Members of the 26th Seanad
There are 60 members of the 26th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas. Of these, 49 were elected on a restricted franchise, polls closing on 30–31 March; subsequently the remaining 11 members were nominated by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, on 27 June 2020.
The government has a clear majority in the Seanad.
Of the 60 members, twenty-four are women, and thirty are first-time Senators.
33 members of the 26th Seanad were unsuccessful candidates at the 2020 general election, 10 of those being outgoing TDs who failed to get re-elected. In total 41 members of the 26th Seanad had contested general elections in the past, while 15 were former TDs.
Eileen Flynn is the first Irish Traveller to be a member of the Seanad.Electoral system
There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 Senators are elected by the Vocational panels, six elected by the two University constituencies, and eleven are nominated by the Taoiseach. Three seats are elected by graduates of the four colleges of the National University of Ireland constituency and three seats are elected by graduates of the University of Dublin constituency.
Article 18.8 of the Constitution requires that an election for Seanad Éireann must take place not later than 90 days after a dissolution of the Dáil. On 21 January, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy signed the orders for the Seanad election.Timetable
- 24 February 2020: deadline for proposals for nominations to the vocational panels by nominating bodies
- 2 March 2020: deadline for proposals for nominations to the vocational panels by Members of the Oireachtas
- 9 March 2020: Seanad Returning Officer completes the panels of candidates
- 16 March 2020: postal balloting begins
- 30 March 2020, 11 a.m.: polling closes for the five special panels, counting of votes commences
- 31 March 2020, 11 a.m.: polling closes in the two university constituencies
- 27 June 2020: Taoiseach's nominees announced
Composition of the 26th Seanad
Government parties denoted by "●".
