45 senators attend historic first meeting of Seanad Éireann
Dublin, 13 December 1922 – Seanad Éireann, the second house of the Oireachtas has officially come into existence.
The gathering of 45 new senators took place in Dublin on 11 December following a proclamation issued by the new Governor General, Timothy Healy, in a special edition of Iris Oifigiúil. The proclamation declared that ‘the House of the Oireachtas called Seand Éireann has been duly constituted by such nomination and election as aforesaid, and I hereby further declare and make it known that the persons so nominated and elected, respectively, to be members of Seanad Éireann are required to give their attendance at the Theatre of the Royal Dublin Society, Leinster Lawn, Kildare St., Dublin, on Monday, December 11, at noon, for the purpose of answering the role and taking the oath required by the said constitution...’
Among the attendees was the poet and historian, George Sigerson, who was chosen to preside until a chairman was elected. The following day – despite opposition from Col. Maurice Moore and Jennie Wyse Power – James Campbell, also known as Lord Glenavy, former Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was elected chairman.
Campbell was nominated by John McLoughlin from Buncrana, who said that this was one of the most important steps the Seanad could take if they meant to follow the road leading to a united Ireland. By electing Glenavy a prominent southern unionist, he claimed that the Seanad would be giving a guarantee of fair play, and sending a signal that in the south they were prepared to treat every man as a brother Irishman irrespective of what his politics were in the past or his religion in the present.
Four women will sit in the new chamber: Alice Stopford Green; Ellen Odette Cuffe, Jennie Wyse Power and Eileen Costello.
Two of the four – Cuffe and Wyse Power – were included on the president’s list and the other two were elected, with Stopford Green, a writer and historian, topping the poll. Eileen Costello, is a well-known author and archaeologist from Tuam.
The new Seanad encompasses a diverse range of interests, including merchants, farmers, Labour representatives, medical doctors, engineers, and the teachers.
In an editorial published today, the Cork Examiner says that the establishment of an ‘Irish parliament – both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann – will assuredly endeavour to effect the stability that is required, and bring about the order and peace that are necessary to progress.’
The Cork Examiner, while acknowledging the privations that existed in many Irish homes – ‘unemployment has created poverty’ and the ‘existing unrest is the chief cause of it’ – has nevertheless claimed that the establishment of the Oireachtas represented a ‘decidedly hopeful’ moment. Despite the obvious evidence of unruliness, ‘events are unquestionably moving along well defined lines which warrant the assumption that better days are in store.’
More immediately, the Oireachtas will have to deal with a large legislative programme. This was outlined in a speech made by the governor general in the Seanad on 12 December. This programme will address such issues as: adult suffrage; a new judicial system; the civic guard; compensation claims; land purchase completion; compensation for pre-Truce damages; establishment of a patent office and adaptation of the copyright and other laws.
It will also be the duty of the southern government to establish a Boundary Commission to draw the borders between north and south ‘in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants, so far as may be compatible with economic and geographic conditions’.
Moves to set up a Boundary Commission follow the decision of Northern Ireland to opt out of joining the Irish Free State.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
