Jerry Buttimer Fine Gael Regina Doherty Fine Gael An indirect election to the 26th Seanad took place after the 2020 Irish general election, with postal ballots due on 30 and 31 March.

The Constitution of Ireland provides that a Seanad election must take place within 90 days of the dissolution of the Dáil Éireann.

As the Dáil was dissolved on 14 January, the latest day the election could take place is 13 April 2020.

[2] On 21 January 2020, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government signed an order for the Seanad elections, providing 30 March as the deadline for ballots for the vocational panels and 31 March as the deadline for ballots in the university constituencies.

The Sinn Féin victory came as a surprise and an upset, as it ended the two-party rule of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that had existed for many decades,[3][4] and polls did not show Sinn Féin winning until the election was called.

[7][8] The Seanad Returning Officer maintains a list of qualified nominating bodies for each panel.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, changes to the usual arrangements for the Vocational Panel elections were made to reduce the risk of transmission.