Abolishing Seanad Éireann

[nwhyte]

Enda Kenny, the leader of the opposition in Ireland, has been getting headlines for his pledge yesterday to abolish the upper house of the Irish parliament if he wins the next election (as seems increasingly inevitable

Comments

[natural20]

As always, a wonderfully interesting post, thank you. I do disagree with your conclusion as I do see the worth in a Seanad that is not elected by popular vote, rather by relevant groups, so I would argue strongly for reform rather than abolition. Both olethros and mikecosgrave put forth positions that I agree with. As a graduate of the University of Dublin it can be argued that I have a vested interest in keeping my Seanad vote, but I do feel the Upper House could serve a very useful purpose with sensible reform, something that may not be a bad idea for the Lower House as well.

My reaction to the plan is also tempered by the fact that Enda is playing populist politics, when I really feel he should be raising himself to a new level, not doing what Bertie and Charlie and the rest of that shower have done in the past. Sadly he's likely to win the next election unless he suddenly proposes killing every first born and even then I wouldn't be entirely sure. He has an amazing chance to raise the level of public debate, instead he's doing this.

[marginal_jc]

I was led here by natural20. I haven't made up my mind either way on Kenny's proposal, but your history of our upper chamber is excellent.

[alacsony]

>it was a sop to Catholic social theorists and could be argued as having roots in Pius XI's Quadreagesimo Anno

The only other European country with a corporatist element in it's upper chamber is Slovenia. One has to wonder whether it's legacy of Catholic or Titoist theories there

>all manage perfectly well as unicameral states

Ukraine is the odd one out. Rada is a disaster and both Kuchma and Yuschenko have proposed adding a second chamber, albeit unsuccessfully

[inuitmonster]

If they abolished the Seanad, then the people who draft new laws would have to make more of an effort to get them right first time. You would be amazed at the number of laws that get amended by the government at every amending stage in both the Dáil and Seanad.