14th Seanad

The 14th Seanad was in office from 1977 to 1981. An election to 43 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) took place in August 1977, following the 1977 general election to the 21st Dáil.^[1] The remaining 11 seats were occupied by nominees of Jack Lynch as Taoiseach.^[2]

14th Seanad
← 13th Seanad 15th Seanad →
Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	27 October 1977 – 16 July 1981
Government	15th government of Ireland (1977–1979) 16th government of Ireland (1979–1981)
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	Séamus Dolan (FF)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Joe McCartin (FG) (1977–1979) Charles McDonald (FG) (1979–1981)
Leader of the Seanad	Eoin Ryan (FF)

The senators served until the close of poll for the 15th Seanad in 1981.

Cathaoirleach

On 27 October 1977, Séamus Dolan (FF) was proposed as Cathaoirleach by Eoin Ryan (FF) and seconded by Michael Yeats (FF). He was elected without a division.^[3]

On 2 November 1977, Joe McCartin (FG) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Patrick Cooney (FG) and seconded by Alexis FitzGerald (FG). He was elected without a division.^[4] McCartin was elected for Connacht–Ulster at the 1979 European Parliament election. He retained his seat in the Seanad, but resigned as Leas-Chathaoirleach on 12 July 1979.^[5] On 18 July 1979, Charles McDonald (FG) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Patrick Cooney (FG) and seconded by Michael Howard (FG). He was elected without a division.^[6]

Composition of the 14th 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.

Two of the Taoiseach's nominees joined Fianna Fáil before the first sitting of the Seanad.^[7]

The following table shows the composition by party when the 14th Seanad first met on 27 October 1977.

Origin Party		Vocational panels					NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
		Admin	Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fianna Fáil	4	5	2	4	5	0	0	9	29
	Fine Gael	3	5	2	4	4	0	0	0	18
	Labour Party	0	1	1	1	2	0	1	0	6
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	2	7
Total		7	11	5	9	11	3	3	11	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
Liam Burke	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to 21st Dáil at a by-election on 6 November 1979[8]
Micheál Cranitch	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Garrett	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Died on 11 September 1977[9]
Tras Honan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Thomas Kilbride	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Michael P. Kitt	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Myles Staunton	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Michael Donnelly	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 7 December 1977, following the death of Jack Garrett[11]
Jim Doolan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Seanad at a by-election in April 1980, following the election of Liam Burke to the Dáil[12]
Pierce Butler	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Paul Connaughton	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
John Ellis	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Justin Keating	Agricultural Panel		Labour
Rory Kiely	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Gerard Lynch	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Joe McCartin	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Charles McDonald	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Patrick McGowan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Martin O'Toole	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
William Ryan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Richard Conroy	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick Cooney	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Flor Crowley	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Timothy McAuliffe	Cultural and Educational Panel		Labour
David Molony	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Ruairí Brugha	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Alexis FitzGerald	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Desmond Governey	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Michael Howard	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Liam Hyland	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Mick Lanigan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael Moynihan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Patrick J. Reynolds	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Eoin Ryan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
John Blennerhassett	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Séamus Dolan	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Joseph Dowling	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Des Hanafin	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Harte	Labour Panel		Labour
Tony Herbert	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Brian Hillery	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Fintan Kennedy	Labour Panel		Labour
Michael Lyons	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Bernard Markey	Labour Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Andy O'Brien	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Gemma Hussey	National University of Ireland		Independent
Augustine Martin	National University of Ireland		Independent
John A. Murphy	National University of Ireland		Independent
Conor Cruise O'Brien	Dublin University		Independent	Resigned from the Seanad on 13 June 1979[13]
Catherine McGuinness	Dublin University		Independent	Elected at a by-election on 11 December 1979, following the resignation of Conor Cruise O'Brien[14]
Mary Robinson	Dublin University		Labour
Trevor West	Dublin University		Independent
Séamus Brennan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Séamus de Brún	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Eileen Cassidy	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Valerie Goulding	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Mary Harney	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 22nd Dáil at the general election on 11 June 1981[10]
Valentine Jago	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Gordon Lambert	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
P. J. Mara	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Nominated on 16 July 1981 to fill vacancy after 1981 general election[15]
Bernard McGlinchey	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Noel Mulcahy	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Joseph O'Neill	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Nominated on 16 July 1981 to fill vacancy after 1981 general election[15]
Jim Ruttle	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Nominated on 20 June 1980 to fill vacancy created by the resignation of Michael Yeats[16]
T. K. Whitaker	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
Michael Yeats	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Resigned from the Seanad on 12 March 1980[17]

Changes

Date	Panel	Loss		Gain		Note
11 September 1977	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Death of Jack Garrett[9][18]
7 December 1977	Administrative Panel				Fianna Fáil	Michael Donnelly elected at a by-election after death of Jack Garrett[11]
13 June 1979	Dublin University		Independent			Resignation of Conor Cruise O'Brien due to position as editor of The Observer[13][19]
6 November 1979	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael			Liam Burke elected to 21st Dáil at a by-election[8][20]
11 December 1979	Dublin University				Independent	Catherine McGuinness elected at a by-election to replace Conor Cruise O'Brien[14]
12 March 1980	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil			Resignation of Michael Yeats to take office as Director General of the EEC Council of Ministers[17][21]
16 April 1980	Administrative Panel				Fianna Fáil	Jim Doolan elected at a by-election to replace Liam Burke[12]
20 June 1980	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fianna Fáil	Jim Ruttle nominated to repalace Michael Yeats[16]
11 June 1981	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Michael P. Kitt elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael			Paul Connaughton elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			John Ellis elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael			Joe McCartin elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael			Patrick Cooney elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil			Flor Crowley elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael			David Molony elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael			Desmond Governey elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil			Liam Hyland elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour			Michael Moynihan elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil			Séamus Dolan elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Labour Panel		Fine Gael			Bernard Markey elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil			Séamus Brennan elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
11 June 1981	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil			Mary Harney elected to the 22nd Dáil at the 1981 general election[10]
16 July 1981	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fianna Fáil	P. J. Mara nominated to fill vacancy after the 1981 general election[15]
16 July 1981	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fianna Fáil	Joseph O'Neill nominated to fill vacancy after the 1981 general election[15]
16 July 1981	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael			Resignation of Alexis FitzGerald on appointment as special advisor to government[22][23]

External links

• "14th Seanad". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
• "14th Seanad". Oireachtas Debates.