17th Seanad

The 17th Seanad was in office from 1983 to 1987. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the November 1982 general election to the 24th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 18th Seanad.

17th Seanad
← 16th Seanad 18th Seanad →
Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	23 February 1983 – 3 April 1987
Government	17th government
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	Patrick J. Reynolds (FG)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Tras Honan (FF)
Leader of the Seanad	James Dooge

Cathaoirleach

On 23 February 1983, Patrick J. Reynolds (FG) was proposed as Cathaoirleach by James Dooge (FG) and seconded by Seán O'Leary (FG). He was elected without a division.^[1]

On 9 March 1983, Tras Honan (FF) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Mick Lanigan (FF) and seconded by Thomas Hussey (FF). She was elected without a division.^[2]

Composition of the 17th 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 17th Seanad first met on 23 February 1983.

Origin Party		Vocational panels					NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
		Admin	Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fine Gael	3	5	2	4	5	1	0	5	25
	Fianna Fáil	3	5	2	4	5	0	0	0	19
	Labour Party	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	10
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	6
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
Luke Belton	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Katharine Bulbulia	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Tras Honan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick Kennedy	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Michael Lynch	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Martin O'Donoghue	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Flor O'Mahony	Administrative Panel		Labour
Ulick Burke	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
John Ellis	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Michael Ferris	Agricultural Panel		Labour
Richard Hourigan	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Thomas Hussey	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Rory Kiely	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Joseph Lennon	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Charles McDonald	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Martin O'Toole	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael Quealy	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
William Ryan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Séamus de Brún	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Brian Fleming	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael
Joachim Loughrey	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael
Helena McAuliffe-Ennis	Cultural and Educational Panel		Labour	Joined the Progressive Democrats in 1986[4]
Michael Smith	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Timmy Conway	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour	Joined the Progressive Democrats in 1986[5]
Jack Daly	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Seán Fallon	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Alexis FitzGerald	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Jack Fitzsimons	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael Howard	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Mick Lanigan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick J. Reynolds	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Eoin Ryan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Donie Cassidy	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Denis Cregan	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Des Hanafin	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Harte	Labour Panel		Labour
Jim Higgins	Labour Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Brian Hillery	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Peter Kelleher	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Mark Killilea	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Larry McMahon	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Brian Mullooly	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Andy O'Brien	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
James Dooge	National University of Ireland		Fine Gael	Leader of the Seanad
Michael D. Higgins	National University of Ireland		Labour	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Brendan Ryan	National University of Ireland		Independent
Catherine McGuinness	Dublin University		Independent
Mary Robinson	Dublin University		Labour
Shane Ross	Dublin University		Independent
John Browne	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
John Connor	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Jimmy Deenihan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Patrick Durcan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Brendan Howlin	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour	Elected to the 25th Dáil at the general election on 17 February 1987[3]
Christy Kirwan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Pat Magner	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Stephen McGonagle	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
Seán O'Leary	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
John Robb	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
Bríd Rodgers	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
Nuala Fennell	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Nominated on 20 February 1987 to fill vacancy after the general election[6]
Paddy O'Toole	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Nominated on 20 February 1987 to fill vacancy after the general election[6]

Changes

Date	Panel	Loss		Gain		Note
9 February 1983	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil		Independent	Martin O'Donoghue resigns from parliamentary party after opposition to leader emerged from Irish phone tapping scandal[7]
18 November 1985	Dublin University		Labour		Independent	Mary Robinson resigns in disagreement over Anglo-Irish Agreement[8]
4 January 1986	Cultural and Educational Panel		Labour		Progressive Democrats	Helena McAuliffe-Ennis changes party[4][9]
17 April 1986	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour		Progressive Democrats	Timmy Conway changes party[5]
January 1987	Administrative Panel		Independent		Progressive Democrats	Martin O'Donoghue joins party[10]
17 February 1987	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Michael Lynch elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
17 February 1987	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			John Ellis elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
17 February 1987	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil			Michael Smith elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
17 February 1987	Labour Panel		Fine Gael			Jim Higgins elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
17 February 1987	National University		Labour			Michael D. Higgins elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
17 February 1987	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael			Jimmy Deenihan elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
17 February 1987	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour			Brendan Howlin elected to the 25th Dáil at the 1987 general election[3]
20 February 1987	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fine Gael	Nuala Fennell nominated to fill vacancy after the general election[6]
20 February 1987	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fine Gael	Paddy O'Toole nominated to fill vacancy after the general election[6]