FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny’s dramatic proposal to abolish the Seanad will meet with strong resistance from many Senators and TDs when the party meets to discuss the issue on Wednesday.
In a remarkable change of policy direction, Mr Kenny announced on Saturday that he was committing the party to the abolition of the Seanad; to reducing the number of TDs by 20 or more; and to introducing a “list” system for electing some 20 Dáil deputies. The announcement was met by modest applause from the 1,200 members at the Fine Gael presidential dinner in Citywest, Dublin.
The Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, yesterday appeared to lend support to Mr Kenny’s position. Asked on RTÉ if there was still a role for the Seanad, he replied: “I’m not really sure that there is at this stage. There’s certainly not a role for it in the way that it’s elected at the moment with the various panels that people are not familiar with.”
Taoiseach Brian Cowen was more guarded, indicating he did not support outright abolition of the Seanad.
The vast majority of Fine Gael Senators and TDs said they learned of the new policy only hours before the announcement. A number of Senators expressed shock and upset at the manner in which it was announced without prior consultation with the parliamentary party. And several, notably Senators John Paul Phelan, Paudie Coffey, Nicky McFadden and Maurice Cummins, said they were opposed to the decision.
Mr Phelan said he was “shocked” by the development. “There had not been any debate within the party since we had the last discussion on reforming the Seanad. It’s a bit of a bolt from the blue.”
Ms McFadden said she profoundly disagreed with abolition. “I will bring it up at the parliamentary party. I have already made my feelings well known,” she said. Mr Cummins said he was upset at the manner in which it announced.
The development effectively reverses a policy paper on Seanad reform published by Mr Kenny only seven months ago. Then Mr Kenny suggested that 20 senators be elected in direct elections and that all graduates, not just those of TCD or the NUI, should be entitled to elect the six university senators.
A number of TDs, speaking on the basis of anonymity, also said it was their impression that the development was a “knee-jerk” response to the perception that Mr Kenny had been outflanked by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore in dealing with the situation of former ceann comhairle John O’Donoghue. They said that they would challenge the basis of the new policy position at the party’s parliamentary party meeting.
One Fine Gael spokesman denied that the policy was an attempt to regain the political initiative from Labour. Senior figures in the party rowed in behind Mr Kenny’s stance yesterday. Deputy leader Richard Bruton, Phil Hogan, Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney all made strong public statements of support. Significantly, some of the party’s most prominent Senators, including its Seanad leader Frances Fitzgerald, Paschal Donohoe and Liam Twomey, also expressed their approval.