Irish voters reject Prime Minister's call to scrap Senate


Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny listens during a news conference in Riga June 6, 2013. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland voted to retain its upper house of parliament on Saturday, rejecting Prime Minister Enda Kenny's call to scrap a chamber where the likes of William Butler Yeats once sat but the government saw as redundant.

In a campaign that was backed by some of the opposition and not seen as a chance to punish the government for austerity measures imposed as part of an EU/IMF bailout, 51.7 percent of the electorate voted against the proposal.

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