The Labour Party has nominated its former finance spokesman and a number of unsuccessful general election candidates for the Seanad.
Front-bench spokesman Mr Derek McDowell, who lost his seat in Dublin North Central, was one of four nominated by the general council of the Labour Party at a meeting in Leinster House yesterday. He will run on the industrial and commercial panel.
SIPTU president Mr Des Geraghty has already received a nomination from ICTU, but according to a party spokesman he would also run as an official party candidate on the labour panel.
Sen Kathleen O'Meara, who ran as a candidate in the general election in Tipperary North, was nominated on the agriculture panel. The party's Cork South West candidate, Cllr Michael McCarthy, was nominated on the labour panel.
Cllr Joanna Tuffy, who was a candidate in Dublin Mid-West, was selected for the administrative panel.
Labour, with 86 councillors nationally, has a quota on the labour and agriculture panels and is close to a quota on the industrial and commercial panel. It also falls short on the administrative panel, however. Mr Joe Costello, who won a Dáil seat in Dublin Central, was elected to this panel in 1997.
The general council decided yesterday not to contest the cultural and education panel, where the quota is considered to be too high, They decided instead to concentrate on maximising the prospects of Labour candidates on other panels.
The party intends to use the Seanad for people who have a good chance of being elected as TDs in the next general election, which explains why Mr Geraghty did not receive a party nomination. However, the party believes that if Mr Geraghty is elected, it would also be good for Labour, continuing the links between the party and the trade unions.
Members of the Oireachtas and county councillors elect 43 members of the Seanad to five vocational panels.
Fianna Fáil had a meeting on Tuesday to discuss its strategy in relation to the upper house elections.
However, it was decided to wait until the nominations from outside bodies were received before making any decisions on candidates.
Fianna Fáil's increased Dáil strength, and an improved performance in the last local elections, will boost its Seanad vote, and the party is hoping for an increase in the 23 seats it won in the vocational panels the last time.
How Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats approach the Seanad elections will be influenced by their coalition negotiations.