Bacik joins Norris and Ross in Seanad

Trinity panel:Prof Ivana Bacik was elected to the Seanad yesterday on the eighth count, joining Shane Ross and David Norris in the three-seat Trinity College constituency.

She finished almost 2,500 votes ahead of her nearest competitor, Dr Maurice Guéret, who had run on an independent platform to represent Trinity on scientific and health matters.

Prof Bacik, a Labour Party member who ran in the last European election, was endorsed by outgoing Senator Mary Henry who did not contest this election.

The Reid professor of law at Trinity, Prof Bacik follows in the footsteps of former president Mary Robinson, who represented the college in the Seanad for almost 20 years. President Mary McAleese was also Reid professor of law at Trinity.

Speaking after her election, Prof Bacik said she was delighted with the result which she said represented support for a "radical social agenda".

"It's a vote for furthering the unfinished business of the liberal agenda, such as legal recognition for gay partners, parental leave for fathers in the workplace, women's reproductive rights, as well as other issues such as criminal justice and prison reform," she said.

Although a member of the Labour Party, she has insisted she will not take the party whip in the Seanad in order to maintain the traditional independence of Trinity senators.

Among the first pieces of legislation she said she hoped to put before the Seanad will be a Climate Change Bill, which seeks to put in place enforceable Government targets for reducing carbon emissions.

It is Prof Bacik's third time contesting the Seanad election. She won 2,794 first preference votes on the first count, behind Shane Ross - who was elected with 5,379 votes - and David Norris - who was elected with 5,240 votes. Ms Bacik received the majority of transfers in the distribution of surplus votes from both candidates.

Transfers from the elimination of David Hutchinson Edgar, who has served on the national council for the Green Party, eventually saw her exceed the quota of 4,230 votes on the eighth count. Dr Maurice Guéret finished on the eighth count with 1,828 votes, followed by Rosaleen McDonagh, who had hoped to become the first Traveller to be elected to the Oireachtas, with 1,168 votes.

Businessman Séan O'Connor, a grandson of former taoiseach Seán Lemass and nephew of the late Charles Haughey, finished with 889 votes. David Hutchinson Edgar, a lecturer who had the formal backing of the Green Party, was eliminated on the seventh count with 573 votes.