ABSTRACT
Previous studies of the reconstituted Irish Senate of 1938 have been scathing in their assessment of the chamber’s legislative weaknesses and the failure of the vocational ideal which was supposed to underpin the selection and election of a majority of senators. The inspiration for such a scheme of organisation came from the interest in Catholic social teaching present in Irish academic and political life in the 1930s. The Taoiseach (prime minister), Éamon de Valera, however, often appeared agnostic on the question of bicameralism – an attitude which, for some, seemed to foreshadow the uncertain place of the Senate in Irish politics. This chapter investigates the first decade of the reconstituted Senate, analysing the debates which led to its formation, assessing the controversies over its vocational character and election procedures and reflecting on the business of the chamber itself. In so doing, it seeks to situate the Senate’s origins and developments in the context of domestic and external events. This chapter not only argues that examination of the senators returned – and their activities confirms some of the strongest critiques of the chamber – but also provides a counterweight to many of the dismissals of the chamber in its early years.
