The Seanad elections have just finished.

The two constituencies that interest me are the NUI and the TCD constituencies. There are a total of six elected senators, three in each constituency.

I find that there are two things unusual about this situation. First of all, why is TCD a constituency on its own? Perhaps historically there was a case for preserving the one protestant university and representation for protestants. I don’t think this is an issue any more.

Secondly, if somebody has a degree from UL, DCU, DIT or a number of other places, they don’t have a vote to elect a senator. My sister has a degree from UL and she does not have a vote. This is not right either.

There should be a single constituency of 6-8 senators combining all third level graduates of Irish citizenship. Simple as that. It might still be seen as an elitist enterprise, but at least there would be a greater amount of representation and it would be more balanced.

Does anybody have any comments on this?