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European Parliament Elections 2024 - Friday, June 7th

Brussels Sprout

Leo Varadkar announced the date of the European (and local) elections today.

Reminder of our current sitting MEPs

Dublin

Ciaran Cuffe - GP
Clare Daly - I4C
Frances Fitzgerald - FG (retiring)
Barry Andrews - FF

Midlands - North West

Chris MacManus- SF
Luke Ming Flanagan - Ind
Maria Walsh - FG
Colm Markey - FG

South

Mick Wallace - I4C
Billy Kelleher - FF
Sean Kelly - FG
Deirdre Clune - FG (retiring)
Grace O'Sullivan - GP

Apart from the two retirees all other sitting MEPs have announced that they are running again apart from Clare Daly and Colm Markey who have yet to indicate their intentions.

Ireland will have 1 extra MEP this time. This will go to the Midlands-North West constituency, which becomes a 5 seater. As part of this the boundaries have moved with the counties of Laois and Offaly moving back to this constituency from South.

The current candidate lists are as follows:

Some interesting names there:

Aontu's leader and sole TD, Peadar Toibin running for a seat
FF going for a 3 candidate strategy in Midlands-North West (seems potentially disastrous)
Lynn Boylan aiming to win back her old seat in Dublin
Housing Campaigner Rory Hearne joining the Social Democrats (seems an odd race to run in given his area of focus)
The leaders of the far-right National Party (James Reynolds) and Irish Freedom Party (Hermann Kelly) both running
Brid Smith retiring from the Dail but running for Europe
ex-Green Lorna Bogue running in South for her new-ish party

With 12 weeks to go, no doubt there will be many more candidates added to those lists. It's relatively easy to run in these - Ireland South had 23 candidates last time out.

So who do you think will lose their seats? Who is best poised to gain? Any likely surprises?

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Comments

Manach

It had been fairly busy at the polling station when I voted, hopefully a high turnout. From a conservative view point, not much of a resonance in the main parties so used whichcandidate.ie to check which of the independants shared my views.

suvigirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233391#Comment_122233391

Shows the difference in polling stations, I was in mine at 2.30 pm, deserted! Literally a handful of polling cards in the boxes, ladies said it was unbelievable slow. Be interesting to see how much busier it did /didn't get.

Bit weird putting booths in the middle of the room..…

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233463#Comment_122233463

Is it ever needed? I have never been asked for identification at a vote and have never heard of anyone else being asked for identification. Maybe asking for identification is just a thing in some parts of the country.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233452#Comment_122233452

Probably. My missus is a polling clerk and she keeps it in a bag behind the table unless it's needed.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233426#Comment_122233426

Cheers for that. Voting all my life and never noticed it before. Two new officials in my booth replacing two who had done it for years, so maybe they placed it more prominently.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233405#Comment_122233405

There's a Bible at every single table in every single polling station. It's part and parcel of the polling day materials. Think it's used where a voter can swear an oath of their identity if they don't have ID when challenged.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233410#Comment_122233410

We do, but only every few years.

Widdensushi

Jesus, some of ye need to get out more...

FrancieBrady

My local election centre had something odd and I wonder if it was a thing anywhere else.
On the table where the officials were handing out the polling sheets was a New Testament Bible with what looked like leaflets underneath. I was gonna ask why it was there but I hit a busy patch and a bit of a queue and decided not to. Annoying me now.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233317#Comment_122233317

The room is quite small and normally the booths are arranged around the walls, allowing privacy. This time, they had additional booths arranged in the centre of the room, which meant people looking for their ballot papers were inches away from the booth affording no privacy. Given the length of the ballot paper and the tiny shelf to be used for writing, it is an extremely unsatisfactory arrangement.

In addition, the ballot box was so full (at 3 pm), it was nearly impossible to get the ballots into the box through the tiny slit (given the size of the papers. The official had to poke the ballots into the box with a ruler.

I think I will make a complaint.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233359#Comment_122233359

Has official turnout been published?

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232882#Comment_122232882

The locals are a much much better indicator on party popularity.

WishUWereHere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233345#Comment_122233345

I think we all must just wait for results to unfold. Not much point in saying this or that party are facing a trouncing due to excessive or negative turnout.

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233242#Comment_122233242

How do you say this so if FFG are trounced in this are you saying it should not matter because of the low turnout which was a protest in itself

suvigirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233277#Comment_122233277

How was privacy impossible? Do they not have the same voting booths everywhere?

Sam Russell

I voted at about 3 pm, and it was packed with ladies in burkas, and many others, and extra booths, so privacy was impossible.

I voted 1 to 3 on both. I doubt my votes wont stick.

riddles

surely you’d need to be intellectually challenged to vote 1,2,3 etc in order of the candidates listing unless of course that was your voting preference as a coincidence. Disappointing to see low turnouts and as it appears not a significant trouncing for FF FG this was the election to do it.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233068#Comment_122233068

No exit polls were done.

MacDanger

MID-NW voted down to 23 but couldn't separate John Waters, Gerry Waters, Herman K and Justin B so I left it at that

Hotblack Desiato

I tried to give a low preference to FF and SF as an anti-fascist vote, but in the end couldn't bring myself to do it. 😕

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232893#Comment_122232893

Gov parties fuked dudled

Hate it when that happens

votecounts

Any exit polls due in the morning?.

cute geoge

Doing my own exit poll reckon SF and far right done well ,older people did not bother to vote so Gov parties fuked dudled .I can not see Sean Kelly or Kelliher topping South area

blackcard

Transfers will be interesting. Will FG and FF transfer to each other? Similarly with the Greens? Who will they transfer to? Are the Local Elections a better indication of the relative strengths of the parties than the Euro elections where name recognition and celebrity status can make a difference?

WishUWereHere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232468#Comment_122232468

I only went 1 to 5 but even that was a struggle

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232497#Comment_122232497

My local area had 8 candidates and 4 seats. Most of them were relatively unknown. 50% chance of getting elected.

Probably first ever Euro election that I didn't put FG down somewhere. I am so done with FG.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232497#Comment_122232497

I thought you were always FG.

namloc1980

Turnout of about 43% in my local. It got busy enough between 5-7 with people finishing work but the staff there said it was dead for most of the day.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232331#Comment_122232331

Fine of up to IR£2,500 or up to two years in prison.

It was actually amended to being 50m not 100m exclusion in the early 2000s, otherwise the 1992 law is in place hence the low-ish fine compared to the prison term!

Speak Now

Voted to 6 in local and down to 10 in Ireland south, in Europe I gave votes to parties I never thought I'd give a preference just in case any of them are in a tight race for the last seat with any of the Irish MAGA loons.