Last chance to get your ballot re-issued is Jan 22nd. Overseas graduates can vote from abroad. Contact the NUI today with your current address.

If you did not yet receive a ballot paper or if you wish to check your current address is on the NUI voter register, email records@nui.ie or phone 01 439 2424. You have until 22 Jan to update your address and have your ballot re-issued to this address. Graduates overseas can request this too. Here's a useful guide on returning your Seanad vote. Remember to post your ballot paper back in time to reach the NUI head office by 29 Jan. 

Newsletter October 2024: Gaza, Seanad Reform, Planning and Development, Climate Action, Education and Research, Ethical Economics, Empowering Citizens Online

Dear Friends,

In the months since my last newsletter, I have, like many of you, been heartbroken and outraged by the devastating loss of life in Gaza. I have been taking every action I can, nationally and internationally to press for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, respect for human rights, international law, and an end to the global escalation of conflict.

Public Consultation on the General Scheme for the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024

We welcome the opportunity to engage in this consultation and urge that the Department would provide further opportunities for engagement at later stages. At the outset we must signify our total opposition to this draft Bill as it falls far short of the blueprint for real Seanad reform that has been agreed on a cross-party agreement.

The first portion of our submission deals with the broader questions and the second part deals with the very significant problems with the Bill as drafted.

We are of the view that:

  • The Government’s Bill should be discarded in favour of the Seanad Bill 2020; and
  • The Government’s Bill contains numerous problematic provisions which will limit democratic participation in Seanad elections.

The Seanad Franchise:

The question of the implementation of the seventh amendment of the Constitution cannot sit in isolation from the wider question of Seanad reform. The Supreme Court ruling confirms that action must be taken. However, a minimalist approach to legislating on this issue would not be true to the spirit of either the 1979 or 2013 referenda – in which the public clearly called for reform.

The public voted in the 2013 referendum for a reformed Seanad and the 2015 Report of the Working Group on Seanad Reform (the Manning Report) clearly recommended that “a majority of the Panel seats be elected by popular vote on the principle of one person one vote.”

Senator Higgins welcomes Supreme Court ruling on seventh amendment and urges Government to enact Seanad Bill 2020

NUI Senator Alice-Mary Higgins has today welcomed the Supreme Court ruling on the need to legislate for the seventh amendment to the Constitution and is urging the Government to enact the Seanad Bill 2020 introduced by Senator Higgins and Senator Michael McDowell.

Speaking after today’s ruling, Senator Higgins commended Tomas Heneghan for taking the case and said: “Today’s ruling underscores the urgent need for Seanad reform. That reform must be ambitious and comprehensive. The failure to legislate for the 1979 referendum reflects a wider history of evasion and delays around meaningful Seanad reform by successive governments over many decades.