O'Rourke backs the campaign to save the Seanad

Former Minister and leader of the Seanad Mary O'Rourke has this week joined a campaign to save the Seanad from being abolished, saying that while reform of the Upper House is needed it is necessary to hold a full public debate on the issue. In a letter to The Irish Times on Monday, Ms O'Rourke joined forces with five other former members of the Seanad to call for debate on the issue, saying a reformed Seanad could play a valuable democratic and constitutional role. The other five signatories are TK Whitaker, Bríd Rogers, Maurice Hayes, John A. Murphy and Mary Henry. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this week, Ms O'Rourke said she had long championed reform of the Seanad. She pointed out that the six signatories were representative of a larger group calling for reform of the Seanad, rather than its abolition. Among the members of this group are barrister and commentator Noel Whelan, serving senators Feargal Quinn and Katherine Zappone, former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and former senator and president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Joe O'Toole. Mr O'Toole was part of a cross party Oireachtas committee headed by Ms O'Rourke, which published a report on Seanad reform in 2004, after Ms O'Rourke had initiated the process. Ms O'Rourke explained that she and the other former senators were approached by the wider group to lend their support to call for debate on Seanad reform. In Monday's letter to The Irish Times the six former senators stated that "rather than amend the Constitution to abolish the Seanad, it would be better to reform the Seanad's electoral law to empower citizens to become more directly involved, to continue and strengthen the presence in the Irish parliamentary process of voices and viewpoints that might not be heard if future parliamentarians only were to be elected to a single chamber solely on the basis of the present system of geographical multi-seat Dáil constituencies." They add that the Seanad can have a valuable democratic and constitutional role as a revising chamber and as a potential check and balance on the powers of a transient Dáil majority in many areas, such as safeguarding the independence of the President and judiciary. "While it is true that there has been justifiable public dissatisfaction with the effects of party political dominance in the Seanad, and while it is also true that reform of the Seanad has been more spoken about than acted on, we believe that a serious reform of the Seanad done in time to take effect from the next general election would be greatly preferable to simple abolition entailing, as that would, more than 70 separate amendments to the Constitution including the deletion of entire articles," the letter states. They add that they are not in favour of "holding any referendum solely to abolish the Seanad in isolation from broader constitutional proposals to reform the Oireachtas, including Dáil Éireann". They say the Seanad has enhanced, rather than diminished, Irish democracy and add: "We believe that if the Seanad's electoral system were reformed, it could add to the standing of democratic politics in the eyes of the people and to the effectiveness of the Oireachtas." The letter concludes with the six saying: "We would welcome, and indeed urge, a considered, inclusive and informed public debate on the Seanad, its functions and its reform, before consideration of any constitutional proposal for its abolition."