LAST UPDATE | 29 Jan

COUNTING IN THE Seanad elections has gotten underway at Trinity College and at the RDS in Dublin following a lengthy campaign.

Senators and would-be senators have been canvassing TDs, councillors and graduates from the National University of Ireland and Trinity College of Dublin since early December to earn one of the 49 seats up for grabs.

Graduates from Trinity will be first to have their votes counted, starting at 9am at the college. The count will then begin at the RDS for the National University of Ireland (NUI) votes.

Senators are elected by graduates of some universities to two out of the seven panels in the Seanad and there are three seats each for Trinity and for NUI.

Vote counting has commenced. It's all go here in the RDS. First count expected later tonight. #SE2025 pic.twitter.com/9i6YRfmrN9

— NUI (@NUIMerrionSq) January 29, 2025

Outgoing senators Tom Clonan and Lynn Ruanne are both seeking re-election on the Trinity Panel, while Rónán Mullen, Michael McDowell and Alice Mary-Higgins are seeking re-election on the NUI panel.

Senators are elected by proportional representation, with voting for the university panels conducted by post. This franchise is set to be extended to all graduates in the next Seanad elections.

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The remaining five panels, and 43 seats, are voted on by elected TDs, councillors and outgoing Senators. Those politicians have until 11am tomorrow to cast their vote and ballots are being collected at Leinster House.

The full results will be known by early next week. Seanad elections typically have a low turnout rate.

The Seanad election count 2025 at Trinity College Justin Farrelly / © RollingNews.ie Justin Farrelly / © RollingNews.ie / © RollingNews.ie

Lastly, following the elections, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin will get the opportunity to appoint 11 senators to the upper house. This is done to ensure that the government has a majority in the Dáil and the Seanad.

Depending on the outcome of the election, Martin may choose to appoint someone outside of both coalition parties. Previous Taoisigh have chosen to appoint people from groups not adequately represented in the Oireachtas.

With reporting from Jane Matthews and Eoghan Dalton