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1925 Seanad election

← 1922 17 September 1925 1928 →
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19 of 60 seats in Seanad Éireann 31 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	23.4%
First party Second party Third party   Leader W. T. Cosgrave Thomas Johnson Denis Gorey Party Cumann na nGaedheal Labour Farmers' Party Leader since April 1923 1922 1922 Last election 14 seats, 23.3% 6 seats, 10% 1 seats, 1.7% Seats before 14 6 1 Seats won 15 5 3 Seat change 1 1 2 Popular vote 126,218 46,776 42,785 Percentage 41.3% 15.3% 8.9%

An election for 19 of the 60 seats in Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Irish Free State, was held on 17 September 1925. The election was by single transferable vote, with the entire state being used in a single 19-seat contest.

The election saw 8 Cumann na nGaedheal members elected (an advance of one compared to its pre-election representation), as well as three Labour Party (a drop of one seat), three Farmers' Party (an advance of two seats), and five others (a drop from seven previous to the election).

There were 76 candidates on the ballot paper, of whom voters ranked by preference at least a few but did not have to rank all of them. Of the two main political parties, the larger (Cumann na nGaedheal) did not formally endorse any candidates, while the other (Sinn Féin, whose TDs were abstentionist) boycotted the election. Voter turnout was low and the outcome was considered unsatisfactory. Subsequently, senators were selected by the Oireachtas rather than the electorate.

Vacancies

The 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State provided for a Seanad of 60 members directly elected. Members would serve 12-year terms, with one-quarter of the house elected every three years. The members would be elected under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote in a single, nationwide, 15-seat contest. As well as this cohort up for election in 1925, four additional Senators were required to vacate their seats: these had been temporarily co-opted to fill casual vacancies that had arisen in previous years.

The 60 Senators were divided into four cohorts of 15, and an at-large election held every three years for one of the cohorts.

As part of the initial transitional measures, 30 of the 60 Senators elected in 1922 were selected by the Dáil, of whom the last 15 to secure election formed the cohort whose term would end in 1925, the end of the first triennial period established by the 1922 constitution.

Candidates

There were three methods of being included on the ballot. Outgoing Senators could nominate themselves for re-election, and all 19 did so. The Seanad could nominate a number of candidates equal to the number of vacancies (19), and the Dáil could nominate twice the number of vacancies (38). Both Dáil and Seanad selections were by single transferable vote and secret ballot. The minimum age for Senators was 35 years.

The Seanad resolved on 30 April to form a committee to decide procedure for its nominations; the committee drafted a resolution in June, which was amended and passed by the Seanad on 19 June. 29 applicants contested the Seanad nominations on 1 July. Apart from two Labour Party members, the candidates were Independents. 47 of the 60 Senators voted, including 18 of the 19 who were themselves standing for re-election. Donal O'Sullivan, clerk of the Seanad throughout its existence, suggests that these 18 had an incentive to vote for less popular candidates since the nominees would be rivals in the ensuing election. O'Sullivan describes the results as "a very great disappointment ... the list could not compare with the list of the ten rejected." Oliver St. John Gogarty made a similar remark in the Seanad itself after the results were announced.

The rejected ten were: David Barry, general manager of the British and Irish Steam Packet Company; Sir Laurence Grattan Esmonde, brother of Senator Thomas Grattan Esmonde, Bart; Lady Gregory; John Horgan; Hugh Law; John McCann, a stockbroker; The McGillicuddy of the Reeks; William Lombard Murphy, son of William Martin Murphy and proprietor of the Irish Independent; Sir John Harley Scott, a Unionist former Mayor of Cork; and J.J. Stafford, a County Wexford businessman.

Cumann na nGaedheal, the party which backed the incumbent government, decided not to formally support any candidates as a result of internal divisions. There was tension between ministers, backbenchers, and grassroots members, and between factions of Kevin O'Higgins and W. T. Cosgrave. The 1924 Army Mutiny had shaken the year-old party, and the appointment of public servants to lead the new state's institutions created resentment among those passed over. The parliamentary party held two selection conventions, on 2 and 6 July 1925, and when the leadership's candidates did badly a free vote was offered in the Dáil with all candidates nominally endorsed by the party.

The Dáil nominations were decided on 8 July. 57 candidates contested; 101 TDs voted, with one ballot deemed ineligible. 52 TDs did not vote, including all 44 abstentionist Sinn Féin TDs, who were ineligible to vote as they had not taken the Oath of Allegiance. TDs supported candidates on party lines. Of the 38 successful nominees, O'Sullivan classifies 21 as supporters of the Cumann na nGaedheal Government, 9 as Independent, 5 as in the Farmers' Party, and 3 as in the Labour Party. Four of the ten candidates rejected by the Seanad were also among the Dáil candidates, with John J. Horgan securing a nomination at the second attempt.

Campaign

The usual Irish local, personal canvassing strategy was impractical across a nationwide constituency, leading to a relatively quiet campaign. While the Farmers' Party and Labour produced newspaper advertisements for their respective slates of candidates, Cumann na nGaedheal did not at a national level formally endorse candidates, even those its TDs had nominated. It presented the election as nonpartisan. It published a booklet, Who's who in the 1925 Senate Election, and did not oppose candidates "put forward by any of the elements that accept the State and Constitution", i.e. other than republicans opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Numerous interest groups produced lists of approved candidates, including doctors, publicans, motorists, ex-servicemen's associations, and the livestock trade. Candidates endorsed by temperance groups fared badly. The Catholic Truth Society circulated, to little effect, a list of outgoing Senators it condemned for not having opposed a controversial motion pertaining to divorce.

Sinn Féin, under the leadership of Éamon de Valera, called for a boycott of the election. Sinn Féin had not boycotted the 1923 Dáil election, but rather contested it on an abstentionist platform. De Valera would later lead his Fianna Fáil party, founded in 1926, into the Oireachtas after the June 1927 Dáil election.

Election

The election was by single transferable vote, with the entire Irish Free State forming a single, 19-seat constituency. All citizens over 30 had a vote. Since the voting age for Dáil and local elections was 21, a separate electoral roll was maintained for the Seanad election.

The 76 candidates were arranged alphabetically on a ballot paper 22 inches (56 cm) long and 16 inches (41 cm) wide. The Electoral (Seanad Elections) Act, 1925 was passed to allow the ballot to be presented as four parallel columns of 19 names rather than a single long column of all 76.

The low voter turnout was blamed on the Sinn Féin boycott, wet weather across the country, and the shorter than usual hours of polling. Turnout varied widely, from 8.2% in Mayo North to 43% in Monaghan. Another factor was the large, intimidating ballot paper; O'Sullivan describes it as "a fiasco", saying it was unreasonable to expect voters to "make an intelligent choice of nineteen persons from a list containing seventy-six names, most of which they had never seen or heard of before."

Results

Counting

The ballots were initially collected to one centre within each Dáil constituency to count and sort the first-preference votes. This took almost a week. On 25 September, the ballots were sent to Dublin, the totals checked centrally, and redistribution of transfers begun. Initially there were 10 count officials, rising to 40 by the end. On 5 October, the first candidate was returned, on the 45th count. Counting continued until 19 October.

Harold Gosnell said that there was more news coverage of the count than of the preceding campaign: "the counting of the ballots under applied on a national scale attracts wide attention, and the results are sure to reflect the opinions (or lack of them) manifested by the electors".

Details

Although the election was national, many of the candidates relied on local support: 23 gained more than half their first preferences from their own constituency. Thus, STV proved itself both able to elect those with local support and those with thinly-spread dispersed support.

About 12% (37,714) of valid ballots were exhausted, found to be non-transferable when eligible for transfer. (One or more of the preferences marked on the ballots may have been elected, just without the help of that particular vote). Less than 3 percent of the ballots cast were spoiled..

About 260,000 of the 315,000 votes cast were used in the end to elect the 19 winners, an 85 percent rate of effective votes.

Candidates of the two parties contesting the election, the Labour Party and the Farmers' Party, did relatively well. Some interest groups also did well – vintners, ex-servicemen. Others did not — doctors, academics, women, and especially Irish language revivalists: all four candidates supported by the Gaelic League lost, including outgoing Senator and future president Douglas Hyde. The Irish Times (Sept. 24, 1925) reported that licensed liquor dealers, ex-soldiers, farmers, doctors and businessmen received their due in the election.

Ex-Unionist candidates did not fare well, even though the original design of the Seanad was intended in part to provide enhanced representation for the unionist minority.

The quota (the amount guaranteed to secure election) was 15,286.

Thirteen were elected at the end, when the field of candidates was thinned to the number of remaining open seats in the 65th count, some of them were elected with less than quota.

Notes

1. As listed on the official notice of election
2. (pro-CnaG) indicates candidates identified by Coakley as unofficially pro-Cumann na nGaedheal
3. In Irish: "Dochtúir leighis agus ollamh ollsgoile"
4. In Irish: "Bainisteoird"

Legacy

The shortcomings of the 1925 election created a consensus that a single national constituency was unworkable. Political scientist Harold Foote Gosnell wrote of the election, "the ballot is a confusing one and the size of the constituency makes electioneering difficult."

In 1928, in the lead-up to the next triennial Seanad election, the Oireachtas formed a joint committee to change the selection procedures. While some members favoured retaining some form of voting by the general electorate, Fianna Fáil in particular wanted to ensure the Seanad was subordinate to the Dáil by restricting the franchise to Oireachtas members. This was effected by a constitutional amendment enacted on 23 July and an electoral act on 25 October. Thus, the 1925 election remains the only Seanad popular election.

See also

• 1925 Seanad

References

Sources

• Coakley, John (September 2005). "Ireland's Unique Electoral Experiment: The Senate Election of 1925". Irish Political Studies. 20 (3): 231–269. doi:10.1080/07907180500359327.
• Gosnell, Harold F. (1926). "An Irish Free State Senate Election". The American Political Science Review. 20 (1): 117–120. doi:10.2307/1945103. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1945103.
• O'Sullivan, Donal (1940). The Irish Free State and its Senate: A Study in Contemporary Politics. London: Faber & Faber. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
• "Constitution of The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann)". Irish Statute Book. Office of the Attorney General of Ireland. 1922. Retrieved 30 October 2008.

Citations

1. Hoag and Hallett. Proportional Representation. pp. 249–251.
2. ^ Coakley, p.233
3. Constitution of The Irish Free State: Articles 31 & 32
4. Constitution of The Irish Free State: Article 82 §§ (a), (c), & (e)
5. ^ Coakley, p.234
6. ^ Constitution of The Irish Free State: Article 33  – via Wikisource.
7. ^ Coakley, p.237
8. O'Sullivan, pp.151–52
9. Coakley, p.232
10. "Report". Committee on Procedure for the Triennial Election. Seanad. 16 June 1925. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
11. Seanad debates Vol.5 No.10 p.5
12. "Panel for triennial election". Parliamentary Debates - Seanad Éireann. 1 July 1925. Vol.5 No.13 p.4 cc.768–771. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
13. "Seanad - selection of panel". Parliamentary Debates - Seanad Éireann. 1 July 1925. Vol.5 No.13 p.7 c.782. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
14. ^ O'Sullivan, p.153
15. ^ Coakley, p.236
16. ^ O'Sullivan, p.154
17. Gogarty, Oliver St. John (7 July 1925). "Seanad Elections". Parliamentary Debates - Seanad Éireann. Vol.5 No.15 p.3 cc.865–66. Retrieved 29 October 2015. Reading the list of Senators who have been rejected, they are, if anything, a few points better than those who have been successful.
18. "A Small List". Irish Independent. 27 June 1925. p. 7.
19. ^ Regan, John M. (1999). The Irish Counter-revolution, 1921-1936: Treatyite Politics and Settlement in Independent Ireland. Gill & Macmillan. pp. 249–250. ISBN 9780717128853.
20. "Selection of Dáil panel for Seanad election". Parliamentary Debates - Dáil Éireann. 8 July 1925. Vol.12 No.21 p.5 cc.2161–62. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
21. "Announcement of results". Parliamentary Debates - Dáil Éireann. 8 July 1925. Vol.12 No.21 p.5 cc.2162–64. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
22. "Dáil in Committee - Election of Seanad members". Parliamentary Debates - Dáil Éireann. 19 June 1925. Vol.12 No.12 p.10 cc.1314–48. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
23. Gosnell 1926 p.118
24. Coakley, p.242
25. ^ Coakley, p.244
26. Coakley, p.242–43
27. O'Sullivan, p.170–71
28. Coakley, p.243
29. "Seanad Resumes - Debate on divorce legislation resumed". Parliamentary Debates - Seanad Éireann. 11 June 1925. Vol.5 No.7 p.10 cc.434–482. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
30. ^ O'Sullivan, p.155
31. ^ Coakley, p.235
32. "Electoral (Seanad Elections) Act, 1925 §3: Form of ballot papers". Acts of the Oireachtas. Government of Ireland. 11 July 1925. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
33. Coakley, p.245
34. O'Sullivan, pp.144–145
35. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1016 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
36. ^ Gosnell 1926 p.119
37. Gosnell 1926 p.120
38. Coakley, p.250
39. Coakley, p.247
40. ^ Coakley, p.248
41. ^ O'Sullivan, p.156
42. Coakley, p.249
43. Coakley, p.256
44. Coakley, pp.261–68
45. Rankin, Kieran; Paul Sweeney; Bill Keating (April 2014). "Biographical Portraits of the Past Presidents of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland" (PDF). Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
46. "Estate Record: McSweeney/MacSwiney (Cork)". Landed Estates Database. NUI Galway. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
47. McGee, Owen. "O'Brien, Edward Conor Marshal". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
48. Long, Patrick. "Ó Murthuile, Seán". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
49. ^ O'Sullivan, p.231
50. Gosnell, Harold F. (1926). "An Irish Free State Senate Election". American Political Science Review. 20 (1): 117–120. doi:10.2307/1945103. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1945103.
51. Oireachtas joint committee on the Constitution (16 May 1928). "Report into the constitution and powers of, and methods of election to, Seanad Éireann". Committee Reports. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
52. O'Sullivan, pp.232–34
53. "Constitution (Amendment No. 6) Act, 1928". Acts of the Oireachtas. Government of Ireland. 23 July 1928. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
54. "Seanad Electoral Act, 1928". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
55. Coakley, p.231–32

External links

• Whyte, Nicholas (17 February 2002) . ""An exceedingly severe test": The Irish Senate elections of 1925". CAIN. Retrieved 23 October 2008.

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See also: Elections in the Kingdom of Ireland Elections in Ireland as part of the UK

v t e Seanad Éireann
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Predecessors	Irish House of Lords Senate of Southern Ireland Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)
Elections	General 1925 1928 1931 1938 (April) 1938 (September) 1943 1944 1948 1951 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1982 1983 1987 1989 1993 1997 2002 2007 2011 2016 2020 2025 By-elections 2014 b 2021 b 2022 U Dublin b 2024 b
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v t e Irish Free State
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Judiciary	Supreme Court High Court Chief Justice Courts of Justice Act 1924
Elections	General 1922 1923 1927 (Jun) 1927 (Sep) 1932 1933 1937 Seanad 1925
See also	Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 External Relations Act 1936 Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act 1937 Chairman of the Provisional Government Adoption of the Constitution of Ireland

• 1925 elections in the Irish Free State
• 1925 in Irish politics
• Seanad Éireann elections
• September 1925 events