SEANAD ÉIREANN is composed of 60 members. Under the terms of the Constitution an election to the Seanad must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the Dáil.
The bulk of the senators – 43 – are elected by a constituency composed of serving politicians on local authorities, the members of the Dáil and the members of the outgoing Seanad.
The 1,073 voters in this constituency were entitled to complete five ballot papers, one for each of the vocational panels.
The panels are Cultural and Education (five seats), Agriculture (11 seats), Labour (11 seats), Industry and Commerce (nine seats), Public Administration (seven seats).
The 122 candidates contesting the five panels had to be nominated either by a recognised vocational body or by one of the main political parties.
A further six Seanad seats are filled by the votes of graduates from the National University of Ireland and Trinity College,
Dublin. Each university elects three senators.
The remaining 11 members of the Seanad are appointed by the Taoiseach, which ensures that the Government has a majority in the Upper House.
Under the Constitution, two senators can be appointed to the Government by the Taoiseach but this has only happened twice in the past 60 years.