Trinity to hold Public Forum on the Future of Seanad Éireann

Posted on: 24 September 2013

Next Monday 30 September at 6 p.m. in the Edmund Burke Theatre in the Arts Building, Trinity will host a public forum on the future of Seanad Éireann, chaired by the Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast.  The speakers on the panel are: Ms Lucinda Creighton, TD, Reform Alliance; Mr Michael McDowell, SC, one of the leaders of the reform campaign, representing Democracy Matters; Dr Kevin Rafter, representative of One House, a civil society group campaigning for a yes vote in the referendum; Mr Eoghan Murphy TD, Fine Gael;  Mr Alex White TD, Minister of State and Labour Party Director of Elections for the Seanad Referendum; Cllr Jim O’Callaghan, SC, Deputy Director of Elections for Fianna Fáil; Mr Matt Carthy, a Sinn Fein candidate in the 2014 European elections and one of its main spokespersons for the SF Seanad Abolition Campaign; and Senator Katherine Zappone, co-author of the Seanad Reform Bill 2013.

The event is open to the entire Trinity community (students, academic and administrative staff, and alumni) as well as to the local community and general public, but because seating is limited you must email: PublicForumSE@tcd.ie in advance to reserve a seat.  Please indicate in your mail the category to which you belong, i.e. staff, student, alumni/ local community or member of the general public.

As an institution, the Board of Trinity has decided not to adopt a formal position on the referendum to abolish the Seanad.  The Board decided to make information on the Seanad and the referendum available on its website and it encourages staff, students and graduates to participate in the campaign. The University of Dublin has returned twenty-two senators to sit in the Seanad since 1938 (see http://www.tcd.ie/about/senators/  for short biographies of all twenty-two), but the public forum is not specifically about the issue of university representation, rather the wider debate about the benefits of unicameral and bicameral legislatures in an Irish context.  The public forum is an example of Trinity providing a public space where important national issues can be debated and discussed and all are welcome to attend.