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Marking the point where what's left of the Georgian city begins, Kildare Street is the really monumental part of the Grafton, Dawson, Kildare trio. The most imposing building is undoubtedly Leinster House , built in 1745 as the Duke of Leinster's town house. At that time, the fashionable area of Dublin was north of the river, and there were those who mocked him for building a town house in the south on what was then a greenfield site. The Kildare Street facade, facing the town, is built to look like a town house; the other side, looking out on to what is now Merrion Square, resembles a country house. Today, this is one of the most important buildings in Dublin, housing the Irish parliament - the Dail Eireann , or House of Representatives, and the Seanad Eireann , or Senate - as well as the National Museum and National Library . The Dail (pronounced Doil ) has 166 representatives - Teachtai Dala , usually shortened to TDs - elected by direct proportional vote, representing 41 constituencies. The Senate is proposed on a vocational basis, with six members elected by the universities and eleven nominated by the Taoiseach (pronounced Tee-shuck ), or Prime Minister. General elections take place at least every five years; presidential elections, which are also direct, are held every seven years. Mary Robinson, elected in 1990 as Ireland's first woman president, breathed welcome new life into this formerly symbolic role, testing its constitutional limitations by speaking out for women and the disadvantaged in society, while her successor, Mary McAleese, also broke new ground by becoming the first northener to hold the post. There are tours of the Government Buildings on Saturdays from 10.30am to 3.30pm. Although admission is free, you'll need to get a ticket, available from the ticket office in the National Gallery, at the back of Leinster House; the tour lasts forty minutes and takes in the Taoiseach's office, the ceremonial stairs and the cabinet room. As the tour is popular, the best thing to do is get there early and put your name down for later in the day. If you go to the Kildare Street entrance to Leinster House and present your passport or prove you are a tourist - and the guard is in a good mood - you should be able to gain entry to the Dail. The Parliament sits for ninety days a year, most of them between November and May on Tuesday from 2.30 to 8.30pm and Thursday from 10.30am to 5.30pm.
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