14th Seanad explained

The 14th Seanad was in office from 1977 to 1981. An election to 43 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) took place in August 1977, following the 1977 general election to the 21st Dáil.^[1] The remaining 11 seats were occupied by nominees of Jack Lynch as Taoiseach.^[2]

The senators served until the close of poll for the 15th Seanad in 1981.

Cathaoirleach

On 27 October 1977, Séamus Dolan (FF) was proposed as Cathaoirleach by Eoin Ryan (FF) and seconded by Michael Yeats (FF). He was elected without a division.^[3]

On 2 November 1977, Joe McCartin (FG) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Patrick Cooney (FG) and seconded by Alexis FitzGerald (FG). He was elected without a division.^[4] McCartin was elected for Connacht–Ulster at the 1979 European Parliament election. He retained his seat in the Seanad, but resigned as Leas-Chathaoirleach on 12 July 1979.^[5] On 18 July 1979, Charles McDonald (FG) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Patrick Cooney (FG) and seconded by Michael Howard (FG). He was elected without a division.^[6]

Composition of the 14th Seanad

There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels, 6 were elected from two university constituencies and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach.

Two of the Taoiseach's nominees joined Fianna Fáil before the first sitting of the Seanad.^[7]

The following table shows the composition by party when the 14th Seanad first met on 27 October 1977.

Vocational panels	NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
Admin						Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fianna Fáil	4	5	2	4	5	0	0	9	29
		3	5	2	4	4	0	0	0	18
		0	1	1	1	2	0	1	0	6
		0	0	0	0	0	3	2	2	7
Total		7	11	5	9	11	3	3	11	60

External links

• Web site: 14th Seanad. Oireachtas Members Database. 2 February 2008.
• Web site: 14th Seanad. Oireachtas Debates.

Notes and References

1. News: Senate election results. 20 August 1977. The Irish Times. 5. 2 February 2008. 9 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121009074158/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1977/0820/Pg005.html. live.
2. News: Taoiseach takes chance with FF majority in Senate . 26 August 1977. The Irish Times. 1. 2 February 2008.
3. Web site: Election of Cathaoirleach. Seanad Debates – Vol. 87 No. 1. 27 October 1977. 13 November 2024. 6 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220706054330/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1977-10-27/2/. live.
4. Web site: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach. Seanad Debates – Vol. 87 No. 2. 2 November 1977.
5. Web site: Resignation of Leas-Chathaoirleach. Seanad Debates – Vol. 92 No. 13. 17 July 1979.
6. Web site: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach. Seanad Debates – Vol. 92 No. 14. 18 July 1979.
7. News: Taoiseach's Senate nominees join Fianna Fáil. 20 October 1977. The Irish Times. 18. 2 February 2008. Two senators who were nominated by the Taoiseach, Lady Valerie Goulding and Mrs. Eileen Cassidy, have joined the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party. 9 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121009074301/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1977/1020/Pg018.html. live.