| 9th Seanad | |
| Body: | Seanad Éireann |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Meeting Place: | Leinster House |
| Term Start: | 22 May 1957 |
| Term End: | 1 September 1961 |
| Before: | 8th Seanad |
| After: | 10th Seanad |
| Membership1: | 60 |
| Chamber1 Leader1 Type: | Cathaoirleach |
| Chamber1 Leader1: | Liam Ó Buachalla (FF) |
| Chamber1 Leader2 Type: | Leas-Chathaoirleach |
| Chamber1 Leader3 Type: | Leader of the Seanad |
| Chamber1 Leader3: | Thomas Mullins (FF) |
The 9th Seanad was in office from 1957 to 1961. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1957 general election to the 16th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 10th Seanad in 1961.
On 16 May 1957, Seán Moylan was appointed as Minister for Agriculture.[1] He was the first senator appointed as a minister since the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland in 1937. Moyland died on 16 November 1957.[2]
On 22 May 1957, Liam Ó Buachalla (FF), Leas-Chathaoirleach of the 8th Seanad, was proposed by Eamon Kissane (FF) and seconded by Margaret Mary Pearse (FF) for the position of Cathaoirleach. Patrick Baxter (CnaT), Cathaoirleach of the 8th Seanad, was proposed by Michael Hayes (FG) and seconded by Victor Carton (FG). Ó Buachalla was elected by a vote of 32 to 22.[3]
On 29 May 1957, Patrick Baxter was proposed by Michael Hayes and seconded by Edward McGuire (Ind) for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach. He was elected unopposed.[4]
Patrick Baxter died on 3 April 1959.[5] On 30 May 1959, John O'Donovan (FG) was proposed by Michael Hayes and seconded by Edward McGuire to succeed Baxter. He was elected unopposed.[6]
There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels, 6 were elected from two university constituencies and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach.[7]
The following table shows the composition by party when the 9th Seanad first met on 22 May 1957.
| Vocational panels | NUI | DU | Nominated | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | Agri | Cult & Educ | Ind & Comm | Labour | ||||||||
| Fianna Fáil | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 25 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||||
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13 | ||||
| Total | 7 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 60 | |||