CONTROVERSIAL SENATOR SHARON Keogan has topped the poll and has been deemed elected to the Industrial and Commercial panel of the Seanad. 

She is the first to be elected to the panel, which has nine remaining seats to be filled. 

The Independent senator has been a member of the vocational panel of Seanad Éireann since 2020. She was nominated for re-election by Independent TDs Gillian Toole, Mattie McGrath, Verona Murphy, and Barry Heneghan.

Heneghan’s nomination of Keogan earned him backlash, as one of the self-proclaimed “left-wing” TD’s priorities was to work to support the LGBTQ community.

Keogan had previously been criticised for claiming governments across the world are enabling an “organised” LGBTQ+ “takeover” of society.

Heneghan defended his nomination of the senator, whom he said had helped him while he was a councillor previously.

The count for the Industrial and Commercial panel follows the completion of the count for the Labour panel. 

Former Fianna Fáil junior minister Anne Rabbitte lost out on a seat on the Labour panel, where former Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews won a seat. 

Other TDs that have recently moved from the Dáil to the Seanad include Sinn Féin’s Pauline Tully, who was elected to the Seanad on the Cultural and Educational panel. She was the first former TD who has now taken a seat in the Seanad. 

Former Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan topped the poll on the Agriculture panel, exceeding the quota by over 11,000 votes.

The Industrial panel is the penultimate one to be counted, with the Administrative panel remaining. 

49 Seanad seats are voted on across the constituencies and panels while another 11 seats will be filled by people nominated by the Taoiseach.