21st Seanad

The 21st Seanad was in office from 1997 to 2002. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1997 general election to the 28th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 22nd Seanad at the end of July 2002.

21st Seanad
← 20th Seanad 22nd Seanad →
Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	17 September 1997 – 26 June 2002
Government	25th government of Ireland
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	Brian Mullooly (FF)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Liam T. Cosgrave (FG)
Leader of the Seanad	Donie Cassidy (FF)

Cathaoirleach

On 17 September 1997, Brian Mullooly (FF) was proposed as Cathaoirleach by Donie Cassidy (FF) and seconded by Michael Finneran (FF). He was elected without a division.^[1]

On 18 September 1997, Liam T. Cosgrave (FG) was proposed as Leas-Chathaoirleach by Maurice Manning (FG) and seconded by Paddy Burke (FG). He was elected without a division.^[2]

Composition of the 21st Seanad

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

The following table shows the composition by party when the 21st Seanad first met on 17 September 1997.

Origin Party		Vocational panels					NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
		Admin	Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fianna Fáil	3	6	3	5	6	0	0	6	29
	Fine Gael	3	4	2	3	4	0	0	0	16
	Labour Party	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	4
	Progressive Democrats	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	1	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
Fintan Coogan	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Joe Costello	Administrative Panel		Labour	Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Joe Doyle	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Michael Finneran	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Camillus Glynn	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Tony Kett	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Fergus O'Dowd	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Paddy Burke	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Peter Callanan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
John Connor	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Avril Doyle	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Tom Hayes	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to Dáil at the Tipperary South by-election on 30 June 2001[4]
Rory Kiely	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Patrick McGowan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Died on 3 October 1999[5]
Pat Moylan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Francis O'Brien	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Kathleen O'Meara	Agricultural Panel		Labour
Jim Walsh	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Seán Ó Fearghaíl	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Seanad in a by-election on 2 June 2000;[6] Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
M. J. Nolan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the Seanad at a by-election on 18 December 2001;[7] Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Maurice Manning	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael
Paschal Mooney	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Labhrás Ó Murchú	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Ann Ormonde	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Madeleine Taylor-Quinn	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael
Eddie Bohan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Ernie Caffrey	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Paul Coghlan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Liam T. Cosgrave	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Margaret Cox	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Willie Farrell	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Pat Gallagher	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour	Resigned from the Seanad on 12 October 1999[8]
Jim Glennon	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the Seanad at a by-election on 2 June 2000;[6] Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Mick Lanigan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Denis O'Donovan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Donie Cassidy	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Denis Cregan	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Liam Fitzgerald	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Des Hanafin	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Mary Jackman	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Dan Kiely	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Don Lydon	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jarlath McDonagh	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Brian Mullooly	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Therese Ridge	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Seán Ryan	Labour Panel		Labour	Elected to the Dáil at the Dublin North by-election on 11 March 1998[9]
John Cregan	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the Seanad at a by-election on 23 June 1998;[10] Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Joe O'Toole	National University of Ireland		Independent
Feargal Quinn	National University of Ireland		Independent
Brendan Ryan	National University of Ireland		Independent	Joined the Labour Party on 14 January 1999[11]
Mary Henry	Dublin University		Independent
David Norris	Dublin University		Independent
Shane Ross	Dublin University		Independent
Enda Bonner	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Frank Chambers	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
John Dardis	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Progressive Democrats
Tom Fitzgerald	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Resigned from Seanad on 4 April 2002[12]
Dermot Fitzpatrick	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Elected to Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
Jim Gibbons	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Progressive Democrats
Edward Haughey	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Maurice Hayes	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Independent
Helen Keogh	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Progressive Democrats	Changed from Progressive Democrats to Fine Gael on 14 June 2000[13]
Ann Leonard	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil
Máirín Quill	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Progressive Democrats
Martin Mackin	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Nominated on 22 May 2002 to fill vacancy[14]
Mary O'Rourke	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil	Nominated on 22 May 2002 to fill vacancy[14]

Changes

Date	Panel	Loss		Gain		Note
11 March 1998	Labour Panel		Labour			Seán Ryan elected to the 28th Dáil at the Dublin North by-election[9]
23 June 1998	Labour Panel				Fianna Fáil	John Cregan elected to the Seanad at a by-election[15][10]
14 January 1999	National University		Independent		Labour	Brendan Ryan joined the Labour Party[11]
3 October 1999	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			Death of Patrick McGowan[5]
12 October 1999	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour			Pat Gallagher resigned from the Seanad to take up position on Westmeath County Council.[8][16]
9 June 2000	Industrial and Commercial Panel				Fianna Fáil	Jim Glennon elected to the Seanad at a by-election[17][6]
9 June 2000	Agricultural Panel				Fianna Fáil	Seán Ó Fearghaíl elected to Seanad in a by-election[17][6]
14 June 2000	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Progressive Democrats		Fine Gael	Helen Keogh joined Fine Gael[13]
30 June 2001	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael			Tom Hayes elected to 28th Dáil at the Tipperary South by-election[4]
December 2001	Agricultural Panel				Fianna Fáil	M. J. Nolan elected to the Seanad at a by-election[18][7]
4 April 2002	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil			Tom Fitzgerald resigned from the Seanad[12]
17 May 2002	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil			Donie Cassidy elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Administrative Panel		Labour			Joe Costello elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil			John Cregan elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Michael Finneran elected to 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fianna Fáil			Dermot Fitzpatrick elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil			Jim Glennon elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			M. J. Nolan elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil			Denis O'Donovan elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael			Fergus O'Dowd elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
17 May 2002	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			Seán Ó Fearghaíl elected to the 29th Dáil at the 2002 general election[3]
22 May 2002	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fianna Fáil	Mary O'Rourke nominated to fill vacancy[14]
22 May 2002	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fianna Fáil	Martin Mackin nominated to fill vacancy[14]