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Who are the political parties putting forward in the Seanad election?

The Green Party will run just one Seanad candidate as five of its senators stand down.

OUTGOING TD FOR Carlow-Kilkenny Malcolm Noonan is the sole candidate being put forward by the Green Party in the upcoming Seanad election. 

Voting in the Seanad elections will open on 15 January, via postal vote, and ballots will be counted on 30 January. 

There are 60 seats up for grabs across a number of different panels. Of these, 49 senators are elected and 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach. 

The 11 Taoiseach nominees will undoubtedly form part of government formation talks, which are ongoing, and it is not yet clear what way they will be split up among government parties. 

Nominations from Oireachtas members for the vocational panels in the Seanad will close today, 31 January at midday. This is known as ‘inside nominations’, as they are nominations from within the Oireachtas.

‘Outside nominations’, nominations from organisations and bodies outside of the Oireachtas, closed on 18 December.

Here’s who the main political parties are putting forward via inside nominations:

Fine Gael 

Fine Gael will be putting forward 13 candidates via inside nominations.

Among them are three outgoing senators: Garret Ahern, Alan Farrell and Mary Seery Kearney.

Eight councillors are also being put forward by the party: Conor Bergin, Laois; Vicki Casserly, Dublin Mid-West; Noel O’Donovan, Cork; Mark Duffy, Mayo; Mike Kennelly, Kerry; David Fitzgerald, Kilkenny; Carmel Brady, Cavan; Cathal Byrne, Wexford. 

The other two nominees from Fine gael are John McNulty, who unsuccessfully contested this year’s general election in Donegal, and Leonora Carey, former chair of Fine Gael’s National Executive Council.

Carey unsuccessfully stood in Clare in this year’s general election.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne, who previously said he was quitting politics, has reversed his decision and will seek a seat on the cultural and educational panel.

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil has not yet confirmed how many candidates it will be putting forward via the inside nominations.

Outgoing senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee is among the Fianna Fáil nominations on the Cultural and Educational panel. 

Senator Niall Blaney, who unsuccessfully stood in the European elections earlier this year, is also listed as a candidate for the Agricultural panel. 

Greens

As mentioned above, outgoing TD and junior Minister for Nature Malcolm Noonan is the sole candidate being put forward by the Green Party. He is seeking a seat in the Agricultural Panel. 

Two other candidates, however, Hazel Chu and Ossian Smyth, are seeking election for the party in the University of Dublin panel where senators are chosen by Trinity College alumni.

The Green Party’s five existing senators, including Pippa Hackett, Pauline O’Reilly and Róisín Garvey are not seeking re-election. 

Garvey had been a Taoiseach nominee in the last Seanad, but it is understood the Green Party does not expected to receive any nominees from the Taoiseach this time around. 

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin has nominated six candidates to contest the Seanad elections, including outgoing TDs Chris Andrews and Pauline Tully. 

The other three candidates are Joanne Collins, Maria McCormack, Nicole Ryan and Northern Ireland Minister Conor Murphy. 

Labour 

The Labour Party has nominated four candidates to stand for the vocational panels this time around. 

All four nominees are councillors: Nessa Cosgrave, Angela Feeney, Laura Harmon and Darragh Moriarty. 

Meanwhile, Sadbh O’Neill, a well known environmentalist who unsuccessfully contested the general election as a Labour candidate, is running for the party in the University of Dublin panel.

Existing Labour senators Rebecca Moynihan and Annie Hoey are not seeking re-election.

Social Democrats

The Social Democrats are running just two candidates – Patricia Stephenson, who unsuccessfully stood for a Dáil seat in Carlow-Kilkenny and councillor Joan Hopkins, who unsuccessfully stood for a seat in Fingal East in this year’s general election.

Independent Ireland

Michael Collins’ party Independent Ireland is putting forward one candidate. 

Galway Councillor Noel Thomas will contest the election for a seat on the Agricultural panel. 

Aontú

Likewise, Aontú is putting forward just one candidate with Cavan councillor Sarah O’Reilly contesting a seat on the Agricultural panel. 

Independents

Among the list of notable Independent candidates seeking election is disability rights campaigner Ann Marie Flanagan who has been nominated to run for the Administrative panel by Independent Living Movement Ireland and the Irish Deaf Society.

Biologist, author and presenter Éanna Ní Lamhna is also contesting a seat this year having been nominated by An Taisce for the Cultural and Educational panel.

Adrian Cummins, chief of the Restaurants Association, will also contest a seat on the Commercial panel. 

Meanwhile, Eileen Flynn, who made history in 2020 by becoming the first woman from the Traveller community to take a seat in Seanad Éireann, is also seeking re-election. 

University panels 

Two of the panels – the University of Dublin panel and the NUI panel – have their members elected by university graduates. Three senators are elected to each of these panels. 

The full list of who is running in the university panels is available here. 

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43 Comments
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    Mute Sean Murphy
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:14 PM

    Are you messing? People get suspended sentences for assault and sexual crimes and this gets 4 months? Ffs, the country really needs some standardised sentencing

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    Mute Emilio Butler
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:19 PM

    @Sean Murphy: did you read the article? She had 14 previous theft convictions…..this might finally make her think twice

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    Mute Ted Logan
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:21 PM

    @Sean Murphy: 14 previous- nothing wrong with this sentence it was the proverbial straw.

    I would agree most sentences are far to lenient from our judiciary.

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    Mute Sean Murphy
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:24 PM

    @Ted Logan: and yet there’s articles on here about lads with 100+(literally) convictions still getting nothing but suspended sentences for more serious crimes

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    Mute Sean
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:27 PM

    @Sean Murphy: yes there are lads with multiple convictions getting suspended sentences but that doesn’t make it right in all fairness. You could argue it’s inconsistent and few would disagree.

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    Mute arthur boyton
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:33 PM

    @Sean Murphy: anyone question what the previous 30 odd convictions were before complaining about this sentence!!!!

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    Mute Parnells Eighty-Seven
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:56 PM

    @Emilio Butler: where does it say that?

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    Mute ParSim
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:00 PM

    @Emilio Butler: She was previously barred from the store and was going to pay for the Pringles but was stopped by security. She then opened the Pringles so they’d have to let her buy them. Instead they called the gardai. Waste of tax payers money bringing it to court and a bigger waste of money jailing her.

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    Mute Peter Mc
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:33 PM

    @Emilio Butler: she had 14 confirmed and another 15 apparently pending. She should have been locked up long time ago. Got off lightly!!!

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    Mute Kárl
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:21 PM

    The headline is real click bait. She was a repeat offender who was previously given suspended sentences for theft. Fourteen times. So she was given fair warning. Good luck to her in gaol.

    996
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    Mute Alan Walter Gallagher
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:15 PM

    Can we get a few chain gangs on the go? Maybe if these people were forced to work they’d soon buck up…

    561
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    Mute Tom Harpur Photography
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:16 PM

    @Alan Walter Gallagher: not a bad idea prisoners could sort out roadside ditches rebuild stone walls on roads etc

    244
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    Mute John Parker
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:35 PM

    This is not a sentence over a tube of Pringles …. From the article you see Its about a repeat shoplift offender who was previously barred from the shop. And on the date in question knowingly trespassed. She then opened the Pringles in the hope that staff would charge her the € cost of it and she could possibly later claim she had been served (un-barred).
    Store detectives don’t need this blatant, in-your-face provocation or to have their time wasted following her around the shop, while others could be thieving while they’re distracted.

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    Mute Niall Power
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:33 PM

    Culture?

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:43 PM

    @Niall Power: yup

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    Mute Skimothy
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:02 PM

    Misleading story. She had loads of previous convictions and was already barred from store.

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    Mute Dan
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:12 PM

    She won’t do that again for a while…..

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    Mute The Viking
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:16 PM

    @Dan: wouldn’t know about that now Dan. Once you pop you can’t stop…

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    Mute arthur boyton
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:33 PM

    @Dan: really??

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    Mute Kevin McNally
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:43 PM

    @The Viking: 10/10

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    Mute SPQH
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:27 PM

    @The Viking: brilliant, haha. You could’ve been her defence

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    Mute Ronan Dunne
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:52 PM

    @The Viking: you won the internet today

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    Mute Alan O'Brien
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:57 PM

    Did this article get edited to remove the section where it clearly states her behaviour at the time and her 14 previous convictions? If so, this is an extraordinary abuse of editorial power and click bate attention seeking at its worst!

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    Mute Geoff Murphy
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:19 PM

    @Alan O’Brien: I was wondering the same, the more I am interact with the journal the more m realising it’s controlled by the radical left

    159
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    Mute Brian McDonnell
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:53 PM

    I have become a bit cynical regarding these hard luck stories. So now I search for more details. All it took was a 2 minutes to find out about her 31 previous convictions, 14 for theft and 2 for criminal damage, and also convictions for handling stolen goods and that she was barred from Tesco as well.

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    Mute Pa Curran
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:20 PM

    Tough on Pringles. Light on murder.

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    Mute Greg Blake
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:51 PM

    Not one bit sorry for her.
    Big However though.
    How much am I paying for this prosecution and sentence? Both this woman and the courts are taking the mickey. She’ll appeal and win, (because, this time, she went to the till to pay) costing us more money and probably get a claim from it too (on the basis of Smart-Alec-ing not being a crime). Neither her, nor the judge and the legal professions give two fooks, they are all on the same gravy train.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:35 PM

    A dirtys*%M bag just done for days after he got 8 months suspended and 25% remission off his 1 year sentence for abusing a child judges need to have a good hard look at themselves

    118
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    Mute Paddy Sparky Power
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:14 PM

    Once you pop you can’t stop

    75
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    Mute tubbsyf
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:01 PM

    An intercounty gaa player bit a guard and all he got was a fine

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    Mute Peter Byrne
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:02 PM

    Should have 12 months breaking stones

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    Mute Vincent
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:41 PM

    Any offense concerning money, no matter how small the amount, seem to get you in jail, while some more serious crime gets you suspended sentences. Money is really important in Ireland.

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    Mute Fergus
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:55 PM

    @Vincent: no. It was 30 previous convictions and the fact the judge said the previous suspended sentences failed to improve her behaviour.

    But sure keep going with that.

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    Mute Graham Murphy
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:18 PM

    This is great guerilla/viral marketing as I bought a tube of Pringles after hearing the story.

    19
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    Mute Stephen Devine
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:36 PM

    Sorry did she take them without paying or did she pay. Article is very thin in its discription.

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    Mute Declan Moran
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:24 PM

    Takes once you pop you can’t stop to a new level i guess :)

    14
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    Mute Stephen Devlin
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:48 PM

    She got through to the second round of supermarket swipe

    14
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    Mute Sportmad
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    Nov 28th 2018, 8:55 PM

    For a member of the judiciary to give such a sentence there is a guide book on such..
    It’s a pity the idiot judges and I mean all of them look at the crime and the consequences of it on the effected people by that I mean the elderly getting robbed, beaten, abused and those that are subjected to the horrors of sexual abuse and not forgetting the murders that get away lightly but God forbid you don’t pay a tv licence or as this young Lady as the judge stated was being a smart Alec you get more than an abuser and repeat offenders but also the point Tesco taking it that far shame on them and the idiot judges.. community service should suffice..

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    Mute Stephen Cumbers
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:17 PM

    @Sportmad: repeat offender. Got what she deserved.

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    Mute Emma Collins
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    Nov 28th 2018, 9:03 PM

    WTAF!!!!!!!

    13
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