Almost 52% of public vote to keep Seanad in apparent protest against Enda Kenny's Fine Gael-Labour coalition

The Irish premier, Enda Kenny, has suffered a major blow to his authority as taoiseach after his plans to abolish the country's upper house of parliament were rejected in a referendum.

Almost 52% of the public voted to keep the Seanad, or senate. It was clear a majority had used the referendum as a protest vote against Kenny's Fine Gael-Labour coalition.

Kenny conceded defeat but admitted he was disappointed by the outcome. "Sometimes in politics you get a wallop in the electoral process," he said. The taoiseach said his government would now focus on reforming the upper house so it could contribute to politics in "a meaningful way".

"The Seanad question was one element of a process of change and reform to politics that government has been pursuing," he added.

The ruling parties face further problems over the next few weeks as they prepare for another unpopular, cost-cutting austerity budget this month. Fine Gael and Labour, alongside Sinn Féin, had called for a yes vote, while an alliance of independent Dail deputies and senators from left and right urged voters to oppose abolition. The main opposition party, Fianna Fáil, also campaigned for a no vote and described the drive to abolish the upper house as a "power grab" by the coalition.