15th Seanad

The 15th Seanad was in office from 1981 to 1982. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1981 general election to the 22nd Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 16th Seanad.

15th Seanad
← 14th Seanad 16th Seanad →
Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	8 October 1981 – 16 April 1982
Government	17th government of Ireland
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	Charles McDonald (FG)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Séamus Dolan (FF)
Leader of the Seanad	Gemma Hussey (FG)

Cathaoirleach

On 8 October 1981, Charles McDonald (FG) was proposed as Cathaoirleach by Gemma Hussey (FG) and seconded by Michael Ferris (Lab). He was elected without a division.^[1]

On 9 October 1981, Séamus Dolan (FF) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Eoin Ryan (FF) and seconded by William Ryan (FF). He was elected without a division.^[2]

Composition of the 15th 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 15th Seanad first met on 8 October 1981.

Origin Party		Vocational panels					NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
		Admin	Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fianna Fáil	3	5	2	4	5	0	0	0	19
	Fine Gael	3	5	2	4	5	1	0	6	26
	Labour Party	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	4	10
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	5
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
Katharine Bulbulia	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Micheál Cranitch	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Tras Honan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick Kennedy	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Jimmy Leonard	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Flor O'Mahony	Administrative Panel		Labour
Myles Staunton	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Richard Bruton	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Pierce Butler	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Michael Ferris	Agricultural Panel		Labour
Tom Fitzgerald	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Thomas Hussey	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Rory Kiely	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
John Mannion	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Charles McDonald	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Liam Naughten	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Martin O'Toole	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
William Ryan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patsy Lawlor	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael
Maurice Manning	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Timothy McAuliffe	Cultural and Educational Panel		Labour
Mary O'Rourke	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Joe Walsh	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Deirdre Bolger	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Barry Cogan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Seán Fallon	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Alexis FitzGerald	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Michael Howard	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Mick Lanigan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Ruairi Quinn	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Patrick J. Reynolds	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Eoin Ryan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
John Blennerhassett	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Toddie Byrne	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Donal Carey	Labour Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
Séamus Dolan	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Des Hanafin	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Harte	Labour Panel		Labour
Brian Hillery	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Dan Kiely	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Brian Mullooly	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Andy O'Brien	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Maurice O'Connell	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Gemma Hussey	National University of Ireland		Fine Gael	Elected to 23rd Dáil at general election on 18 February 1982[3]
John A. Murphy	National University of Ireland		Independent
Brendan Ryan	National University of Ireland		Independent
Catherine McGuinness	Dublin University		Independent
Mary Robinson	Dublin University		Labour
Shane Ross	Dublin University		Independent
Ulick Burke	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
John F. Carroll	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Timmy Conway	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
James Dooge	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Patrick Dunne	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Robert Fausset	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Jim Higgins	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Miriam Kearney	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Pat Magner	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Seán O'Leary	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
T. K. Whitaker	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent

Changes

Date	Panel	Loss		Gain		Note
18 February 1982	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Jimmy Leonard elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael			Richard Bruton elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael			Liam Naughten elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael			Maurice Manning elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil			Joe Walsh elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael			Alexis FitzGerald elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour			Ruairi Quinn elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Labour Panel		Fine Gael			Donal Carey elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil			Séamus Dolan elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]
18 February 1982	National University		Fine Gael			Gemma Hussey elected to 23rd Dáil at general election[3]