# Higher Education (Seanad constituency)

The Higher Education constituency is a future university constituency with an electorate comprising graduates of institutions of higher education in the Republic of Ireland which will elect six members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). The constituency will replace the separate three-seat Dublin University and National University of Ireland constituencies at the next Seanad general election, which will follow the next general election to Dáil Éireann (the lower house), due by January 2030.

## Background

From 1937, the Constitution of Ireland provided that of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, three were to be elected by the National University of Ireland (NUI) and three were to be elected by Dublin University. This was regulated by the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937. In 1979 when the dissolution of the NUI was being considered, the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution was approved which permitted the enfranchisement of any other institutions of higher education in the State, in substitution for the number provided, and allowing the dissolution of the NUI or the University of Dublin. Plans to dissolve the NUI ultimately did not progress, instead reforms made the NUI a federal university, and no amendment was made to the legislation to enfranchise any other institution.
In 2020, Tomás Heneghan, a graduate of the University of Limerick, challenged his exclusion from the Seanad franchise. In November 2021, the High Court dismissed his claim. On appeal, in March 2023, the Supreme Court found that the limitation of the franchise in sections 6 and 7 of 1937 Act was unconstitutional. In a separate judgment in July 2023, it suspended the declaration of invalidity to 31 May 2025.
Under the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Act 2024, at any Seanad general election held after 31 March 2025, a new constituency named Higher Education will elect six senators.

## Franchise

A person shall be entitled to be registered as an elector in the register of electors if he or she:
* (a) has been awarded a degree by, or obtained a degree from, an institution that is a designated institution, or an institution that has been dissolved and the functions of which have been transferred to an institution that is a designated institution,
* (b) is a citizen of Ireland, and
* (c) has attained the age of eighteen years.
There is no requirement to be resident in Ireland, so electors living outside Ireland may vote. The first register of electors for this constituency will come into effect on 1 April 2025. The registration authority is the National University of Ireland and the deadline to register to vote for the first register of electors was on 23 January 2025. Those registered on the Dublin University and National University constituencies will not be auto-enrolled onto the Higher Education register of electors and must apply for registration as electors in the new constituency.
From 2026 onwards the voter registration deadline will be 26 February each year with the register coming into effect on 1 June. There is no supplementary register provided for in the legislation.