2026 Seanad by-election

A by-election is due to be held for the Seanad Cultural and Educational Panel in Ireland in 2026. The vacancy was caused by the election of Fine Gael's Seán Kyne to Dáil Éireann at the 2026 Galway West by-election.

Election system

The electorate in by-elections to the vocational panels consists of Oireachtas members only. For this election, it will consist of 174 TDs and 59 senators. To be nominated, a candidate must have the signature of nine members of the Oireachtas.

All votes are cast by postal ballot, and are counted using the single transferable vote. Under this system, voters can rank candidates in order of their preference, 1 as their first preference, 2 for second preference, and so on. Ballots are initially given a value of 1,000 to allow calculation of the quota (Droop quota) where all ballots are distributed in the case of a surplus.

Candidates

On 27 May 2026, the leaders of the Social Democrats, Holly Cairns, and the Labour Party, Ivana Bacik, wrote to other left wing parties and groups in the Oireachtas in the hopes of agreeing a Left Unity candidate as had been done in the 2025 presidential election.