Battle for 14 Irish seats in European elections to be fought by 74 candidates

Seventy-four candidates will battle it out to take Ireland’s 14 European Parliament seats in June’s European election.

The nominations have now closed and 28 candidates will vie for the five seats in the newly expanded Midlands-North-West constituency. There are 23 candidates in the other two constituencies – the Dublin four-seater and the Ireland South five-seater. A total of 25 candidates, just over one third, are women.

Fianna Fáil is running three candidates – Laois-Offaly TD Barry Cowen and Senators Lisa Chambers and Niall Blaney – in Midlands-North-West, where it currently has no seat.

Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus is hoping to retain the seat he took when he replaced Matt Carthy after his election to the Dáil in 2020. The party is also running Michelle Gildernew MP in the constituency. Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh is joined on her party’s ticket by former jockey Nina Carberry. Independent MEP Luke Ming Flanagan is also seeking re-election.

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[ Former presidential candidate Peter Casey to contest European Parliament elections ]

Other candidates in Midlands-North-West include Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly; Fergal Landy of Labour; Rory Hearne of the Social Democrats; People Before Profit’s Brian O’Boyle; and Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín.

Former Independent presidential candidate Peter Casey – who also ran unsuccessfully in the 2019 European elections – has put his name forward again while former RTÉ broadcaster Ciarán Mullooly is running for the Independent Ireland party. Hermann Kelly, the leader of the right-wing Eurosceptic Irish Freedom Party, is another candidate.

There are two candidates listed in the constituency for the far-right National Party – Justin Barrett and James Reynolds. Both men were unsuccessful in applications to secure the right to use the party name going into the June elections amid a dispute between opposing factions in the organisation.

In Dublin, Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews is seeking re-election, as is Ciarán Cuffe of the Green Party and Clare Daly, who is running under the Independents4Change banner. Sinn Féin’s candidates are Senator Lynn Boylan and city councillor Daithí Doolan.

[ Former Green Party candidate Saoirse McHugh to contest European elections as an Independent ]

Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty is seeking to retain the seat being vacated by her party colleague Frances Fitzgerald. Dublin Bay North TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is Labour’s candidate while Sinéad Gibney, the former chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, is running for the Social Democrats. Dublin South Central TD Bríd Smith is the People Before Profit candidate and Aisling Considine is contesting for Aontú.

Broadcaster Niall Boylan is running for Independent Ireland; trade unionist Brendan Ogle is contesting as an Independent as is Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, the head imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland.

In the Ireland South constituency, Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher is joined on his party’s ticket by barrister and former broadcaster Cynthia Ní Mhurchú. Sinn Féin is running Carlow-Kilkenny TD Kathleen Funchion and Senator Paul Gavan.

[ Radio broadcaster Niall Boylan to run for Independent Ireland in European elections ]

Sitting MEP Seán Kelly and businessman John Mullins are Fine Gael’s candidates while the Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan and Mick Wallace of Independents4Change are seeking reelection. The Labour candidate is Niamh Hourigan; solicitor Susan Doyle is running for the Social Democrats; People Before Profit’s candidate is Cian Prenderville; and Aontú is running Patrick Murphy. Cork City councillor Lorna Bogue, of green left party Rabharta, is also a candidate as is anti-immigrant activist Derek Blighe of the Ireland First party, and Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara.

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