Former Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien, who lost his seat in Dublin North at the election, has been appointed to the Seanad by Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Mr O’Brien will fill the vacancy created by the election of Fine Gael’s Ciaran Cannon, a former Taoiseach’s nominee in 2007.
Some 11 nominees to the 60-seat Seanad are appointed by the Taoiseach, while the remaining 43 are elected through a number of vocational panels.
Fine Gael took two seats in the Dublin North constituency. Dr James Reilly was elected first, with his running mate Alan Farrell making it on the seventh count.
The other two seats were filled by the Socialist Party’s Clare Daly - running under the United Left Alliance umbrella - and Labour’s Brendan Ryan.
Former Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and Fianna Fáil’s two sitting TDs, Michael Kennedy and Mr O’Brien, lost their seats.
