2019 European Parliament election in Ireland
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13 Irish seats to the European Parliament (2 of which were post-Brexit seats) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 49.7% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Members of the European Parliament for Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2019 European Parliament election in Ireland is the Irish component of the 2019 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 24 May 2019, on the same day as the 2019 local elections and a referendum easing restrictions on divorce.[1] The election was conducted in three constituencies under the single transferable vote (STV). Thirteen MEPs were elected, but the last candidate elected in both Dublin and South did not take their seats until after Brexit on 31 January 2020.
Constituency changes
The United Kingdom invoked Article 50 to withdraw from the European Union on 29 March 2017 following the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. As Article 50 has a two-year period for withdrawal, the United Kingdom would not be part of the 2019 European Parliament election scheduled for May 2019. In July 2018, the European Council made a decision to redistribute a number of the seats from the United Kingdom to other member states. The allocation of MEPs from Ireland increased from 11 to 13; however, this change would not take effect until the United Kingdom has left the EU, which took place on 31 January 2020. As the United Kingdom was still a member of the EU at the beginning of the 2019–2024 parliamentary term, the allocation of seats will remain as it was in the previous parliament, until its withdrawal becomes legally effective.[2][3][4]
A Constituency Commission chaired by High Court judge Robert Haughton was established by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government in July 2018 to redraw constituencies in line with the change in seats.[5][6] The Commission's report was published on 24 September 2018 and proposed the following changes:[7][8]
- Dublin gains an extra seat from 3 to 4; with no boundary changes. Full electorate is 884,118, giving electorate of 221,029.5 per seat.
- South gains an extra seat from 4 to 5, and gains counties Laois and Offaly from Midlands–North-West. Full electorate is 1,417,017, giving electorate of 283,403.4 per seat.
- Midlands–North-West loses Laois and Offaly to South, but remains a 4 seater. Full electorate is 1,224,888, giving electorate of 306,222 per seat.
The European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019 enacted the changes recommended by the Constituency Commission.[9]
It also provided for the situation that Ireland's representation remained at 11 with an amendment to the rules, "For the purpose of the European elections held in the year 2019, the return made by the chief returning officer […] shall declare that the last candidate deemed to be elected […] in each of the constituencies of Dublin and South as specified in the Third Schedule, shall not take up their seats in the European Parliament until such time as a date has been specified by the Parliament for the taking up of such seats".[10]
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had incorrectly suggested that the votes would be counted twice in the constituencies which had an increased number of seats, to account for either contingency. However, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy later clarified that there would be only one count for each constituency, and that the final candidate to be deemed elected in Dublin and South would not take their seats until the withdrawal of the United Kingdom.[11]
Retiring incumbents
The following MEPs did not seek re-election:
| Constituency | Departing MEP | Party | EP Group | First elected | Date announced | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | Nessa Childers | Independent politicians in Ireland | S&D | 2009 | 18 July 2017[12] | ||
| South | Brian Crowley | Independent politicians in Ireland | ECR | 1994 | 17 January 2019[13] | ||
| Dublin | Brian Hayes | Fine Gael | EPP | 2014 | 6 November 2018[14] | ||
| Midlands–North-West | Marian Harkin | Independent politicians in Ireland | ALDE | 2004 | 1 April 2019[15] | ||
Candidates
Nominations closed at midday on 15 April 2019, with 59 candidates in total: 19 in Dublin (4 seats), 17 in Midlands–North-West (4 seats) and 23 in South (5 seats).[16]
European alliances
| Party/Independent candidate | Euro party | EP group[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | EPP | EPP | |||
| Fianna Fáil | ALDE | RE | |||
| Sinn Féin | GUE/NGL | ||||
| Green | European Greens | Greens/EFA | |||
| Inds. 4 Change | GUE/NGL | ||||
| Labour | PES | S&D | |||
| Solidarity–PBP | EACL | GUE/NGL | |||
| Luke 'Ming' Flanagan | GUE/NGL | ||||
Independents 4 Change was not affiliated to a parliamentary group at the time of the election, but joined European United Left–Nordic Green Left group.[18]
Results
| Party | Euro party | Euro group | Party Leader | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | Brexit seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | EPP | EPP | Leo Varadkar | 496,459 | 29.6 | +7.3 | 5 / 13
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 1
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+1 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | ALDE | RE | Micheál Martin | 277,705 | 16.6 | –5.7 | 2 / 13
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1
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+1 | |||
| Green | European Greens | Greens/EFA | Eamon Ryan | 190,755 | 11.4 | +6.5 | 2 / 13
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2
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| Inds. 4 Change | None | GUE/NGL | Collective leadership | 124,085 | 7.4 | new | 2 / 13
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2
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| Sinn Féin | None | GUE/NGL | Mary Lou McDonald | 196,001 | 11.7 | –7.8 | 1 / 13
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 2
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| Labour | PES | S&D | Brendan Howlin | 52,753 | 3.1 | –2.2 | 0 / 13
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| Solidarity–PBP | EACL | GUE/NGL | Collective leadership | 38,771 | 2.3 | –1.0 | 0 / 13
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| Social Democrats | None | None | Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall |
20,331 | 1.2 | new | 0 / 13
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| Renua | None | None | John Leahy | 6,897 | 0.4 | new | 0 / 13
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| Workers' Party of Ireland | INITIATIVE | None | Michael Donnelly | 3,701 | 0.2 | new | 0 / 13
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| Identity Ireland | None | None | Peter O'Loughlin | 3,685 | 0.2 | new | 0 / 13
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| Direct Democracy | None | None | Pat Greene | 2,773 | 0.2 | –1.3 | 0 / 13
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| Independent | 264,087 | 15.7 | –4.1 | 1 / 13
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2
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| Valid votes | 1,678,003 | 95.8 | ||||||||||
| Blank and invalid votes | 73,870 | 4.2 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 1,751,873 | 100.0 | 13 / 13
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+2 | ||||||||
| Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | 3,526,023 | 49.7 | –2.7 | |||||||||
| Source: RTÉ News | ||||||||||||
MEPs elected
Opinion polls
Party opinion polling
Nationwide
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Constituency | Sample size |
FG | FF | SF | Lab | GP | S–PBP | SD | RI | IA | O/I[nb 3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 April 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[21] | Dublin, Midlands-North-West, South | 1,000 | 33 | 21 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21[nb 4] |
Dublin
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
FG | SF | FF | GP | I4C | S–PBP | Lab | SD | O/I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[22] | 553 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 15[nb 4] |
| 10 May 2019 | Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times[23] | 500 | 29 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 6[nb 4] |
Midlands-North-West
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
FG | FF | SF | GP | Lab | O/I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[24] | 646 | 37 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 27[nb 4] |
| 10 May 2019 | Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times[23] | 500 | 37 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 31[nb 4] |
South
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
FG | FF | SF | I4C | GP | Lab | S–PBP | O/I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[25] | 825 | 30 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 10[nb 4] |
| 10 May 2019 | Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times[23] | 500 | 37 | 23 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 6[nb 4] |
Candidate polling
Dublin
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
Fitzgerald (FG) | Boylan (SF) | Andrews (FF) | Cuffe (GP) | Daly (I4C) | Durkan (FG) | White (Lab) | Harrold (S–PBP) | Gannon (SD) | Brien (S–PBP) | Higgins (Ind) | O/I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[22] | 553 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13[nb 4] |
| 10 May 2019 | Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times[23] | 500 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4[nb 4] |
Midlands-North-West
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
McGuinness (FG) | Carthy (SF) | Flanagan (Ind) | Walsh (FG) | Casey (Ind) | Smith (FF) | Rabbitte (FF) | McHugh (GP) | Hannigan (Lab) | O'Dowd (RI) | O/I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[24] | 646 | 27 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3[nb 4] |
| 10 May 2019 | Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times[23] | 500 | 26 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4[nb 4] |
South
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
Kelly (FG) | Ní Riada (SF) | Kelleher (FF) | Byrne (FF) | Wallace (I4C) | O'Sullivan (GP) | Clune (FG) | Doyle (FG) | Nunan (Lab) | Wallace (S–PBP) | O/I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May 2019 | Red C/The Sunday Business Post[25] | 825 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10[nb 4] |
| 10 May 2019 | Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times[23] | 500 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 7[nb 4] |
See also
Footnotes
- ^ When the United Kingdom left the European Union and the seats in the European Parliament were redistributed, Fine Gael/EPP Group gained an additional seat in the South constituency.
- ^ When the United Kingdom left the European Union and the seats in the European Parliament were redistributed, Fianna Fáil/Renew Europe gained an additional seat in the Dublin constituency.
- ^ This column includes figures for Independents 4 Change and Aontú when available.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m A figure for 'Others/Independents' is not mentioned in the cited source, but has been calculated by subtracting the other parties from 100%, so the figure shown may be slightly inaccurate due to rounding effects.
- ^ Pictured here is the party's two successful candidates in this election, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly
References
- ^ "Polling Day Orders made for European and local elections". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^ European Council Decision (EU) 2018/937 of 28 June 2018 establishing the composition of the European Parliament
- ^ "Number of Irish MEPs set to increase post-Brexit". RTÉ News. 7 February 2018.
- ^ "Ireland set to gain two extra EU parliament seats after Brexit". RTÉ News. 12 June 2018.
- ^ "S.I. No. 279/2018 - European Parliament Constituency Committee (Establishment) Order 2018". Irish Statute Book. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Therese, Molloy Marie. "Minister Murphy establishes Constituency Committee to review European Parliament constituencies". merrionstreet.ie. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ "Report on European Parliament Constituencies 2018" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ "Dublin and Ireland South to gain extra European Parliament seats". RTÉ News. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ "European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019, Substitution of Third Schedule to Principal Act". Irish Statute Book. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019, Section 6". Irish Statute Book. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ McMorrow, Conor (18 April 2019). "No 'double counts' after European elections - Murphy". RTÉ. Retrieved 19 April 2019.; "Questions on Promised Legislation". Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Childers will not seek re-election as MEP in 2019". RTÉ News. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "Veteran MEP Brian Crowley confirms he won't be contesting European Election". TheJournal.ie. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "Brian Hayes to leave politics to take up banking industry role". The Irish Times. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "Marian Harkin not to contest European Parliament elections". The Irish Times. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ Brynmor Pattison (15 April 2019). "European Parliament elections 2019: Full list of Ireland candidates as 59 declare battle for 13 seats in three constituencies". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
Here are the choices for your Irish MEPs in the EU
- ^ "Publications". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "MEPs Advanced Search". European Parliament. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Flanagan, Walsh, Carthy elected in Midlands-North-West". RTÉ News. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "Daly, Andrews take final Dublin seats in Euro Elections". RTÉ News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "RED C European Election Poll" (PDF). RED C Research. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ a b O'Connell, Hugh (19 May 2019). "RedC/SBP #EP2019 Dublin Poll". @oconnellhugh. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ipsos MRBI/The Irish Times European Election Poll". Ipsos MRBI. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ a b O'Connell, Hugh (19 May 2019). "RedC/SBP #EP2019 MNW Poll". @oconnellhugh. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ a b O'Connell, Hugh (19 May 2019). "RedC/SBP". @oconnellhugh. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
External links
- EU Elections 2019 RTÉ News
