Former Sinn Fein Foyle MP wins seat to Seanad Eireann
Mrs McCallion represented Foyle for Sinn Féin from 2017-19 and is a former Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council.
She was a candidate on the Industrial and Commercial Panel for election to the Seanad, the upper house of the Oireachtas.
She lost her House of Commons seat to the SDLP’s Colum Eastwood in the UK general election last December in a landslide defeat.
Mrs McCallion said she was “absolutely delighted” to have been elected.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that the people of the north have another voice in the Oireachtas standing up for their interests,” she said.
She topped the poll after the first count, but had to wait until the 31st round to secure her seat.
Her immediate priority, she said, is “dealing with the ongoing public health emergency and taking steps to protect the public right across the island and to stop the spread of covid-19.”
Forty-three of the 60 seanad seats are decided through elections to five vocational panels, which represent various sections of society.
About 1,100 people, made up of TDs (members of the Irish parliament), outgoing senators, and county and city councillors, are eligible to vote.
The others are appointed by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and elected by graduates of the University of Dublin and the National University of Ireland.
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