# 24th Seanad

The 24th Seanad was in office from 2011 to 2016. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 2011 general election to the 31st Dáil on 25 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels by serving politicians, for which polling closed on 26 April; 6 were elected in two university constituencies, for which polling closed on 27 April; and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach (Enda Kenny) on 20 May 2011. The 24th Seanad first met at Leinster House on 25 May 2011. It remained in office until the close of poll for the 25th Seanad in April 2016.

## Cathaoirleach

On 25 May 2011, Paddy Burke (FG) was elected as the new Cathaoirleach of the Seanad. On 1 June 2011, Denis O'Donovan (FF) was elected as Leas-Cathaoirleach.

## Composition of the 24th Seanad

There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on the vocational panels, 6 were elected by universities and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach.
The following table shows the composition by party when the 24th Seanad first met on 25 May 2011.
| OriginParty | OriginParty | Vocational panels | Vocational panels | Vocational panels | Vocational panels | Vocational panels | NUI | DU | Nominated | Total | Total |
| OriginParty | OriginParty | Admin | Agri | Cult & Educ | Ind & Comm | Labour | NUI | DU | Nominated | Total | Total |
| | Fine Gael | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
| | Labour | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| | Sinn Féin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| | Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 12 | |
| Total | Total | 7 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 60 | |

### Effect of changes

This table shows the political composition of the 24th Seanad at the start and the end of its term.
| | | May 2011 | Feb. 2016 |
| | Fine Gael | 19 | 15 |
| | Fianna Fáil | 14 | 10 |
| | Labour | 12 | 11 |
| | Sinn Féin | 3 | 2 |
| | Renua | — | 1 |
| | Social Democrats | — | 1 |
| | Independent | 12 | 13 |
| | Vacant | — | 7 |
| Total | Total | 60 | 60 |

## List of senators

* Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics
| Name | Panel | Party | Notes |
| Martin Conway | Administrative Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Mark Daly | Administrative Panel | Fianna Fáil | Lost the Fianna Fáil party whip in December 2014. Re-gained the party whip in February 2015. |
| Michael W. D'Arcy | Administrative Panel | Fine Gael | Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |
| John Kelly | Administrative Panel | Labour | |
| Denis Landy | Administrative Panel | Labour | |
| Tom Sheahan | Administrative Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Diarmuid Wilson | Administrative Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Paul Bradford | Agricultural Panel | Fine Gael | Lost the Fine Gael party whip in July 2013. Joined Renua in March 2015. |
| Paddy Burke | Agricultural Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Michael Comiskey | Agricultural Panel | Fine Gael | |
| James Heffernan | Agricultural Panel | Labour | Lost the Labour Party whip in December 2012. Joined the Social Democrats in September 2015. |
| Paschal Mooney | Agricultural Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Trevor Ó Clochartaigh | Agricultural Panel | Sinn Féin | |
| Brian Ó Domhnaill | Agricultural Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Denis O'Donovan | Agricultural Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Susan O'Keeffe | Agricultural Panel | Labour | |
| Pat O'Neill | Agricultural Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Jim Walsh | Agricultural Panel | Fianna Fáil | Resigned the Fianna Fáil party whip in March 2015 |
| Thomas Byrne | Cultural and Educational Panel | Fianna Fáil | Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |
| Deirdre Clune | Cultural and Educational Panel | Fine Gael | Resigned from the Seanad in May 2014 after being elected to the European Parliament |
| John Gilroy | Cultural and Educational Panel | Labour | |
| Michael Mullins | Cultural and Educational Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Labhrás Ó Murchú | Cultural and Educational Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Gerard Craughwell | Cultural and Educational Panel | Independent | Elected in a by-election on 10 October 2014, replacing Deirdre Clune |
| Colm Burke | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Paul Coghlan | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Jimmy Harte | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Labour | Resigned from the Seanad in September 2015 |
| Imelda Henry | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Marc MacSharry | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fianna Fáil | Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |
| Catherine Noone | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Averil Power | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fianna Fáil | Resigned from Fianna Fáil in May 2015 |
| Kathryn Reilly | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Sinn Féin | |
| Mary White | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Máiría Cahill | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Labour | Elected in a by-election on 13 November 2015, replacing Jimmy Harte. |
| Terry Brennan | Labour Panel | Fine Gael | |
| David Cullinane | Labour Panel | Sinn Féin | Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |
| Maurice Cummins | Labour Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Fidelma Healy Eames | Labour Panel | Fine Gael | Lost the Fine Gael party whip in July 2013 |
| Cáit Keane | Labour Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Terry Leyden | Labour Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| Marie Moloney | Labour Panel | Labour | |
| Tony Mulcahy | Labour Panel | Fine Gael | |
| Darragh O'Brien | Labour Panel | Fianna Fáil | Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |
| Ned O'Sullivan | Labour Panel | Fianna Fáil | |
| John Whelan | Labour Panel | Labour | |
| John Crown | National University of Ireland | Independent | |
| Rónán Mullen | National University of Ireland | Independent | |
| Feargal Quinn | National University of Ireland | Independent | |
| Ivana Bacik | Dublin University | Labour | |
| Sean Barrett | Dublin University | Independent | |
| David Norris | Dublin University | Independent | |
| Eamonn Coghlan | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | Joined Fine Gael on 7 February 2012 |
| Jim D'Arcy | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Fine Gael | |
| Aideen Hayden | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Labour | |
| Lorraine Higgins | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Labour | |
| Fiach Mac Conghail | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | |
| Martin McAleese | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | Resigned from the Seanad on 5 February 2013 |
| Mary Moran | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Labour | |
| Mary Ann O'Brien | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | |
| Marie-Louise O'Donnell | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | |
| Jillian van Turnhout | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | |
| Katherine Zappone | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |
| Hildegarde Naughton | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Fine Gael | Appointed on 19 July 2013, replacing Martin McAleese. Elected to Dáil at the 2016 general election |

## Changes

| Date | Panel | Loss | Gain | Note |
| 7 February 2012 | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | Fine Gael | Eamonn Coghlan joins Fine Gael |
| 21 December 2012 | Agricultural Panel | Labour | Independent | James Heffernan loses the parliamentary Labour Party whip |
| 5 February 2013 | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | | Martin McAleese resigns from the Seanad |
| 16 July 2013 | Labour Panel | Fine Gael | Independent | Fidelma Healy Eames loses the Fine Gael party whip for voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 |
| 16 July 2013 | Agricultural Panel | Fine Gael | Independent | Paul Bradford loses the Fine Gael party whip for voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 |
| 19 July 2013 | Nominated by the Taoiseach | | Fine Gael | Hildegarde Naughton appointed to replace Martin McAleese |
| 27 May 2014 | Cultural and Educational Panel | Fine Gael | | Deirdre Clune resigns from the Seanad after being elected to the European Parliament. |
| 10 October 2014 | Cultural and Educational Panel | | Independent | Gerard Craughwell wins by-election to replace Deirdre Clune |
| 21 December 2014 | Administrative Panel | Fianna Fáil | Independent | Mark Daly loses the Fianna Fáil party whip on Water Services Bill |
| 3 February 2015 | Administrative Panel | Independent | Fianna Fáil | Mark Daly re-gains the Fianna Fáil party whip |
| 13 March 2015 | Agricultural Panel | Independent | Renua | Paul Bradford joins Renua on its foundation |
| 26 March 2015 | Agricultural Panel | Fianna Fáil | Independent | Jim Walsh resigns the Fianna Fáil party whip in opposition to the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015 and the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015 |
| 25 May 2015 | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fianna Fáil | Independent | Averil Power resigns from Fianna Fáil |
| 3 September 2015 | Agricultural Panel | Independent | Social Democrats | James Heffernan joins the Social Democrats |
| 23 September 2015 | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Labour | | Jimmy Harte resigns from the Seanad |
| 13 November 2015 | Industrial and Commercial Panel | | Labour | Máiría Cahill elected in by-election |
| 26 February 2016 | Cultural and Educational Panel | Fianna Fáil | | Thomas Byrne elected to the 32nd Dáil |
| 26 February 2016 | Labour Panel | Sinn Féin | | David Cullinane elected to the 32nd Dáil |
| 26 February 2016 | Administrative Panel | Fine Gael | | Michael D'Arcy elected to the 32nd Dáil |
| 26 February 2016 | Industrial and Commercial Panel | Fianna Fáil | | Marc MacSharry elected to the 32nd Dáil |
| 26 February 2016 | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Fine Gael | | Hildegarde Naughton elected to the 32nd Dáil |
| 26 February 2016 | Labour Panel | Fianna Fáil | | Darragh O'Brien elected to the 32nd Dáil |
| 26 February 2016 | Nominated by the Taoiseach | Independent | | Katherine Zappone elected to the 32nd Dáil |