The Seanad has voted to hold a referendum to abolish itself. The vote was passed this afternoon by 33 votes to 25.
A vote will now take place on Friday October 4th, according to Fine Gael who announced the date on Twitter.
Voting on the #Seanad referendum will take place on October 4th.
— Fine Gael Official (@FineGaelToday) July 23, 2013
There were impassioned pleas from the Opposition to save the Seanad and delay the Bill for 90 days but it did not happen.
Senator Fiach MacConaghail missed the vote due to rehearsals for a play, while former Fine Gael Senators Paul Bradford and Fidelma Healy-Eames voted with the coalition.
The final contribution came from Senator Rónán Mullen who was not happy that the Taoiseach was absent.
Speaking in June, former Presidential candidate Senator David Norris launched a scathing attack on those trying to abolish the institution.
Watch a video explainer of what the Seanad does from our Political Correspondent Páraic Gallagher:
