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THE SUPREME COURT has given the government until 31 May 2025 to legislate on the expansion of the Seanad electorate.
The ruling gives the Oireachtas less than two years to reform franchisement that until now has only included Trinity College Dublin and National Universities of Ireland.
In his judgment, the Chief Justice decided that this “rare” course of action was required to uphold the rule of law and prevent a constitutional crisis, as a validly constituted Seanad is needed to pass legislation.
However, he emphasised that the Court is concerned with “limiting the period of permitted operation of the invalid law so far as is possible”. He accepted that “a single, relatively lengthy, period of suspension is sufficient” and rejected the State’s request for an extension until July 2027.
This is the second judgment in Heneghan v. the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, the first of which held that sections 6 and 7 of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act, 1937 breach the constitution.
Article 18.4.2°, inserted following a referendum in 1979, provided for the expanded franchise. However, the Oireachtas did not enact legislation giving effect to this, with the result that Seanad elections continued to be governed by the 1937 Act, with the same limited electorate.
The Supreme Court ruled that the State was and continues to be in breach of its duty.
The case had been taken by Tomás Heneghan, a graduate of University of Limerick, who argued that the current Seanad electoral system is unconstitutional.
Speaking on the ruling today, Heneghan said: “For forty-four years, eighteen Irish governments have failed or refused to enact the necessary law to provide for the expansion of the Seanad franchise in line with the decision of the electorate in 1979.
“The key question for the current government is: Do you believe in democracy – one person, one vote – and do you believe a specific university degree should entitle someone to more of a say in our democracy?
“In a world where we see democratic structures and engagement being shut down more and more every year, we have to say in Ireland that democracy matters, and we have to mean it in more than just our words, but in our actions too.”
The Free Legal Advice Centre, who represented Heneghan, welcomed the judgement, with Sinéad Lucey, FLAC Managing Solicitor, saying: “The deadline set by the Court aligns with the date by which the next Seanad election must be held – with the intention that the necessary reforms to voting laws are enacted before that election takes place.
“It also ensures that any Seanad elections after May 2025 must involve an expanded franchise for the University Panel.
“The Chief Justice’s decision is another significant judgment to emerge from these proceedings and provides an authoritative statement on the Court’s power to make suspended declarations including when and how it may do so.”
FLAC Chief Executive, Eilis Barry congratulated Heneghan on his “courage, fortitude and persistence in taking this landmark case for democracy, equality and the rule of law”.
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Good to see a reporter standing up to Obama et all – and his wish to curtail free journalism .
He should be supported .
Obama waging war on Journalists – the last thing US govt .wants is freedom of Press .
Aristotle tells us that tyrants hunt down those who oppose their power- and Obama is such a tyrant – as have most of US Presidents – and getting worse .
Who downvotes this…….it’s spot on.
If there’s no freedom of press, there’s no alternative opinion.
Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive. [...] And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment — the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution — not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply “give the public what it wants” — but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.
John F Kennedy
Passing flawed plans to Iran is the least bad thing they have been accused of
Great courage shown, fair play.
The New York Times is a paper which has colluded with the US Government numerous times in oder to appease it. They have previously withheld knowledge from the public on drone strikes at the request of the US Government. While objectivity can never be truly attained in newspapers it should be strived for.
A surprise heart attack our car crash on the way for this man !!
Writing long articles criticising the whistleblowers and then defending his right to keep his sources secret. His sources are no different to the whistleblowers. The standards and hypocrisy of some journalists is nauseating.
And the hypocrisy of the CIA?
While I don’t trust NYT generally, I’d certainly defend their right to resist a request (/threat) from the shameful, clandestine and murdurous CIA, which goes against their constitutionally enshrined journalistic privilege.
Could u give links to support your accusations ??
Was that question for me or Ryleigh, Jim? I’m presuming the latter.
Obviously, there are plenty of links to support my accusations! There are also admissions.
Yeah it’s been more or less proved they are Criminals
In
Action
for Rryleigh – actually your comment was not visible when I wrote
One ‘r’ only.
Naomi Wolff wrote and spoke about all of this a few years back.
I think she said that the final straw for her would be when the government started locking up journalists.
Obama is the toothy, smiling, affable version of his dipshit Cheney-front predecessor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H20CoqyoqtI
The NY Times is an anti-Irish news paper
It is a well known organisation,with very very dodgy people working for it.The point I am making is that regardless of their activities exposing them via a secret source that could be an agent of a foreign agency engaged in a counter espionage mission. The journalist has neither the training or the expertise to handle the information via a public forum…the media. Obscure ,obfuscate and distort information in a logical and rational way is what counter intelligence does to obtain it’s goals.
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