Senate of the Irish Free State
| Seanad Éireann | |
|---|---|
|
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | December 11, 1922 |
| Disbanded | May 29, 1936 |
| Preceded by | Senate of Southern Ireland |
| Succeeded by | Seanad Éireann |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 60 |
|
Length of term
|
12 years |
| Elections | |
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|
| Meeting place | |
 |
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| Seanad Chamber, Leinster House, Dublin | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of the Irish Free State | |
Seanad Éireann (Irish pronunciation: [ˈʃan̪ˠəd̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ]; Senate of Ireland) was the upper house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1936. It has also been known simply as the Senate, First Seanad, Free State Senate or Free State Seanad. The Senate was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were subsequently made to change the manner of its election and its powers. It was eventually abolished in 1936 when it attempted to obstruct constitutional reforms favoured by the government. It sat, like its modern successor, in Leinster House.
The Free State Senate was subordinate to Dáil Éireann (the lower house) and could delay but not veto decisions of that house. Nonetheless, the Free State Senate had more power than its successor, the modern Seanad Éireann, which can only delay normal legislation for 90 days. As originally adopted the constitution provided that the Free State Senate had power to delay a money bill for 21 days (three weeks) and delay any other bill for 270 days (approximately nine months). In 1928, this second period was extended so that the Senate could delay a non-money bill for 20 months.
The 1922 Constitution provided for a Senate 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 constituency.
However, to get the house started, the body's initial membership would be appointed by Dáil Éireann (the lower house) and the President of the Executive Council. To complicate matters even more, after the holding of the first direct election, the constitution was amended, so that the final three elections to the Senate occurred by a method of indirect election. Therefore, in the five elections to the Senate to occur before its abolition, three different systems were used.
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