Twenty of the 49 senators now elected to the Seanad are women, which at 40 per cent is well above the 25 per cent in the Dáil.
They include the 18 women of the 43 senators elected to the five vocational panels following the completion of the marathon count and two to the university constituencies.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to announce later this week or early next week the nomination of the 11 remaining senators to complete the Seanad line-up of 60 members in the Upper House, with six Fianna Fáil nominations and five for Fine Gael.
The Government is under pressure to nominate more women following trenchant criticism over the poor showing for women in the senior Cabinet appointments. Former Fianna Fáil minister of State Anne Rabbitte, who lost her Galway East Dáil seat in a shock defeat and was also unsuccessful in her bid for the Seanad, is expected to be nominated.
Two bodies found in Co Kerry house may have lain undiscovered since late last year
Gym owner who sexually assaulted woman, filmed others, can resume work on release
Gerry Thornley: How about an alternative look at Ireland’s Six Nations win over England?
An Irish family’s Miami ordeal: ‘I was shocked by the heartlessness of Aer Lingus’
So too are her party colleague Joe Flaherty, who lost his Longford-Westmeath seat in December’s general election, as did Fine Gael parliamentary chairman Alan Farrell in Dublin Fingal East. Other unsuccessful Seanad candidates are also hoping for preferment with speculation that unionist senator and Ulster Farmers Union president Ian Marshall might get a nomination.
There was speculation that former South Kildare Independent TD Cathal Berry, who also failed in his bid to be elected to the panel might also receive a nomination given his experience in defence as a former Army Ranger.
The final Seanad count was for the Administrative panel which saw the election of Fianna Fáil Mark Daly, his party colleagues Fiona O’Loughlin and Diarmuid Wilson, Fine Gael’s two outgoing senators Garret Ahearn and Martin Conway, Independent Eileen Flynn, the first woman Traveller in the Oireachtas.
The only new senator on the panel is Sinn Féin Cork North-West candidate Nicole Ryan, whose transfers after her election saw Ms O’Loughlin and Mr Wilson get elected to complete the count.
Labour candidate Dublin city councillor Darragh Moriarty polled well on first preferences but did not get sufficient transfers to win a seat.
The final count leaves Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael with 13 senators each. It was a seat gain for Fine Gael but Fianna Fáil is down three seats.
Sinn Féin has also gained a seat with the election of six senators, including the Stormont economy minister Conor Murphy and former Dublin Bay South TD Chris Andrews.
Labour had a disappointing Seanad outing with the loss of two seats. They party does, however, have two new senators with the election of Cork councillor Laura Harmon and Sligo-Leitrim councillor Nessa Cosgrove.
Independents are also up a seat to five and the Social Democrats and Aontú have their first ever senators. The Green Party successfully retained its seat with the election of former minister of State Malcolm Noonan.
Mr Murphy, a former Sinn Féin MP and IRA member from South Armagh, said of his election that “It is an opportunity to play a part in all-Ireland politics, and also, particularly in relation to an all-island economy, which I have been working on over the last number of years, particularly over the last year as minister for the economy”.
Asked if his move to the Seanad was a downwards step for him, he replied “Not at all”, adding: “My reason for being a politics in the first place was to bring about a united Ireland. It still is and so I see an opportunity to play a role in that here.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
