The Seanad is often used as a holding room for politicians who didn't quite make it on the national stage. It's not quite the political afterlife, but it's not quite the world of the living. With so many notable TDs after losing their seats the fight to get a Seanad seat is likely to turn unpleasant; also why Rory Hearne, a Seanad candidate, has been retweeting the phrase "Antisemitism is a scam".