The European Elections take place on Friday, June 7, with Laois now part of the Midlands North West constituency.
Laois and Offaly have moved from Ireland South, where they were for the last election in 2019.
The Midlands North West constituency consists of 15 counties – all five Connacht counties, three Ulster counties (Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan) and seven counties (Louth, Longford, Meath, Westmeath, Kildare, Laois and Offaly).
The other two constituencies in Ireland are Dublin and Ireland South (all of Munster as well as Carlow, Wexford, Kilkenny and Wicklow). All EU countries will go the polls on the same day as Ireland. In total Ireland will elect 13 MEPs.
The Midlands North West constituency currently has confirmed candidates running from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, Aontú, People before Profit, Independent Ireland and National Party as well as independent candidates.
A total of 16 candidates competed for four seats in the last election in 2019 when the Midlands North West constituency didn’t contain Laois and Offaly.
Elected candidates on that occasion were Mairead McGuinness (Fine Gael), Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan (Independent), Matt Carthy (Sinn Féin) and Maria Walsh (Fine Gael).
However Mairead McGuinness, who is now European Commissioner, nor Matt Carthy, who was elected a TD in 2020, are no longer MEPs nor are they running on this occasion. McGuinness was replaced by Colm Markey while Carthy’s seat was taken by Chris MacManus.
Markey has opted to not run on this occasion, with Fine Gael adding former jockey Nina Carbery to the ticket, though MacManus is aiming to win this seat in his own right and was in Portlaoise this week for Sinn Fein’s Laois launch.
With the addition of an extra seat Fianna Fáil have decided to run three candidates – they currently have no MEP in this area.
Laois-Offaly TD Barry Cowen was selected by the party members while Senators Lisa Chambers from Mayo and Niall Blaney from Donegal have also been added.
Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh will seek to retain her seat while also being joined by new candidate and former jockey Nina Carberry.
Sinn Féin’s team comprises of sitting MEP Chris MacManus, as well as Michelle Gildernew, who is currently an MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
Sitting MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan is the highest profile of the independent candidates, while the Greens, Aontú, People Before Profit, Labour, the Social Democrats and the new Independent Ireland party all have candidates too.
The Green Party have confirmed that Senator Pauline O’Reilly is their candidate while housing expert Rory Hearne, whose mother is from Clonaslee, is running for the Social Democrats.
Aontú’s leader Peadar Toibin, a current TD in Meath, has put his name forward while Galway’s Fergal Landy is representing Labour and Brian O’Boyle is running for People Before Profit. Former RTE Midlands Correspondent Ciaran Mulloolly is running for Independent Ireland.
Thus far there have been 17 confirmed candidates:
Niall Blaney (Fianna Fáil)
Niall Blaney is a Donegal politician and member of The Agricultural Panel. He was a member of the now extinct Independent Fianna Fáil before joining Fianna Fáil in 2006. Nephew of Neil Blaney, he served as TD for Donegal North-East from 2002 to 2011. He attempted but failed to win a nomination for the 2019 European Parliament Election.
Nina Carberry (Fine Gael)
Nina Carberry is a retired National Hunt Jockey. Born In Meath, this is her first time running in an election. She became the first woman to win a race at Cheltenham in 18 years after her win in 2005. She appeared on Dancing in the Stars in 2022 and became a coach in Ireland’s fittest family in the same year.
Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fáil)
Lisa Chambers is a Fianna Fáil politician, former barrister and current leader of the Seanad. She served as deputy leader of the Seanad from 2020 to 2022 and was a TD for Mayo from 2016 to 2020. She lost her Dáil seat in the 2020 General Election.
Barry Cowen (Fianna Fáil)
Offaly man Barry Cowen is a Fianna Fáil politician and TD since 2011 when he won the seat vacated by his brother, former Taoiseach, Brian. His father Ber was previously a TD.
Cowen previously served as a Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine briefly from June to July 2020.
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan (Independent)
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan is an independent politician who has been a member of the European Parliament for the Midlands North West constituency since 2014. He sits with the Left in the European Parliament. He served as a member of Roscommon County Council from 2004 to 2011 prior to winning a Dáil seat in 2011.
Michelle Gildernew (Sinn Féin)
Michelle Gildernew is Sinn Féin politician from Tyrone. She is an MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. She was re-elected in 2017 having previously held the seat from 2001 to 2015. She is also a former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Hermann Kelly (Irish Freedom Party)
Hermann Kelly is an Irish right wing, anti-immigration politician and president of the Irish Freedom Party since its foundation in 2018. Since 2021 he has served as an assistant to Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes. He is director of communications for the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group in the European Parliament.
Chris MacManus (Sinn Féin)
From Sligo, Chris MacManus is a Sinn Fein politician who has been an MEP for the Midlands North-West constituency since March 2020 when he took up the seat left vacant following Matt Carthy’s election to the Dáil. He is a part of the Left in the European Parliament. He has been an elected Sinn Fein representative since 1999.
Pauline O’Reilly (Green Party)
Pauline O’Reilly is a Green Party politician who has served as Senator since April 2020. She was elected to the Galway City Council in the 2019 Local Elections. She was one of three party members to table a motion of no confidence against green party leader Hazel Chu in 2021. She is also qualified as a solicitor.
James Reynolds (National Party)
James Reynolds is a far-right politician who served as a vice president of the National Party from 2016 to 2023. Reynolds was elected as party president in mid-July 2023 although this is disputed by fellow party member Justin Barret. He is a full time farmer and served as chairman of the Longford IFA from 1999 to 2003.
Peadar Tóibín (Aontú)
Peadar Tóibín is a politician who as served as leader of Aontú since January 2019. He has been a TD for the Meath West constituency since 2011. He served as chair of the committee of arts, heritage, regional, rural and Gaeltacht Affairs from 2016 and 2018. He was elected as a Sinn Fein candidate in 2011 but resigned in 2018 ahead of the abortion referendum.
Maria Walsh (Fine Gael)
From Mayo, former Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh is an MEP for the North-West Midlands constituency since July 2019. She is part of the European People’s Party. She was born in Boston, and as a dual US-Irish citizen she was able to vote in the 2020 US Presidential election, voting for Joe Biden.
John Waters (Independent)
John Waters, a native of Roscommon, is an independent politician, columnist and author. He is a former columnist at the Irish Times and the Irish Independent. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2020 General Election for the Dún Laoghaire constituency.
Brian O’Boyle (People Before Profit)
Sligo’s Brian O’Boyle is a politician for People Before Profit and is an economist. He taught economics, methodology mathematics and econometrics in ATU. He has conducted research in the areas of global political economy, philosophy and political theories. He has numerous peer reviewed articles published in these sectors.
Ciaran Mullooly (Independent Ireland)
Longford native Ciaran Mullooly is a former RTÉ midlands correspondent who retired from RTÉ in 2021 after 27 years of service. Since retiring from RTE he had been working with Longford County Council as a Just Transition tourism activator. He is running for the new Independent Ireland party, which has TDs in Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon), Richard O’Donoghue (Limerick) and Michael Collins (Cork).
Fergal Landy (Labour)
Fergal Landy is an Irish politician for the Labour party. He is currently the CEO of the Family Resource Centre National Forum. He is also up for election to Galway County Council in the Athenry-Oranmore local electoral area.
Roy Hearne (Social Democrats)
Roy Hearne is a centre left wing politician for the Social Democrats. He is an expert on the housing crisis and has been a central figure in the campaign for a right to a house in Ireland. He is an author of the best selling book Gaffs. Though he grew up in Waterford, Rory’s mother Mary Theresa Bates is from Clonaslee.
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