European Parliament election, 2009 (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 component of the 2009 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...

 and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections
Irish local elections, 2009
The 2009 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections .-Overview:...

. Two by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

s (Dublin South and Dublin Central
Dublin Central by-election, 2009
A by-election was held in the Dublin Central constituency in Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, following the death of the Independent Teachta Dála Tony Gregory on 2 January 2009. The by-election was held on the same day as the 2009 European and local elections. A by-election was held in the Dublin...

) were also held on the same day.

National and regional summaries

The governing Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 party lost one MEP and a significant share of the vote, in line with the day's other election results. Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 increased its national vote share but lost a seat. The Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

, which increased its delegation from one MEP to three, was the only major party to make seat gains. Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 lost its only MEP in the Republic of Ireland, and the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Ireland)
The Socialist Party is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International .Formerly known as Militant Tendency, then Militant Labour, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of...

 won a seat for the first time. One independent MEP lost her seat. The Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...

's vote was halved, and the pan-European Libertas
Libertas Ireland
Libertas Ireland was a political party in Ireland. It contended the 2009 European Parliament elections in Ireland under a common banner with Declan Ganley's Libertas.eu...

 party, based in Ireland, also failed to make a breakthrough.

In Dublin
Dublin (European Parliament constituency)
Dublin is a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland. It elects 3 Members of the European Parliament using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .-History and boundaries:...

, Gay Mitchell
Gay Mitchell
Gabriel "Gay" Mitchell is an Irish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency since 2004. He is a member of Fine Gael, part of the European People's Party, and a former Teachta Dála for the Dublin South Central constituency from 1981–2007. He was defeated by...

 of Fine Gael and Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa
Proinsias De Rossa is an Irish Labour Party politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency. He a former President of the Workers' Party and subsequently leader of Democratic Left, and later, a senior member of the Labour Party. He was Minister for Social Welfare from...

 of Labour were re-elected, while Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...

 of the Socialist Party defeated the incumbent Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin MEPs to take the third seat. In the East constituency, Mairead McGuinness
Mairead McGuinness
Mairead McGuinness is an Irish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the East constituency. She is a member of Fine Gael, part of the European People's Party.-Education and media career:...

 of Fine Gael and Liam Aylward
Liam Aylward
Liam Aylward is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Member of the European Parliament for the East constituency. He was a Teachta Dála for Carlow–Kilkenny from 1977–2007....

 of Fianna Fáil were re-elected. Nessa Childers
Nessa Childers
Nessa Maria Vereker Childers is an Irish Labour Party politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament for the East constituency....

 of Labour took the vacant final seat. North-West re-elected independent ALDE
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...

 MEP Marian Harkin
Marian Harkin
Marian Harkin is an Irish politician and is currently a Member of the European Parliament for the North-West constituency....

 and Jim Higgins of Fine Gael, while the Fianna Fáil seat was retained by former MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher. In South, Brian Crowley
Brian Crowley
Brian Crowley is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Member of the European Parliament for the South constituency. He was co-president of the Union for Europe of the Nations group in the European Parliament in which Fianna Fáil sat until it joined the ELDR and, by extension, ALDE...

 of Fianna Fáil was re-elected, Seán Kelly won a seat from his Fine Gael colleague Colm Burke
Colm Burke
Colm Burke is an Irish Fine Gael politician and member of Seanad Éireann.He was a member of the European Parliament for the South constituency in Ireland between 2007 and 2009. He was appointed in June 2007 following the re-election of the outgoing MEP Simon Coveney to Dáil Éireann...

, and Labour's Alan Kelly took the last seat in a tight contest between him, Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

's Toiréasa Ferris
Toireasa Ferris
Toiréasa Ferris is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. Her father, Martin Ferris, is a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála for Kerry North.- Political career :...

 and the incumbent Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 Kathy Sinnott
Kathy Sinnott
Kathy Sinnott is a disability rights campaigner and a former politician. She represented the South constituency in Ireland in the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009....

 in the final count.

Constituency changes

In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...

, the number of MEPs from Ireland in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 was reduced from 13 to 12 for this election. The Dublin constituency
Dublin (European Parliament constituency)
Dublin is a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland. It elects 3 Members of the European Parliament using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .-History and boundaries:...

 was reduced from 4 seats to 3, and the counties of Longford
County Longford
County Longford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford.Longford County Council is the local authority for the county...

 and Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...

 were transferred from the East constituency to the North-West constituency. The election was conducted under the single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

 in Ireland; the only other constituencies to elect their MEPs under STV are Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland (European Parliament constituency)
Northern Ireland is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects three MEPs using the Single Transferable Vote, the only United Kingdom constituency to do so.- Members of the European Parliament :- 2009 :...

, with the rest of Europe using variants of the list system.

Results


Elections to the European Parliament in Ireland – 2009
Party Party Leader 1st Pref Vote % ±% Seats ±
Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...

532,889 29.1 +1.3 4 −1
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May...

440,562 24.1 −5.4 3 −1
Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...

254,669 13.9 +3.4 3 +2
Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Ireland)
The Socialist Party is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International .Formerly known as Militant Tendency, then Militant Labour, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of...

Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins
Joe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...

50,510 2.7 +1.4 1 +1
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...

205,613 11.2 +0.1 0 −1
Libertas
Libertas Ireland
Libertas Ireland was a political party in Ireland. It contended the 2009 European Parliament elections in Ireland under a common banner with Declan Ganley's Libertas.eu...

Declan Ganley
Declan Ganley
Declan James Ganley is a British-born Irish citizen, entrepreneur, businessman and political activist. He is founder and chairman of a political party, Libertas with pan-European ambitions...

99,709 5.4 +5.4 0 ±0
Green Party
Green Party (Ireland)
The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...

John Gormley
John Gormley
John Gormley is an Irish politician. He was the leader of the Irish Green Party from 2007 to 2011, and was a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency from 1997 to 2011. He served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2007–11...

34,585 1.9 −2.4 0 ±0
Independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

210,776 11.5 −4.0 1 −1
Total 1,829,313 100 12 −1

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

  • Members of the European Parliament for Ireland 2009–2014 – List ordered by constituency

External links

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