Two Travellers Run for Seat in Seanad
Submitted by John Madden
Two prominent members of the community put themselves forward for election for the Seanad; they are Eileen Flynn and TJ Hogan. Putting yourself under the microscope takes guts, however, the Seanad isn’t open to all to vote, and this fact alone has given rise to massive debate around whether it should be kept or not. The only people who can vote in the Seanad elections are university graduates, county councillors, incoming and/or sitting TDs, and outgoing senators. This is a very narrow figure and it’s made even more complex by the following:
There are 60 Senators in the Seanad, but only 49 are elected. The Taoiseach gets to appoint 11. Of the 49 left, 43 are elected by incoming/sitting TDs, outgoing senators, and county councilors. The remaining six are elected by university graduates. With that in mind, you can see that there’s possibly an air of elitism about who gets to vote in the Seanad election.
Regardless of the process, and given the election format, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Eileen and TJ, but that didn’t mean that they shied away from the challenge.
Eileen and TJ did their utmost to capture the hearts of potential voters.
Both candidates did their utmost to capture the hearts and minds of their potential voters. Eileen was among the candidates vying for the votes from the university graduates, while TJ was looking to the county councillors, TDs and outgoing senators for their votes.
Of course, given the current Covid-19 situation, a lot of all of this went below the radar, barely featuring on the news. In fact, the election didn’t feature heavily in any of the main newspapers, which is a pity because had things been different, maybe the media could have shone a greater light on the elections, the results of which were announced over a number of days.
Eileen Flynn was in a 20 candidate race, and received a hugely impressive 76 votes. This compares favourably with the outright winner who received 105 votes, and who was also an incumbent (meaning they had been a Senator already, making them exceptionally difficult to beat). The beoir polled well and afterwards said she was “Very disappointed with the results after putting in so much hard work, not just for myself but for the Traveller Community. If the result tells me anything, it is that it’s going to be a difficult thing to do (getting elected). I’m not giving up on any of this just yet, because as I said, I worked very hard for it and came close!”
TJ left an impression and received quite a few first preferences.
TJ’s pool of voters formed a much smaller group. On foot of the second count, TJ was eliminated from a very full ballot sheet populated heavily by a lot of prominent Irish political personalities from the main political parties. While disappointing to see the sway going towards many of the usual suspects, there’s no doubt that TJ left an impression and received quite a few first preferences. Upon hearing the announcement, TJ said, “It’s an experience; who would ever have thought a Traveller from Cork could even come close in a public election, win all the public debates in the general election, and a vote from a settled councillor or TD. The tide is turning and there’s a seat to be won within four years. Most importantly, the bar is moving which will allow people like my kids and other young Travellers to have a fighting chance which has been denied to so many over the decades. Just wait till 2024!”
Sadly, no Traveller managed to be elected this time round, but Eileen and TJ made a huge impact. It’s not over yet, the Taoiseach, whoever it will be, has the power to appoint 11 Senators at his/her discretion, so maybe, just maybe, we could see a Traveller holding such a position.
