12th Seanad

The 12th Seanad was in office from 1969 to 1973. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1969 general election to the 19th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 13th Seanad in 1973.

12th Seanad
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Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	5 November 1969 – 30 March 1973
Government	13th government of Ireland
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	Michael Yeats (FF) (1969–1973) Micheál Cranitch (FF) (1973)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	James Dooge (FG)
Leader of the Seanad	Thomas Mullins (FF)

Composition of the 12th Seanad

There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels, 6 were elected from two university constituencies and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach.

The following table shows the composition by party when the 12th Seanad first met on 5 November 1969.

Origin Party		Vocational panels					NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
		Admin	Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fianna Fáil	3	4	3	4	4	0	0	9	27
	Fine Gael	3	5	2	3	3	0	0	0	16
	Labour Party	0	1	0	1	3	1	0	0	6
	Independent	1	1	0	1	1	2	3	2	11
Total		7	11	5	9	11	3	3	11	60

Cathaoirleach

On 5 November 1969, Michael Yeats (FF) was proposed for the position of Cathaoirleach by Thomas Mullins (FF) and seconded by John J. Nash (FF). He was elected with Mary Robinson (Ind) and Owen Sheehy-Skeffington (Ind) dissenting.^[1]

On 12 November 1969, James Dooge (FG) was proposed for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach by Michael O'Higgins (FG) and seconded by Charles McDonald (FG). He was elected unopposed.^[2]

On 1 January 1973, Yeats resigned as Cathaoirleach on his appointment as a member of the Irish delegation in the European Parliament.^[3] On 1 January 1973, in the election of a new Cathaoirleach, Micheál Cranitch (FF) was proposed Thomas Mullins (FF) and seconded by Kit Ahern (FF). James Dooge was proposed by Michael O'Higgins (FG) and seconded by Charles McDonald (FG). Cranitch was elected by a vote of 28 to 14.^[4]

List of senators

• Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics

Name	Panel	Party		Notes
Liam Ahern	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Richard Belton	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Patrick Fitzsimons	Administrative Panel		Independent
Jack Garrett	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick Malone	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 19th Dáil at a by-election on 14 April 1970[6]
Patrick Norton	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick J. Reynolds	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Seán Keegan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 16 June 1970, replacing Patrick Malone[7]
Pierce Butler	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
John Doyle	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Fitzgerald	Agricultural Panel		Labour
John Mannion	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
James Martin	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Died on 3 October 1969[8]
Charles McDonald	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Patrick McGowan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Andy O'Brien	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Micheál Prendergast	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Patrick W. Ryan	Agricultural Panel		Independent
William Ryan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Cornelius O'Callaghan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 24 February 1970, replacing James Martin[9]
Kit Ahern	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
John Kelly	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
John J. Nash	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael O'Higgins	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael
Michael Yeats	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Ruairí Brugha	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Eileen Desmond	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
James Dooge	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Denis Farrelly	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Alexis FitzGerald	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Dermot Honan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Bernard McGlinchey	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Ted Russell	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Independent
Eoin Ryan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
John Boland	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Seán Brosnahan	Labour Panel		Independent
Jimmy Dunne	Labour Panel		Labour	Died on 23 February 1972[10]
Joseph Farrell	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Des Hanafin	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Fintan Kennedy	Labour Panel		Labour
Mark Killilea	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael Lyons	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
William O'Brien	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Evelyn Owens	Labour Panel		Labour
Seán Walsh	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Bryan Alton	National University of Ireland		Independent
John Horgan	National University of Ireland		Labour
Patrick Quinlan	National University of Ireland		Independent
William J. E. Jessop	Dublin University		Independent
Mary Bourke	Dublin University		Independent
Owen Sheehy-Skeffington	Dublin University		Independent	Died on 7 June 1970[11]
Trevor West	Dublin University		Independent	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 19 November 1970, replacing Owen Sheehy-Skeffington[12]
John J. Brennan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Micheál Cranitch	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Brendan Crinion	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 20th Dáil at the general election on 28 February 1973[5]
Peggy Farrell	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Thomas Flanagan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
Michael Gallanagh	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Neville Keery	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Farrell McElgunn	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Thomas Mullins	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Terence O'Sullivan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
William Sheldon	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent

Changes

Date	Panel	Loss		Gain		Note
3 October 1969	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			Death of James Martin[8][13]
24 February 1970	Agricultural Panel				Fianna Fáil	Cornelius O'Callaghan elected at a by-election to succeed James Martin[9]
14 April 1970	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael			Patrick Malone elected to Dáil Éireann at a by-election[6][14]
7 June 1970	Dublin University		Independent			Death of Owen Sheehy-Skeffington[11][15]
16 June 1970	Administrative Panel				Fianna Fáil	Seán Keegan elected at a by-election to succeed Patrick Malone[7]
19 November 1970	Dublin University				Independent	Trevor West elected at a by-election to succeed Owen Sheehy-Skeffington[12]
23 February 1972	Labour Panel		Labour			Death of Jimmy Dunne[10][16]
28 February 1973	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Liam Ahern elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil			Ruairí Brugha elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil			Brendan Crinion elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil			Eileen Desmond elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil			Joseph Farrell elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil			John Kelly elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			Charles McDonald elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Patrick J. Reynolds elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]
28 February 1973	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil			Seán Walsh elected to the 20th Dáil at the 1973 general election[5]