University Constituency - Irish Free State, Republic of Ireland

Irish Free State, Republic of Ireland

Today there are no university constituencies in the Republic's lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann, but two constituencies are used for elections to Seanad Éireann, the weak upper house. These are University of Dublin and the National University of Ireland. The two electorates consist of the graduates of each university. Each is a three-seat constituency elected under the Single Transferable Vote.

The Parliament of Ireland that existed until 1801 included the university constituency of Dublin University. This constituency continued to exist when, in 1801, the Irish parliament was abolished and Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. When the Irish Free State seceded from the UK in 1922, its new lower house of parliament, the Free State Dáil, continued the use of the two university constituencies already in existence, Dublin University, and the National University of Ireland constituency, which had been established in 1918. However, under the Electoral Act, 1923 voters registered in a university constituency were not permitted to also vote in a geographical one. Both university constituencies were ultimately abolished by the Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act, 1936 and the Electoral (University Constituencies) Act adopted later in the same year, which took effect on the dissolution of the Dáil in 1937. Later the two constituencies were recreated as senatorial constituencies when the modern Seanad was established in 1937, under the Constitution of Ireland. The first Seanad election under the constitution took place in 1938.

Since the 1970s there has been controversy in the Republic of Ireland about the university constituencies.

In 1979 the constitution was amended to permit the Oireachtas to legislate on university constituencies. It was intended to enable graduates of all Irish tertiary education institutions to elect Seanad representatives (probably in a single six member university constituency, replacing the existing two three-member seats). No legislation has so far (as at April 2011) been passed to implement the amendment. See Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland for more details.

Some politicians have called for university representation to be abolished, on the ground that it is unacceptable that possession of a degree should confer greater electoral rights than those available to other voters. An example of this view can be found in the Green Party submission on Seanad reform in 2004. The Socialist Party also stand for the abolition of these constituencies.