FG ramps up campaign for a Yes vote to abolish the Seanad on October 4th

Fine Gael TD for Cork North West, Áine Collins has today said the Party will be intensifying its campaign in the next two weeks to encourage as many people as possible to vote Yes to abolish the Seanad in the Referendum on October 4 ^th . Fine Gael has been holding a series of regional meetings as part of its national campaign for a Yes vote.

“Fine Gael has been running an intensive campaign at a local and national level over the last few weeks, and we intend to talk to as many people as possible ahead of polling day about why we believe the time has come to abolish the Seanad. We have found that the more people know about the Seanad, the more they agree the time has come to abolish.

“We are using as many methods as possible to communicate some key messages about the Seanad, such as:

·       Abolishing the Seanad would save €20 million a year;

·       Just 1% of the population elected the current Seanad;

·       90% of Senators are elected by other politicians;

·       The last time the Seanad delayed a bill was in 1964′.

“Fine Gael’s online campaign has generated a great level of debate so far on the merits of abolishing the Seanad. As well as a dedicated website ( www.finegael.ie/seanad ), which allows social media users to share information about the Seanad, we have been pushing key facts out through Twitter and Facebook. This is all aimed at sparking interest and participation in the debate on whether we need two chambers of parliament.

“Those advocating a No vote claim they want the Seanad to be reformed. But ten reports have been published on reforming the Seanad, and nothing has changed. What Fianna Fáil and others really want to retain is the status quo. Ireland is the only country of our size in Europe to have two chambers of parliament. It’s time we modernised our democracy by abolishing our second chamber, which is elected by a mere 1% of the population, and costs €20 million a year to run.

“I hope to talk to as many people as possible in the final two weeks of the Seanad campaign to encourage them to vote Yes on October 4^th to abolish the Seanad so we can save €20 million a year, reduce our number of national politicians by a third and bring Ireland into line with other European countries of our size.”