The Seanad election campaign may be in full swing but the focus of the three big political parties is very much on how their chosen candidates might fare in future general elections.
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin have nominated candidates they hope will win seats in key Dáil constituencies in the future.
There are two ways to get nominated for the 43 seats on the Seanad vocational panels: Candidates can either receive a so-called “inside” nomination from four Oireachtas members or they can be nominated from “outside” professional nominating bodies representing various sectors of society.
Fine Gael’s strategy has been to nominate candidates it believes have a realistic prospect of eventually winning a Dáil seat.
Ireland weather: Status orange ice warning comes into effect for most of country
John McManus: WRC ruling is final nail in coffin of the right to remote working
Los Angeles wildfires: At least two killed and 70,000 told to leave as blazes rage
Malachy Clerkin: Whatever anyone thinks about Rory Gallagher, the GAA president should not be influencing Naas GAA’s coaching choices
As a result, some outgoing Senators like Cork South-West-based Tim Lombard and Limerick City-based Maria Byrne — who have both been unsuccessful in Dáil attempts — are among those who needed “outside” nominations to get on the ballot paper.
Mr Lombard’s general election running mate Cllr Noel O’Donovan got an “inside” nomination amid Fine Gael’s focus on constituencies like Cork South-West where it has no TD. The party has also used nominations to target constituencies where it believes a second or third Dáil seat could be won.
[ Q&A: How the Seanad election worksOpens in new window ]
Fianna Fáil have made fewer inside nominations but again they are predominantly for politicians it hopes can win Dáil seats such as Cllrs Teresa Costello and Imelda Goldsboro in Dublin South-West and Tipperary South respectively.
Former TDs Joe Flaherty from Longford-Westmeath and Anne Rabbitte from Galway East who lost their Dáil seats in November have also been nominated.
Sinn Féin has thrown its weight behind candidates including two former TDs — Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South) and Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan) — and unsuccessful candidates in places where the party will hope to win seats: Joanne Collins (Limerick County), Maria McCormack (Laois) and Nicole Ryan (Cork North-West).
Back catalogue: what is neoliberalism - and is it over?
There was also the surprise nomination of Stormont Minister Conor Murphy.
Two other Sinn Féin members — outgoing Senator Paul Gavan and Dublin city Cllr Daithí Doolan — received outside nominations from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. They were not among the Seanad candidates promoted by Sinn Féin in social media posts on Monday.
On Tuesday Mr Gavan announced that he has decided not to actively contest the Seanad election.
Mr Doolan, meanwhile, highlighted his more than two decades of trade union work and said he is “confident this will attract support beyond Sinn Féin.”
A Sinn Féin spokesman said of the situation: “Our aim is to return a strong Sinn Féin team [to the Seanad] to join our 39 TDs.”
The Seanad electorate is predominantly made up of local authority councillors who will not necessarily heed who has the apparent backing of party headquarters.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
