NOW THAT SOCIAL Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis has been elected to the Dáil in the Dublin Central byelection, who gets his council seat?

Unlike the Dáil, a vacancy created in the council by a councillor’s election to a different office means the councillor-turned-TD’s party can co-opt someone else to the council seat.

In the Social Democrats’ case, a date has been set for a candidate to be decided and co-opted onto the council by Monday 8 June – although there is a bit of room for it to be pushed out later that month.

Local councillor Cat O’Driscoll, who works with both Ennis and Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon, told The Journal she would not be putting out any potential names at the moment as the process to decide on a new councillor kicks off.

The Social Democrats’ process for choosing a new councillor mirrors the candidate selection process, she said, where everyone in the branch is invited to express their interest in the role.

From there, they fill out a survey and a form, which goes to the candidate selection committee, and undergo an interview process. Once this has been carried out, a name is recommended by the committee, at which point a branch selection convention finalises the candidate.

“Even if it’s only one name, we still go through that whole process, so getting that done by 8 June will be quite difficult,” O’Driscoll said. 

However, she said the party has done “many co-options at this stage” and typically those who will put themselves forward have been thinking about doing so in advance.

O’Driscoll herself was first co-opted onto the council in 2020 when Gary Gannon was elected to the Dáil, having discussed the matter with Gannon previously. 

And Seán Kyne’s seat?

Not to forget Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne, who will also be leaving a seat vacant now that he has been reelected to the Dáil. 

The Galway West senator sits on the Cultural and Education panel in the Seanad, having been first appointed to the role in 2020, and running for re-election after missing out in the 2024 general election.

Kyne was a TD for the constituency from 2011 to 2020, and a junior minister from May 2016 until he lost his seat in 2020.

Unlike a council seat, Kyne and Fine Gael have no say in who takes over the Seanad seat.

There will be a byelection instead to fill the seat, where votes will be cast by members of the Dáil and the Seanad (of which there are 234 in all).

A candidate can go forward for the role once they have the backing of at least nine members of the Oireachtas (TDs or senators).

A nominating body for the relevant panel may nominate a candidate for a vacancy in a Nominating Bodies sub-panel. There is a long list of nominating bodies for this particular panel; they include organisations such as The Law Society of Ireland, the National Youth Council of Ireland, and Conradh na Gaeilge.

Once candidates have been nominated, the Oireachtas members vote by secret ballot.