Oireachtas.ie<\/a> website and on social media platforms.<\/p>\nCounting will begin on Monday afternoon, to fill 43 of the 60 senators\u2019 seats from vocational panels.<\/p>\n
There are 118 candidates seeking election to the vocational panels, comprising culture and education, agricultural, industrial and commercial and administrative.<\/p>\n
Counting for the cultural and educational panel\u2019s five senators starts on Monday with a result expected late tonight.<\/p>\n
Votes from the 43 vocational panel seats will be counted at the Printworks Center in Dublin Castle on Monday and is expected to continue until Friday April 3.<\/p>\n
The university counts \u2013 for six seats, three each from National University of Ireland colleges and Trinity College, will start on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The final 11 senators to make up the next Seanad will be announced by the taoiseach of the next government.<\/p>\n
Outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is not able to nominate the final 11 senators, putting pressure on politicians for a new government to be formed.<\/p>\n
Following the inconclusive general election result in February, government formation talks have made little progress and have been derailed as the caretaker Government deals with Covid-19.<\/p>\n
While there have been calls for a national government to be formed to deal with the crisis, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael will meet this week for formal government formation talks.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the country needs a government that is strong and stable and that one can be formed relatively quickly.<\/p>\n
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Counting in the Seanad election begins on Monday with access to the count center restricted due to Covid-19.<\/p>\n