Fianna Fáil Senator Pat Moylan was elected Cathaoirleach of the Seanad today during the Upper House's first session since the election.
Senator Moylan, who is from Co Offaly, is a close associate of Tánaiste Brian Cowen. He was first elected to the Seanad in 1997.
A former county council chairman and Offaly hurler, he has been in politics for 30 years, having been first elected to the Dáil in 1977.
He served as a minister of state on three occasions and is one of the few senators who succeeded in getting his own legislation passed, introducing a Private Members' Bill on wills and inheritance. Meanwhile, Senator Frances Fitzgerald has been elected Fine Gael Seanad leader while Labour Party representative for Dublin South Alex White took up his position as leader of the Labour Party Seanad group.
The Leas-Chathaoirleach position traditionally goes to the Opposition, and this will not be voted on until when the Seanad sits again at the end of the month.
