2009 European Parliament election in Ireland
Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election
2009 European Parliament election in Ireland Turnout 1,875,920 (57.6% 1.4pp )
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Enda Kenny
Brian Cowen
Eamon Gilmore
Party
Fine Gael
Fianna Fáil
Labour
Alliance
EPP
ALDE
S&D
Leader since
2 June 2002
7 May 2008
6 September 2007
Last election
27.8%, 5 seats
29.5%, 4 seats
10.5%, 1 seat
Seats won
Seat change
1
1
2
Popular vote
532,889
440,562
254,669
Percentage
29.1%
24.1%
13.9%
Swing
1.3%
5.4%
3.4%
Fourth party
Fifth party
Sixth party
LI
Leader
Joe Higgins
Gerry Adams
Declan Ganley
Party
Socialist Party
Sinn Féin
Libertas
Alliance
GUE/NGL
GUE/NGL
Lib.eu
Leader since
1996
1983
30 October 2008
Last election
1.3%, 0 seats
11.1%, 1 seat
New
Seats won
Seat change
1
1
Popular vote
50,510
205,613
99,709
Percentage
2.7%
11.2%
5.4%
Swing
1.4%
0.1%
5.4%
Colours indicate winning party.
The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections . Two by-elections (Dublin South and Dublin Central ) were also held on the same day.[ 1]
National and regional summaries
The governing Fianna Fáil party lost one MEP and a significant share of the vote, in line with the day's other election results. Fine Gael increased its national vote share but lost a seat. The Labour Party , which increased its delegation from one MEP to three, was the only major party to make seat gains. Sinn Féin lost its only MEP in the Republic of Ireland, and the Socialist Party won a seat for the first time. One independent MEP lost her seat. The Green Party 's vote was halved, and the pan-European Libertas party, based in Ireland, also failed to make a breakthrough.
In Dublin , Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael and Proinsias De Rossa of Labour were re-elected, while Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party defeated the incumbent Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin MEPs to take the third seat. In the East constituency, Mairead McGuinness of Fine Gael and Liam Aylward of Fianna Fáil were re-elected. Nessa Childers of Labour took the vacant final seat. North-West re-elected independent ALDE MEP Marian Harkin and Jim Higgins of Fine Gael, while the Fianna Fáil seat was retained by former MEP Pat "the Cope" Gallagher . In South , Brian Crowley of Fianna Fáil was re-elected, Seán Kelly won a seat from his Fine Gael colleague Colm Burke , and Labour's Alan Kelly took the last seat in a tight contest between him, Sinn Féin 's Toiréasa Ferris and the incumbent Independent Kathy Sinnott in the final count.[ 2]
Constituency changes
In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Nice , the number of MEPs from Ireland in the European Parliament was reduced from 13 to 12 for this election. The Dublin constituency was reduced from 4 seats to 3, and the counties of Longford and Westmeath were transferred from the East constituency to the North-West constituency . The election was conducted under the single transferable vote in Ireland; the only other constituencies to elect their MEPs under STV are Malta and Northern Ireland , with the rest of Europe using variants of the list system .
Local and Euro election posters and banners in Cork city
Results
2009–2014 European Parliament Ireland constituencies
Elections to the European Parliament in Ireland – 2009 [ 3]
Party
European party
Party leader
First pref vote
%
±%
Seats
±
Fine Gael
EPP
Enda Kenny
532,889
29.1
1.3
4
1
Fianna Fáil
ALDE
Brian Cowen
440,562
24.1
5.4
3
1
Labour Party
S&D
Eamon Gilmore
254,669
13.9
3.4
3
2
Socialist Party
GUE/NGL
Joe Higgins
50,510[ 4]
2.7
1.4
1
1
Sinn Féin
GUE/NGL
Gerry Adams
205,613
11.2
0.1
0
1
Libertas
EFD
Declan Ganley
99,709
5.4
5.4
0
±0
Green Party
Greens/EFA
John Gormley
34,585
1.9
2.4
0
±0
Independent
210,776
11.5
4.0
1
1
Total
1,829,313
100.0
—
12
−1
MEPs elected
Voting details
Constituency
Electorate
Turnout
Spoilt
Valid Poll
Quota
Seats
Candidates
Dublin
812,465
412,684 (50.8%)
6,054 (1.5%)
406,630
101,658
3
10
East
778,502
442,291 (56.8%)
13,042 (2.9%)
429,249
107,313
3
11
North-West
805,626
510,982 (63.4%)
15,675 (3.1%)
495,307
123,827
3
13
South
861,727
509,963 (59.2%)
11,836 (2.3%)
498,127
124,532
3
10
Total
3,258,320
1,875,920 (57.5%)
46,607 (2.5%)
1,829,313
—
12
44
See also
References
External links