Labour vows to bring vigour to Seanad

The Labour Party yesterday pledged to play a vigorous role in opposition in the Seanad after its six new Senators met for the first time in Leinster House.

The Senators discussed with senior party members what their priorities would be in the new Seanad and discussed ways of giving the party a greater voice in the upper house.

Among the issues discussed was the possibility of forming a working arrangement with Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and other Senators which would provide the party with greater speaking rights, according to Labour Party sources.

In the next Seanad Labour will have its strongest ever presence in the the Upper House, with seats held by Dominic Hannigan (Meath East), Alan Kelly (Tipperary North), Michael McCarthy (Cork South West), Phil Prendergast (Tipperary South), Brendan Ryan (Dublin North) and Alex White (Dublin South).

Deputy leader Liz McManus said newly-elected representatives will have a major role in promoting party policy and acting as a watchdog over the Government. "They will be bringing new ideas to the Seanad as the strongest elected team ever," said Ms McManus.

"We also want to promote our own views, policies and legislation if needs be. We can maximise our role as an Opposition party." She said the Labour Party planned to co-operate closely with other Opposition parties in the new Oireachtas.

Dominic Hannigan, who was hotly tipped for a Dáil seat in the general election, said one of the party's priorities will be to form better links with councillors around the country. "One issue which has come up is that councillors would like to see more liaison between them and members of the Oireachtas, so we're going to examine ways of improving those lines of communication," he said.

Mr Hannigan added that although the Seanad has often been accused of being a debating chamber with little relevance to day-to-day life, he hoped this would change.

"I think we have a bunch of energetic, vigorous Senators. I think we can promise people that it will be a much livelier Seanad than what people are used to."