Irish prime minister's appointments complete upper house

Dublin - Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced his appointments to the 11 remaining seats in the upper house of parliament, or Seanad, Friday afternoon, securing a majority for his governing coalition in both houses. Ahern's Fianna Fail (FF) party had won 22 seats after vote- counting ended on July 26, while Fine Gael (FG) won 14, Labour six, Sinn Fein one and independents six of the 49 elected seats. Ahern appointed six more FF senators Friday and gave his coalition partners in the Green Party and Progressive Democrats (PDs) two seats each. He also appointed a television producer and political columnist to the final Seanad seat, giving the government a comfortable three-seat majority in the 60-seat house. The Seanad is not directly elected: in addition to the 11 senators appointed by the prime minister, six are elected by graduates of Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland, and 43 are elected by county councillors and members of the government. The Seanad operates as an advisory and review body that can delay legislation from the lower house, or Dail. It does not have the power to veto legislation. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Irish prime minister's appointments complete upper house

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