This article is from page 12 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
IT NOW seems unlikely that the voters of Clare will not be asked to turn out for a General Election before January or February, as The Green Party had promised before Christmas.
That was the message from Clare TD and Minister for Defense Tony Killeen who said over the weekend that the General Election is now unlikely to take place before March.
This is to give time for the Financial Bill to pass through the Dáil, a process which could take more than two months to complete. Once the Financial Bill is successfully through the Dáil and the Dáil is dissolved by President Mary McAleese, it will take at least one month for an election to take place.
“It would seem unlikely to me that the election would come before March,” said Minister Killeen, who also raised the possibility of hosting a referendum on the future of the Seanad at the same time as the General election.
“In the kind of time scale that is envisioned for the Finance Bill it would seem to be to be possible [to host the Seanad referendum] but I am not aware that it has been considered yet.”
Meanwhile, Labour yesterday has confirmed that they will be calling for the abolition of the Seanad as part of their programme for government.
It is also understood that behind the scenes talks have taken place between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and both side of the coalition are said to be receptive to the idea of getting rid of the Seanad.
The Green Party said two months ago there should be a general election held before the end of January. However, they have since cooled towards the idea and hope to push legislation through in the coming months