Cathaoirleach

Cathaoirleach (plural: Cathaoirligh) is the title of the speaker of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament. The current Cathaoirleach is Senator Pat Moylan. The Cathaoirleach is the sole judge of order and has a range of powers and functions namely:

• Calls on members to speak and all speeches must be addressed to the Chair.
• Puts such questions to the House as are required, supervises Divisions and declares the results.
• Has authority to suppress disorder, to enforce prompt obedience to Rulings and may order members to withdraw from the House or name them for suspension by the House itself for a period.
• In the case of great disorder can suspend or adjourn the House.

The Cathaoirleach's deputy is the Leas Cathaoirleach. The current Leas Cathaoirleach is Paddy Burke.

The Cathaoirleach is also an ex-officio member of the Presidential Commission, the collective vice-presidency of Ireland.

The term Cathaoirleach is also used in a generic sense for chairs of various organisations and local authorities. Many voluntary organisations, associations and clubs also employ this term, for example, Cathaoirleach of the Board of Directors of the Genealogical Society of Ireland.

Cathaoirligh of Seanad Éireann

#		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	1.	Lord Glenavy	1922	1928	Irish Unionist Party
	2.	Thomas Westropp Bennett	1928	1936	Cumann na nGaedhael
	3.	Seán Gibbons	1938	1943	Fianna Fáil
	4.	Seán Goulding	8 September 1943	21 April 1948	Fianna Fáil
	5.	Timothy O'Donovan	21 April 1948	1951	Clann na Talmhan
	6.	Liam Ó Buachalla (1st time)	1951	1954	Fianna Fáil
	7.	Patrick Baxter	1954	1957	Clann na Talmhan
		Liam Ó Buachalla (2nd time)	1957	1969	Fianna Fáil
	8.	Michael Yeats	1969	3 January 1973	Fianna Fáil
	9.	Micheál Cranitch	3 January 1973	1 June 1973	Fianna Fáil
	10.	James Dooge	1 June 1973	27 October 1977	Fine Gael
	11.	Séamus Dolan	27 October 1977	8 October 1981	Fianna Fáil
	12.	Charles McDonald	8 October 1981	13 May 1982	Fine Gael
	13.	Tras Honan (1st time)	13 May 1982	23 February 1983	Fianna Fáil
	14.	Patrick J. Reynolds	23 February 1983	25 April 1987	Fine Gael
		Tras Honan (2nd time)	25 April 1987	1 November 1989	Fianna Fáil
	15.	Seán Doherty	1 November 1989	23 January 1992	Fianna Fáil
	16.	Sean Fallon	23 January 1992	12 July 1995	Fianna Fáil
	17.	Liam Naughten	12 July 1995	16 November 1996	Fine Gael
	18.	Brian Mullooly (1st time)	16 November 1996	27 November 1996	Fianna Fáil
	19.	Liam T. Cosgrave	27 November 1996	17 September 1997	Fine Gael
		Brian Mullooly (2nd time)	17 September 1997	12 September 2002	Fianna Fáil
	20.	Rory Kiely	12 September 2002	13 September 2007	Fianna Fáil
	21.	Pat Moylan	13 September 2007	Incumbent	Fianna Fáil

External links

• Official website

References

See also

• Leader of the Seanad
• Ceann Comhairle (speaker of Dáil Éireann)
• Speaker (politics)