Westmeath senators hoping to be re-elected
After a hectic year on the electoral front, Senator Aidan Davitt is looking forward to the Seanad election campaign drawing to a close.
Polling for the Upper House election opened on January 15 and closes on January 30. Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Senator Davitt, who is hoping to the elected for a third consecutive term, says it has been a hectic year for him and many of his Seanad colleagues.
“For most guys it’s been a busy year, between local, general and now Seanad elections. It’s been enjoyable, but I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see it over either, to be honest.”
Nominated by the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) and the Irish Exporters Association, Senator Davitt has spent the last few months travelling the length and breath of the country trying to secure support from county councillors and members of the Oireachtas.
Proud of the work he has done on a range of issues in the last two Seanad terms and representing the people of Westmeath in Leinster House, Senator Davitt says that while he has got a good response on the campaign trail, he is taking nothing for granted.
“The reaction has been good. People have been hospitable and welcoming. Evidently not everyone is going vote for you but they are very giving of their time to let you make your case. I suppose we’ll know when the votes are counted.”
Senator Davitt’s Fianna Fáil colleague Senator Paul Daly from Kilbeggan is also hoping to secure his third term in the Seanad and is backing his track record. He is hoping to win a seat on the Agricultural Panel, having been nominated to contest the election by the Agricultural Scientists Association. “I got elected in 2016, and re-elected in 2020 so I must have been doing something right. If it was right then, I’m hoping it is right now,” he told our sister paper the Westmeath Independent.
Daly is also a part-time small farmer, and says he can bring that real-life experience to the table. “I have the muck on the boots, and the dirt under the finger nails,” he said, stating that he can talk about agricultural issues with first-hand experience, which he says was how the Seanad was initially designed by Éamon De Valera.”
The Seanad
The Seanad comprises 60 members, 49 of whom are elected and 11 of whom are nominated by the Taoiseach. The 49 to be elected come from various panels, including five vocational panels, and two university panels. The five panels are Administrative panel (seven members), Agricultural panel (11 members), Cultural and educational panel (five to be elected), Industrial and Commercial panel (nine members) and Labour panel (11 members). There are also three senators to be elected from the National University of Ireland (NUI) panel, and three from the University of Dublin Trinity College panel. The electorate for the various vocational panels is county and city councillors, sitting TDs and outgoing senators. There are two sub-panels for each vocational panel, and candidates are selected by either a registered nominating organisation, or by members of the incoming Dáil or outgoing Seanad, referred to as inside nomination. A specified minimum number of members must be elected for each sub-panel, as follows: Cultural and Educational (2), Agricultural (4), Labour (4), Industrial and Commercial (3), Administrative (3).
In other words, there must be at least two senators elected from the Cultural and Educational panel from the nominating bodies sub panel, and two from the Oireachtas inside nominations.