FG's seven Seanad nominations

SEVEN OF Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s 11 nominees to the Seanad will be Fine Gael choices, with the remaining four selected by the Labour Party. The two parties have agreed that their respective lists will include one nominee who is not involved in Leinster House politics, a senior political source said last night.

There had been speculation that two Northern figures would be included, in line with tradition, but it has emerged that Labour’s “non-political” nominee will not be chosen on that basis.

In the past the decision to include Northern nominees was seen in part as arising from the lack of political institutions above the local level in Northern Ireland. However with the existence of the Northern Ireland Assembly this is no longer a factor.

Mr Kenny is not expected to announce the list of nominees until next week, and a senior source said “the timeframe is not agreed”.

Article 18.3 of the Constitution stipulates that 11 of the 60 members of the Seanad “shall be nominated, with their prior consent, by the Taoiseach”.

The last time Fine Gael and Labour agreed a joint slate of taoiseach’s nominees was in 1983.

When the two parties went into the “rainbow coalition” with Democratic Left without an election in 1994 the senators nominated by then taoiseach Albert Reynolds remained in place.