On Friday 4 October, you will be asked a straight question: do you want to abolish the Seanad? The answer is yes or no. I’m asking you to vote ‘yes’. And here’s why.
In our democracy, though the Government governs, it is the people themselves who rule. That means you. You choose the men and women who you believe will best represent you, your values and interests in Dáil Eireann. One voter, one vote. All equal. In a democracy, that is how it should be.
Now think of this. When it comes to the current Seanad, just one per cent of the population elected it. Unless you’re one of that privileged one per cent, then you, as a voter, have no say in who is elected to this ‘democratic institution’. We must bring Ireland into line with every other European country of our size, all of which have just one chamber of parliament.
That’s one of the clear reasons I believe the Seanad must go. It is an old-fashioned, elitist assembly of ‘entitled insiders’ elected by the privileged few. What place can it have – or should it have – in a modern Irish democracy? I believe none. That is why I’m asking you to vote ‘yes’ to abolish the Seanad on 4 October.
On coming to office, I committed to making our Government more democratic, more efficient, more transparent and more accountable to you, the voter. I promised four real reforms so that government and politics could serve you better. The first three of these have begun: fewer politicians; a smaller Dáil that would do more and sit longer; stronger committees with real power to hold people to account
Number four, the abolition of the Seanad, is in your hands. You will decide. I’m hoping you will decide to take positive action. Because it is time to wipe out the elitism and entitled privilege that have dogged Irish politics. It is time to haul our political system into the 21st century.
I’m asking you to vote to abolish the Seanad not just because we need to close a quaint curiosity that has no place in 21st-century Ireland. I’m asking you to vote ‘yes’ because I believe the abolition itself would signify Ireland’s desire and will to create a new and better kind of politics and public life. Both of which would reflect the standards and values we try to keep in our personal lives – hardworking, no-nonsense, ambitious, fair, decent, dignified, compassionate confident and common-sense.
That disconnection between life as lived and politics as practised has led to the chaos and pain of recent years. For the sake of democracy, for our future success and prosperity as a people, I am determined to close that gap.
To do that, politicians must show the people of Ireland that they, too, are facing up to our new economic demands. That they, too, are willing to do more with less. And less means closing down an institution that belongs to the last century and hasn’t used its limited powers to delay legislation since 1964.
We are small country. We are a dignified, brilliant people, returning to prosperity and success. Above all, we are democrats. Therefore, one house is enough on the say-so of all our electorate, not two at the pleasure of the ‘one per cent’.
I’m asking you on Friday 4 October, to please vote ‘yes’.
Enda Kenny is Taoiseach of Ireland and leader of Fine Gael.
