2024_European_Parliament_election_in_Ireland
2024 European Parliament election in Ireland
The 2024 European Parliament election in Ireland is the Irish component of the 2024 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 7 June 2024, the same day as the Irish local elections and Limerick mayoral election.[2]
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14 Irish seats to the European Parliament[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 1,800,226 (50.7%  1.0 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ireland is entitled to 14 MEPs in the Tenth European Parliament. They are elected on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote in three constituencies:
- Dublin (4 seats);
- Midlands–North-West (5 seats); and
- South (5 seats).
Thirteen MEPs were elected in 2019. However, the last candidate elected in Dublin and in South did not take their seats until January 2020, as part of the post-Brexit redistribution of seats. Ireland was allocated an additional seat in 2023 after a pre-election assessment of the parliament composition based on the most recent population figures.[3][1][4] The Electoral Commission recommended this seat be given to Midlands–North-West, with the transfer of County Laois and County Offaly from Ireland South.[5][6] This change was implemented by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023.
Irish citizens and other non-Irish EU citizens residing in the country are entitled to vote in the European elections in Ireland, provided that they are registered to vote for EU elections and that they compiled a statutory declaration issued by the local authority of their residence. Irish citizens residing abroad cannot vote for an election or referendum in Ireland. In addition, those eligible to vote must turn 18 years old by election day at the latest.[7]
The table shows the detailed composition of the Irish seats at the European Parliament as of 24 January 2024.[8]
| EP Group | Seats | Party | Seats | MEPs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European People's Party | 5 / 13 |
Fine Gael | 5 | |||
| The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL | 4 / 13 |
Independents 4 Change | 2 | |||
| Sinn Féin | 1 | |||||
| Independents | 1 | |||||
| Renew Europe | 2 / 13 |
Fianna Fáil | 2 | |||
| Greens–European Free Alliance | 2 / 13 |
Green Party | 2 | |||
| Total | 13 | |||||
Retiring incumbents
| Constituency | Departing MEP | Party | EP Group | First elected | Date announced | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | Deirdre Clune | Fine Gael | EPP | 2014 | 15 November 2023[9] | ||
| Dublin | Frances Fitzgerald | Fine Gael | EPP | 2019 | 6 November 2023[10] | ||
| Midlands–North-West | Colm Markey | Fine Gael | EPP | 2020 | 23 March 2024[11] | ||
Timeline
- 5 April: Ministerial order fixing the election date made by Darragh O'Brien, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
- 15 April: Opening of the nomination period
- 22 April: Close of the nomination period for non-Irish EU citizens
- 30 April: Close of the nomination period for Irish citizens
- 8 May: Date on which posters may be erected
- 7 June: Polling day (7 a.m.–10 p.m.)
- 9 June: Counting of votes commences
Debates
On Monday 20 May 2024 RTÉ One's Upfront with Katie Hannon hosted a debate between eight candidates running in the Midlands-North-West constituency: Peter Casey (Ind), Barry Cowen (FF), Luke 'Ming' Flanagan (Ind), Saoirse McHugh (Ind), Chris MacManus (SF), Pauline O'Reilly (GP), Peadar Tóibín (Aon) and Maria Walsh (FG).[12]
On Friday 30 May RTÉ One's Prime Time hosted 8 candidates from the South constituency: Lorna Bogue (Rabh), Paul Gavan (SF), Niamh Hourigan (Lab), Billy Kelleher (FF), Michael McNamara (Ind), John Mullins (FG), Grace O'Sullivan (GP) and Mick Wallace of (I4C).[13]
On Tuesday 4 June RTÉ One's Prime Time hosted 8 candidates from the Dublin constituency: Barry Andrews (FF), Ciarán Cuffe (GP), Clare Daly (I4C), Regina Doherty (FG), Aodhán Ó Riordáin (Lab), Lynn Boylan (SF), Sinéad Gibney (SDs) and Bríd Smith (PBP–S).[14]
| Party | EP Group | Candidates | Seats | ± | 1st pref. | FPv% | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | EPP | 5 | 4 |  1 |
362,766 | 20.79% | 8.81% | ||
| Fianna Fáil | RE | 6 | 4 | 2 |
356,794 | 20.44% | 3.84% | ||
| Sinn Féin | The Left | 6 | 2 | 1 |
194,403 | 11.14% | 0.56% | ||
| Independent Ireland | RE | 3 | 1 | 1 |
108,685 | 6.23% | New | ||
| Labour | S&D | 3 | 1 | 1 |
58,975 | 3.38% | 0.28% | ||
| Green | Greens/EFA | 3 | 0 | 2 |
93,575 | 5.36% | 6.04% | ||
| Inds. 4 Change | The Left | 2 | 0 | 2 |
79,658 | 4.58% | 2.82% | ||
| Aontú | 3 | 0 | New | 65,559 | 3.76% | New | |||
| Social Democrats | 3 | 0 |  |
51,571 | 2.95% | 1.75% | |||
| Ireland First | 3 | 0 | New | 32,667 | 1.87% | New | |||
| PBP–Solidarity | 3 | 0 | |
31,802 | 1.82% | 0.48% | |||
| Irish Freedom | 3 | 0 | New | 29,709 | 1.70% | New | |||
| National Party | 4 | 0 | New | 12,879 | 0.74% | New | |||
| Rabharta | 2 | 0 | New | 11,302 | 0.65% | New | |||
| The Irish People | 3 | 0 | New | 11,024 | 0.63% | New | |||
| Independent | 21 | 2 | 1 |
243,861 | 13.97% | 1.73% | |||
| Valid votes | 1,745,230 | 96.95% | |||||||
| Blank and invalid votes | 54,996 | 3.05% | |||||||
| Totals | 1,800,226 | 100.0% | |||||||
| Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | 3,554,450 | 50.65% | 0.97% | ||||||
| Source: "European Parliament Election Results 2024". Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. | |||||||||
MEPs elected
The elected MEPs took office on 16 July. This left four vacancies in the Dáil and one vacancy in the Seanad. Another senator elected as an MEP had resigned her Seanad seat on 10 July, and was replaced by a nominee on the same day. A writ for by-elections for the vacancies in the Dáil must be moved within 6 months of that date.[15]
Nationwide party polling
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
SF Left |
FF Renew |
FG EPP |
GP G/EFA |
Lab S&D |
SD | PBP–S | Aon | II | O/I[b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 May 2024 | Ireland Thinks/The Journal[16] | 1,161 | 17.4 | 17.7 | 18 | 7.2 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 2.8 | 5[c] | – [d] | 23 |
| 22 May 2024 | Red C/Business Post[17] | 1,021 | 21 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – [d] | 25[e] |
| 15 May 2024 | Ipsos B&A/Irish Times[18] | 1,500 | 16 | 22 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 21 |
| 7 May 2024 | Ireland Thinks/The Journal[19] | 1,633 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | – [d] | 24 |
| 7 April 2024 | Ireland Thinks/The Journal[20] | 1,334 | 23 | 17 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | – [d] | 17 |
| 7 February 2024 | Ireland Thinks/The Journal[21] | 1,255 | 26 | 19 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | – [d] | – [d] | 19 |
| 8 February 2020 | 2020 general election | — | 24.5 | 22.2 | 20.9 | 7.1 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 1.9 | – [f] | 13.5 |
| 24 May 2019 | 2019 EP election | — | 11.7 | 16.6 | 29.6 | 11.4 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | – [f] | – [f] | 24.1 |
Candidate polling
Dublin
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
Andrews (FF) | L. Boylan (SF) | Doherty (FG) | Ó Riordáin (Lab) | Cuffe (GP) | Smith (S–PBP) | Daly (I4C) | Gibney (SD) | N. Boylan (II) | Doolan (SF) | Considine (Aon) | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2024[22] | Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent | 496 | 14.1 | 11.2 | 15 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 4.8 | 8.3 | 4.6 | 9.2 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 12.5 |
| 15 May 2024[18] | Ipsos B&A/The Irish Times | 500 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 |
| 7 May 2024[23] | Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent | 457[24] | 17 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
Midlands–North-West
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
Flanagan (Ind) | Walsh (FG) | Cowen (FF) | Chambers (FF) | Carberry (FG) | Gildernew (SF) | Mullooly (II) | MacManus (SF) | Blaney (FF) | Casey (Ind) | Tóibín (Aon) | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2024[22] | Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent | 614 | 12.1 | 12.5 | 10.5 | 5.3 | 7 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 7.5 | 20.5 |
| 15 May 2024[18] | Ipsos B&A/The Irish Times | 500 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
| 7 May 2024[23] | Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent | 631[24] | 10 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 21 |
South
| Last date of polling |
Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size |
Kelly (FG) | Kelleher (FF) | Funchion (SF) | Ní Mhurchú (FF) | Gavan (SF) | Hourigan (Lab) | McNamara (Ind) | Mullins (FG) | Blighe (IF) | O'Sullivan (GP) | Wallace (I4C) | Doyle (SD) | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2024[22] | Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent | 660 | 18.5 | 14.4 | 9.5 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 3.6 | 9.9 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 10.5 |
| 15 May 2024[18] | Ipsos B&A/The Irish Times | 500 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 May 2024[23] | Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent | 643[24] | 14 | 16 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
- Pictured here are the party's two successful candidates in the 2019 election, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly.
- The figure for 'Others/Independents' (including Independents 4 Change candidates) is the remainder when all others are removed. As with all such calculations, the figure shown may be slightly inaccurate due to rounding effects.
- "Polling Day Orders made for European, local and Limerick mayoral elections". Government of Ireland (Press release). Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 6 April 2024. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- "2024 European elections: 15 additional seats divided between 12 countries | News". European Parliament. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- Cunningham, Paul (16 March 2023). "Ireland to gain seat in next European Parliament term". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- Burns, Sarah (20 November 2023). "Extra European Parliament seat recommended for Midlands-North West". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- "Review of European Parliament Constituencies Report 2023" (PDF). Electoral Commission. 20 November 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- "Ireland - How to vote". European elections 2024: all you need to know. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- "European Parliament". Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- Hurley, Sandra (15 November 2023). "Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune will not contest next election". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- "Fitzgerald not contesting European Parliament election next year". RTÉ News. 6 November 2023. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- "Sitting Fine Gael MEP Colm Markey says he will not contest the European elections". TheJournal.ie. 24 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- McGee, Harry (21 May 2024). "European election Midlands-North-West debate: Migration a heated topic, but winning candidates hard to pick". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- "Eight candidates take part in European election debate". RTÉ News. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- O'Sullivan, Colman (5 June 2024). "EU candidates for Dublin quizzed on migration, defence". RTÉ News. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- Cunningham, Paul (17 June 2024). "The loopholes to avoiding four by-elections". RTÉ News.
- Ryan, Órla (31 May 2024). "Independents remain most popular, while Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil overtake Sinn Féin in latest poll". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- "Business Post Red C Opinion Poll Report May 2024" (PDF). Business Post. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- Leahy, Pat (18 May 2024). "Big parties set to win seats in each of three European Parliament constituencies, poll finds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- Ryan, Órla (10 May 2024). "Independent candidates overtake Sinn Féin as voters' top choice ahead of European elections". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- Matthews, Jane (11 April 2024). "Simon Harris's leadership makes 15% of voters less likely to vote for Fine Gael - poll". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- Finn, Christina (12 February 2024). "New poll shows Sinn Féin out in front for upcoming European elections in June". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- Cunningham, Kevin (2 June 2024). "Poll: The race to Europe – very few done deals as candidates close in on finish line". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
- Corcoran, Jody (19 May 2024). "Poll reveals the key battle the local and European elections is between centrist parties and the 'new right'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- Corcoran, Jody (19 May 2024). "European Elections". Sunday Independent. p. 10.
- "European elections". European Parliament.