Seanad Éireann, the upper House of the Oireachtas, has been addressed on occasion by invited non-members. Since 22 May 2001, the Seanad's standing orders allow its Committee on Procedure and Privilege (CPP) to approve the attendance of an Irish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the house. [1] (Currently S.O.57; [2] originally S.O.52A, [1] and later S.O.56. [3] ) In July 2011, S.O.57 was extended to "representatives and persons in public and civic life". [4] Separately, the CPP can recommend inviting "Distinguished Persons" to address the house; since the late 1990s this has been extended, typically to EU officials. [5]
Senators have also been present alongside TDs at joint sessions of the Seanad and Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas: see list of addresses to the Oireachtas.
The Oireachtas, sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas, a house of representatives called Dáil Éireann and a senate called Seanad Éireann.
In parliamentary procedure, a division of the assembly, division of the house, or simply division is a method of taking a vote that physically counts members voting.
The Seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 1979 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that provides that the procedure for the election of six members of the Senate in the university constituencies could be altered by law. It was approved by referendum on 5 July 1979 and signed into law on 3 August of the same year.
An ordinary referendum in Ireland is a referendum on a bill other than a bill to amend the Constitution. The Constitution prescribes the process in Articles 27 and 47. Whereas a constitutional referendum is mandatory for a constitutional amendment bill, an ordinary referendum occurs only if the bill "contains a proposal of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained". This is decided at the discretion of the President, after a petition by Oireachtas members including a majority of Senators. No such petition has ever been presented, and thus no ordinary referendum has ever been held.
The 22nd Seanad was in office from 2002 to 2007. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas, followed the 2002 general election to the 29th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 23rd Seanad at the end of July 2007.
The 27th Dáil was elected at the 1992 general election on 25 November 1992 and met on 14 December 1992. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 20th Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.
The 5th Dáil was elected at the June 1927 general election on 9 June 1927 and met on 23 June 1927. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State, are known as TDs. It was one of two houses of the Oireachtas, sitting with the First Seanad constituted as the 1925 Seanad. The 5th Dáil was dissolved on 25 August 1927 by Governor-General Tim Healy, at the advice of the President of the Executive Council W. T. Cosgrave. The 5th Dáil is the shortest Dáil in the history of the state, lasting only 64 days.
The 8th Dáil was elected at the 1933 general election on 24 January 1933 and met on 8 February 1933. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State, are known as TDs. Initially, it was one of two houses of the Oireachtas, sitting with the First Seanad constituted as the 1931 Seanad and the 1934 Seanad. From 29 May 1936, it was the sole house of the Oireachtas, after the disbandment of Seanad Éireann under the Constitution Act 1936. The 8th Dáil was dissolved on 14 June 1937. The 8th Dáil lasted 1,588 days.
In the Irish Free State, the Governor-General's Address or Governor-General's Speech was a formal address delivered by the Governor-General to Dáil Éireann, modelled on the speech from the throne given in other Dominions of the British Commonwealth. The address was written by the Executive Council and outlined the bills it intended to introduce. Technically the address was only to the Dáil, not to a joint session of both Houses of the Oireachtas. However, members of Seanad Éireann were invited into the Dáil chamber to attend the address, and subsequently discussed it after returning to their own chamber.
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
National University of Ireland (NUI) is a university constituency in Ireland, which elects three senators to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas. Its electorate is the graduates of the university, which has a number of constituent universities. It previously elected members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (1918–1921), to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland (1921) and to Dáil Éireann (1918–1936).
The 14th Seanad was in office from 1977 to 1981. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas, followed the 1977 general election to the 21st Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 15th Seanad in 1981.
An election for 19 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Irish Free State, was held on 17 September 1925. The election was by single transferable vote, with the entire state forming a single 19-seat electoral district.
Seanad Éireann is the senate of the Oireachtas, which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann.
The 1922 Seanad was the part of the Seanad of the Irish Free State (1922–1936) in office from the establishment of the Seanad in 1922 to the 1925 Seanad election. Elections to the Seanad, the Senate of the Oireachtas, took place on a triennial basis, with senators elected in stages. The 1922 Seanad included 30 members nominated by the President of the Executive Council and the 30 members elected by the Dáil. It was first constituted on 8 December 1922.
The Convention on the Constitution was established in Ireland in 2012 to discuss proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ireland. More commonly called simply the Constitutional Convention, it met for the first time 1 December 2012 and sat until 31 March 2014. It had 100 members: a chairman; 29 members of the Oireachtas (parliament); four representatives of Northern Ireland political parties; and 66 randomly selected citizens of Ireland.
Séamus Ó hEocha nicknamed "An Fear Mór", was an Irish educator and briefly an independent senator. He was active in the Gaelic League and became head teacher of Coláiste na Rinne in County Waterford.
The 25th Seanad was in office from 2016 to 2020. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas, followed the 2016 general election to the 32nd Dáil on 26 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels by serving politicians, for which polling closed on 25 April; 6 were elected in two university constituencies, for which polling closed on 26 April; and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach on 27 May 2016. It remained in office until the close of poll for the 26th Seanad in March 2020.
The Citizens' Assembly is a citizens' assembly established in Ireland in 2016 to consider several political questions including the Constitution of Ireland. Questions considered include: abortion, fixed term parliaments, referendums, population ageing, and climate change. Over 18 months a report is produced on each topic. The government is required to respond officially to the reports in the Oireachtas (parliament); as of 9 April 2019 responses have been given on three of the five topics.
Our entitlement to ask distinguished speakers to address us is important too. This is particularly so with EU commissioners, members of other governments and so forth. We have used this facility with good effect, most recently with our members of the present European Convention. It may be necessary in the run up to the referendum on the European Convention to use this facility again.