National University of Ireland (NUI) is a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, through which graduates of the National University of Ireland have elected members of various legislative bodies including currently Seanad Éireann.
From | To | Chamber | Members |
---|---|---|---|
1918 | 1922 | House of Commons of the United Kingdom | 1 |
1921 | 1922 | House of Commons of Southern Ireland | 4 |
1922 | 1923 | Dáil Éireann | 4 |
1923 | 1937 | Dáil Éireann | 3 |
1938 | — | Seanad Éireann | 3 |
Note: The member elected in 1918 sat in the First Dáil and the members elected in 1921 served in the Second Dáil, rather than the bodies to which they were officially elected.
National University of Ireland | |
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Former University constituency | |
for the House of Commons | |
1918–1922 |
NUI was enfranchised as a new university constituency on 1918 and continued to be entitled to be represented by one Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons until the dissolution of Parliament on 26 October 1922, shortly before the Irish Free State became a dominion outside the United Kingdom on 6 December 1922. The 1918 general election took place on 14 December and the results were declared on 28 December, except for the university constituencies. NUI voted between 18 December–22 December and the result was declared on 23 December. Eoin MacNeill was elected (and also for Londonderry City) standing for Sinn Féin and therefore did not take his seat in Westminster, instead serving as a member of the first Dáil Éireann.
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 established a devolved home rule legislature, within the United Kingdom, for twenty-six Irish counties which were designated Southern Ireland.
NUI was given four seats in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The seats were filled by four Sinn Féin MPs, who were returned unopposed. They were amongst the 124 members (out of 128) who boycotted the abortive first meeting of the House instead they took part in the second Dáil Éireann.
The Parliament was dissolved as part of the arrangements under the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922.
National University of Ireland | |
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Former Dáil Éireann Parliamentary constituency |
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1922–1937 | |
Seats | 4 (1922–1923) 3 (1923–1937) |
In the 1918 general election, Sinn Féin contested the election on the basis that they would not take seats in the United Kingdom Parliament but would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin.
The University was, in Irish republican theory, entitled to return one Teachta Dála (known in English as a Deputy) in 1918 to serve in the Irish Republic's First Dáil. This revolutionary body assembled on 21 January 1919.
In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a member of the First Dáil. In practice only Sinn Féin members participated, including the Deputy for the University.
The First Dáil, passed a motion at its last meeting on 10 May 1921, the first three parts of which make explicit the republican view.
The Second Dáil first met on 16 August 1921, thereby dissolving the First Dáil.
Sinn Féin had decided to use the polls for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as an election for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. No actual voting was necessary in Southern Ireland as all the seats were filled by unopposed returns. Except for University of Dublin all constituencies outside Northern Ireland elected Sinn Féin TDs.
The National University of Ireland constituency elected four Sinn Féin members unopposed, who participated in the Dáil.
The Third Dáil elected in 1922 was, in United Kingdom law, initially the constituent assembly for the Irish Free State and then the lower house. From this time the Dáil represented only twenty-six Irish counties and did not claim to represent the six counties of Northern Ireland. Non-Sinn Féin Deputies began to stand for and participate in the Dáil.
In the Electoral Act 1923 the Irish Free State defined its own Dáil constituencies. National University of Ireland was reduced to three seats.
The Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act 1936 repealed the Irish Free State constitutional provision for University representation in Dáil Éireann, with effect from the next dissolution of the Oireachtas which took place on 14 June 1937.
When Ireland adopted a new constitution, in 1937, this provided for the universities to be represented in a re-established Seanad Éireann (the Free State Seanad having been abolished in 1936).
The Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937 gave effect to the new constitutional provision. The election to the Seanad took place in 1938. The 2nd Seanad first met on 27 April 1938.
NUI currently sends three members to the Seanad.
Proposals to reform the Seanad may lead to the end of university representation or to its modification (in accordance with a 1979 amendment to the Constitution) to permit the graduates of tertiary educational establishments other than the University of Dublin and the National University of Ireland to participate in university Seanad elections. No decision has yet been made (as at 2010). As an example of the abolitionist view see the submission of the Green Party on Seanad reform, in 2004.[1]
The National University of Ireland is a federal university system of constituent universities (previously university colleges), and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and amended by the Universities Act, 1997.
As part of the redistribution of Parliamentary seats in 1918, the NUI was enfranchised as a new non-territorial Parliamentary constituency.
In 1918 the electorate included all registered male graduates over 21 (or over 19 if in armed services) and female graduates over 30. There were 3,819 voters registered for the 1918 general election. Most, if not all, of those electors would have been plural voters also entitled to vote in a territorial constituency.
In the Electoral Act 1923, the Irish Free State abolished plural voting for University constituencies and enfranchised women on the same terms as men. Qualified voters could then decide whether to register for a University or a territorial constituency but not for both.
The qualifications for an elector to be registered as a University voter were set out in Section 1(2)(c) of the 1923 Act. They were to be registered at "the University constituency comprising a university in which he or she has received a degree other than an honorary degree or, in the case of the University of Dublin, has received such degree as aforesaid, or obtained a foundation scholarship, or, if a woman, obtained a non-foundation scholarship".
Sinn Féin defeated the Irish Parliamentary Party by a two to one margin in 1918. They lost one of their four seats in the 1922 elections. Until around the 1950s elections were largely partisan, but since then independents have tended to predominate.
In 1918 the National University of Ireland was a single member, non-territorial University constituency which was (in theory) represented as a Parliament of the United Kingdom constituency 1918–1922. In 1918 the constituency used the First-past-the-post system.
From 1921 parliamentary representatives of the University were elected using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.
From | To | Name | Party | Birth | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1918 | 1923 | Eoin MacNeill | Sinn Féin[2] | 15 May 1867 | 15 October 1945 |
1921 | 1922 | Ada English | Sinn Féin | 10 January 1875 | 1 January 1944 |
1921 | 1933 | Michael Hayes[3] | Sinn Féin / Cumann na nGaedheal from 1923 |
1 December 1889 | 11 July 1976 |
1921 | 1923 | William Stockley[4] | Sinn Féin | 29 June 1859 | 22 July 1943 |
1922 | 1927 | William Magennis | Independent / Clann Éireann from 1926 |
18 May 1867 | 30 March 1946 |
1923 | 1937 | Patrick McGilligan | Independent / Cumann na nGaedheal from 1924 / Fine Gael from 1933 |
12 April 1889 | 15 November 1979 |
1927 | 1927 | Arthur Clery[5] | Republican | 1879 | November 1932 |
1927 | 1932 | Michael Tierney | Cumann na nGaedheal | 30 September 1894 | 10 May 1975 |
1932 | 1936 | Conor Maguire | Fianna Fáil | 1889 | 26 September 1971 |
1933 | 1937 | Helena Concannon | Fianna Fáil | 1878 | 27 February 1952 |
1938 | 1944 | Michael Tierney | Fine Gael | 30 September 1894 | 10 May 1975 |
1938 | 1952 | Helena Concannon | Fianna Fáil / Independent from 1951 |
1878 | 27 February 1952 |
1938 | 1960 | Henry Barniville | Independent | 1887 | 23 September 1960 |
1944 | 1948 | Michael J. Ryan | Independent | 1887 | 24 October 1952 |
1948 | 1965 | George O'Brien | Independent | 1892 | 31 December 1973 |
1953 | 1954 | John F. Cunningham | Independent | 1954 | |
1954 | 1957 | Roger McHugh | Independent | ||
1957 | 1977 | Patrick Quinlan | Independent | 8 November 2001 | |
1961 | 1969 | Dónall Ó Conalláin | Independent | 1907 | 7 December 1987 |
1965 | 1973 | Bryan Alton | Independent | 5 June 1919 | 18 January 1991 |
1969 | 1977 | John Horgan | Labour Party | 26 October 1940 | |
1973 | 1981 | Augustine Martin | Independent | 13 November 1935 | 16 October 1995 |
1977 | 1982 | Gemma Hussey | Independent / Fine Gael from 1981 |
11 November 1938 | |
1977 | 1982 | John A. Murphy | Independent | 17 January 1927 | |
1981 | 1982 | Liam B. Ryan | Independent | ||
1982 | 1987 | James Dooge | Fine Gael | 30 July 1922 | 20 August 2010 |
1982 | 1992 | Brendan Ryan | Independent | 1 August 1946 | |
1983 | 1987 | Michael D. Higgins | Labour Party | 18 April 1941 | |
1987 | 1992 | John A. Murphy | Independent | 17 January 1927 | |
1987 | date | Joe O'Toole | Independent | 20 July 1947 | |
1993 | 1997 | Joe Lee | Independent | 9 July 1942 | |
1993 | date | Feargal Quinn | Independent | 27 November 1936 | |
1997 | 2007 | Brendan Ryan[6] | Independent / Labour Party from 14 January 1999 |
1 August 1946 | |
2007 | date | Rónán Mullen | Independent | 13 October 1970 |
The 1918 general election took place on 14 December and the results were declared on 28 December, except for the university constituencies. NUI voted between 18 December–22 December and the result was declared on 23 December.
1918 general election: National University of Ireland[7] | |||||
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Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Sinn Féin | Eoin MacNeill | 1,644 | 66.9 | N/A | |
Irish Parliamentary | Arthur W. Conway | 813 | 33.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 831 | 33.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 3,819 | 64.3 | N/A |
1921 general election: National University of Ireland[8] | ||||||
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Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Sinn Féin | Ada English | Unopposed | N/A | 1 | ||
Sinn Féin | Michael Hayes | Unopposed | N/A | 2 | ||
Sinn Féin | Eoin MacNeill | Unopposed | N/A | 3 | ||
Sinn Féin | William Stockley | Unopposed | N/A | 4 |
1922 general election: National University of Ireland[9] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) | Eoin MacNeill | 888 | 33.7 | 1 | 1 | |
Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) | Michael Hayes | 294 | 11.2 | 2 | 2 | |
Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty) | William Stockley | 349 | 13.2 | 3 | 3 | |
Independent | William Magennis | 381 | 14.5 | 4 | 4 | |
Independent | Arthur W. Conway | 410 | 15.6 | |||
Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty) | Ada English | 314 | 11.9 | |||
Electorate: 5,053 Valid: 2,636 Quota: 528 Turnout: 52.2% |
1923 general election: National University of Ireland[10] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Eoin MacNeill | 418 | 34.8 | 1 | ||
Cumann na nGaedheal | Michael Hayes | 210 | 17.5 | 2 | ||
Cumann na nGaedheal | William Magennis | 201 | 16.7 | 3 | ||
Republican | William Stockley | 144 | 12.0 | |||
Independent | Agnes O'Farrelly | 136 | 11.3 | |||
Republican | Hugh Ryan | 93 | 7.7 | |||
Electorate: 1,561 Valid: 1,202 Quota: 301 Turnout: 77.0% |
1923 by-election: National University of Ireland[11] | ||||||
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Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Patrick McGilligan | 849 | 76.5 | 1 | 1 | |
Republican | William Stockley | 261 | 23.5 | |||
Electorate: 1,567 Valid: 1,110 Quota: 556 Turnout: 70.8% |
June 1927 general election: National University of Ireland[12] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Ceann Comhairle | Michael Hayes | Automatically returned | N/A | 1 | 1 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Patrick McGilligan | 1,090 | 50.7 | 2 | 1 | |
Independent | Arthur Clery | 514 | 23.9 | 3 | 4 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Eoin MacNeill | 228 | 10.6 | |||
Independent | Agnes O'Farrelly | 163 | 7.6 | |||
Clann Éireann | William Magennis | 155 | 7.2 | |||
Electorate: ? Valid: 2,150 Quota: 717 Turnout: |
September 1927 general election: National University of Ireland[12] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Ceann Comhairle | Michael Hayes | Automatically returned | N/A | 1 | 1 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Patrick McGilligan | 1,229 | 55.8 | 2 | 1 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Michael Tierney | 319 | 14.5 | 3 | ||
Fianna Fáil | Conor Maguire | 652 | 29.6 | |||
Electorate: ? Valid: 2,200 Quota: 734 Turnout: |
1932 general election: National University of Ireland[13] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Ceann Comhairle | Michael Hayes | Automatically returned | N/A | 1 | 1 | |
Fianna Fáil | Conor Maguire | 1,396 | 44.3 | 2 | 1 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Patrick McGilligan | 1,332 | 42.2 | 3 | 1 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Michael Tierney | 426 | 13.5 | |||
Electorate: ? Valid: 3,154 Quota: 1,052 Turnout: |
1933 general election: National University of Ireland[14] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Fianna Fáil | Conor Maguire | 1,306 | 34.6 | 1 | 1 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Patrick McGilligan | 1,028 | 27.3 | 2 | 1 | |
Fianna Fáil | Helena Concannon | 773 | 20.5 | 2 | 3 | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | Michael Hayes | 664 | 17.6 | |||
Electorate: 4,655 Valid: 3,771 Quota: 943 Turnout: 81.0% |
2002 election: National University of Ireland | ||||||
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Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Independent | Feargal Quinn | 5,640 | 17.5 | 1 | 12 | |
Independent | Joe O'Toole | 5,463 | 16.9 | 2 | 13 | |
Labour Party | Brendan Ryan | 4,264 | 13.2 | 3 | 13 | |
Independent | Bernardine O'Sullivan | 4,054 | 12.6 | |||
Independent | Valerie Bresnihan | 2,856 | 8.9 | |||
Independent | Brendan Price | 2,035 | 6.3 | |||
Independent | Linda O'Shea Farren | 1,533 | 4.8 | |||
Independent | Pierce Purcell | 1,295 | 4.0 | |||
Independent | Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh | 1,273 | 4.0 | |||
Independent | Jim O'Callaghan | 1,239 | 3.8 | |||
Independent | Michael Griffin | 961 | 3.0 | |||
Independent | Matthew Harmey | 590 | 1.8 | |||
Independent | Noel Murphy | 356 | 1.1 | |||
Independent | Michael Cosgrave | 273 | 0.9 | |||
Independent | Colm O'Higgins | 226 | 0.7 | |||
Independent | Liam Ó Gógáin | 191 | 0.6 | |||
Electorate: 101,952 Valid: 32,249 Quota: 8,063 Turnout: 31.6% |
2007 election: National University of Ireland[15][16] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
Independent | Joe O'Toole | 5,412 | 1 | 21 | ||
Independent | Rónán Mullen | 4,661 | 3 | 21 | ||
Independent | Feargal Quinn | 3,863 | 2 | 21 | ||
Labour Party | Brendan Ryan | 3,283 | ||||
Independent | Valerie Bresnihan | 3,282 | ||||
Independent | Bernardine O'Sullivan | 2,395 | ||||
Independent | John Hillery | 1,734 | ||||
Independent | Paddy Healy | 1,393 | ||||
Fine Gael | John Kennedy | 1,303 | ||||
Independent | Brendan Price | 1,289 | ||||
Independent | Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh | 1,005 | ||||
Independent | Mark Garavan | 951 | ||||
Fianna Fáil | Liam Crowley | 814 | ||||
Independent | Susan Philips | 706 | ||||
Green Party | Martin Hogan | 683 | ||||
Independent | Martina Lowe | 596 | ||||
Independent | Linda O'Shea Farren | 563 | ||||
Independent | Mary O'Riordan | 538 | ||||
Independent | Daniel K. Sullivan | 372 | ||||
Independent | Oonagh Monahan | 327 | ||||
Independent | Bernie O'Callaghan | 305 | ||||
Independent | Shane Brodbin | 220 | ||||
Fathers Rights | Liam Ó Gógáin | 174 | ||||
Independent | Mark Connolly | 120 | ||||
Electorate: ? Valid: 35,989 Quota: 8,998 Turnout: ?% |
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