With the latest Seanad byelection just around the corner, there will soon be a new senator in the Oireachtas.
The winner of the election will be joining Senators Lynn Ruane and David Norris representing the Dublin University constituency.
Here is everything you need to know...
Why is the byelection happening?
The Seanad byelection is to fill the seat of former Labour Senator and now TD Ivana Bacik.
Ms Bacik was elected to the Dáil in July 2021 during a byelection in Dublin Bay-South which was the result of the resignation of Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy.
Her success in the Dublin Bay-South byelection had a knock-on effect for the Seanad creating a vacant seat in the Upper House of the Oireachtas.
Ms Bacik was elected to the Seanad in the Dublin University constituency, which is the seat several candidates are now contesting.
Who are the candidates?
The nomination process for the upcoming election closed on February 11th. There are a total of 17 candidates running for the one seat:
Abbas Ali O’Shea - Director of AFA consulting and advocate for minority groups in Ireland. He previously stood as a candidate in the 2020 Seanad election.
Eoin Barry - A social worker and family therapist, Mr Barry is also a Labour representative for Laois. He ran in the 2019 local elections and previously served for three years on the Labour Party executive.
Ray Basset - Mr Basset is a former Irish ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and Bahamas. He also served on the Irish government's delegation for the Good Friday Agreement.
Hazel Chu - A former Lord Mayor, Ms Chu is a Green Party councillor on Dublin City Council. However, she has said she is running as an Independent candidate in this election.
Tom Conlon - Mr Conlon served in the Defence Forces and was a whistleblower on sexual violence. He is a media lecturer and disability advocate.
Maureen Gaffney - Ms Gaffney is a psychologist, speaker, broadcaster and writer. She served as the Director of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology at Trinity College Dublin.
Hugo MacNeill - A former Irish international rugby player, Mr MacNeill also chaired the British-Irish Association.
Aubrey McCarthy - Mr McCarthy is the founder of Tiglin, a charity that helps people overcome addiction and homelessness.
Michael McDermott - A PhD candidate at Trinity who is running on a loosely-assembled platform of abolishing the Seanad from within.
Patricia McKenna - Ms McKenna is a barrister and former Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party.
Ryan Alberto Ó Giobúin - A PhD researcher from Connemara, Mr Ó Giobúin is also active in the not-for-profit sector.
Ade Oluborode - Currently a barrister, Ms Oluborode is also a member of the Advisory Committee on the Future of Equality Legislation of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
Sadhbh O'Neill - Ms O'Neill is an assistant professor in the DCU School of Law and Government and has previously stood in local elections for Dublin City Council.
Ursula Quill - A doctoral student at TCD, Ms Quill worked for four years with Ivana Bacik in the Seanad.
Paula Roseingrave - Ms Roseingrave is a psychologist and a former Green Party candidate for Wexford in the 2020 general election.
Gisèle Scanlon - Ms Scanlon is currently Trinity Graduate Students’ Union president.
Catherine Stocker - A member of the Social Democrats, Ms Stocker is currently a councillor for Dublin City Council.
Who can vote?
As the election is to fill a Dublin University constituency seat, only Trinity graduates or foundation scholars who are aged 21 and over are eligible to vote in the election.
The right to vote is not automatic and must be claimed, so graduates must register for inclusion in the register of electors.
The annual closing date to register is February 26th, so graduates who have not yet registered will not be able to vote in this byelection.
It is estimated that there are 67,000 registered to vote. However, the percentage of graduates who vote in Seanad elections on the two university registers is frequently around 20 per cent.
When is the deadline for ballots?
Ballot papers, which were issued from the 25th of February, must be returned by 11am on the 30th of March to be counted.
Once the deadline for return ballots has passed, the vote will be counted.
The time and place of the count will be published on the Trinity College Dublin website.
