Three leading pro-marriage Senators have been re-elected to the Senate.

Independent NUI Senator Ronan Mullen and Fianna Fáil Senators Jim Walsh and Labhras O Murchu all got back into the Senate.

Senator Mullen topped the poll in the NUI panel, with 6459 votes, while Senator Walsh, on the Agricultural panel, and Senator O Murchu on the Cultural and Educational panel, were both comfortably reelected.

The three all opposed the last Government’s Civil Partnership legislation last year. Senators Walsh and O Murchu both lost the Fianna Fáil whip over the issue.

All three also backed an amendment to the proposal, which would have allowed church halls to refuse to host post civil union receptions and civil registrars to refuse to conduct same-sex civil unions on conscience grounds.

The proposed amendment was opposed by the Government, and was not passed.

Senator John Hanafin, who also backed the amendment, lost his seat.

After Fianna Fáil’s disastrous showing in the General Election, leader Michéal Martin put an emphasis on getting younger Senators elected, and set out a list of 10 preferred candidates. Neither Senator Walsh nor Senator O Murchu was on this list.

All three men have took repeated stands in favour of marriage and religious freedom throughout the last session of the Seanad.

Senator Mullen was instrumental in ensuring that a proposal before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to restrict the conscience rights of doctors who want to refuse to perform abortion and euthanasia was amended to ensure that those rights were protected.