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 18 | |
Sinn Féin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Labour Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
Green Party | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
Aontú | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
Social Democrats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
Independent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | ||
Total | 7 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 60 |
Government parties are denoted with bullets (●).
Feb. 2025 [a] | Feb. 2025 [b] | ||
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Fianna Fáil | 19 | 19 | |
Fine Gael | 18 | 17 | |
Sinn Féin | 6 | 6 | |
Labour | 2 | 2 | |
Green | 1 | 1 | |
Social Democrats | 1 | 1 | |
Aontú | 1 | 1 | |
Independent | 12 | 13 | |
Total | 60 |
^ +: New senator.
^ #: Member of the 33rd Dáil who was not re-elected at the 2024 general election .
Date | Panel | Loss | Gain | Note | ||
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9 February 2025 | Administrative Panel | Fine Gael | Independent | Martin Conway resigned from the Fine Gael parliamentary party [6] |