French senator praises rejection of Seanad referendum

The French senator Francoise Laborde has praised "the will of the Irish people to preserve bi-cameralism" as shown by their refusal to abolish Seanad Éireann.

Ms Laborde is president of the France-Ireland inter-parliamentary friendship group.

She published a statement on friendship group letterhead yesterday titled “The Irish saved their Senate”.

In the statement, she summarised the Government's arguments for abolition and quoted Senator Katherine Zappone as saying that Irish voters were not prepared to venture into uncharted constitutional territory.

Ms Laborde praised Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s reaction to the referendum loss and his intention to propose reform of the Seanad.

"The Irish case should serve as an example to European countries that might be tempted to renounce the bicameral model for budgetary reasons. Let us hope that the reform undertaken by the Irish Government will lead to the establishment of balanced bi-cameralism," she said.