2014 European Parliament election in Ireland

The 2014 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2014 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 23 May 2014, on the same day as the 2014 local elections and two by-elections (Dublin West and Longford–Westmeath).[2] The election was conducted under the single transferable vote. Counting of the votes began on Sunday, 25 May[3] and continued until Tuesday, 27 May.

2014 European Parliament election in Ireland
23 May 2014
All 11 Irish seats to the European Parliament
Turnout52.44%[1]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Enda Kenny EPP 2014 (cropped).jpg
Gerry Adams 2015.jpg
Micheal Martin (official portrait) (cropped).jpg
Leader Enda Kenny[lower-alpha 1] Gerry Adams Micheál Martin
Party Fine Gael Sinn Féin Fianna Fáil
Alliance EPP GUE/NGL ALDE
Leader since 2 June 2002 13 November 1983 26 January 2011
Last election 29.1%, 4 seats 11.2%, 0 seats 24.1%, 3 seats
Seats won
4 / 11
3 / 11
1 / 11
Seat change Steady Increase 3 Decrease2
Popular vote 369,120[lower-alpha 2] 323,300 369,545
Percentage 22.28% 19.5% 22.31%
Swing Decrease 6.8% Increase 8.3% Decrease 1.8%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Eamon Gilmore TD 2014 (cropped).jpg
Eamon Ryan 2015.jpg
Socialist Party (Ireland) logo infobox.png
Leader Eamon Gilmore Eamon Ryan —
Party Labour Green Socialist Party
Alliance S&D Greens/EFA GUE/NGL
Leader since 6 September 2007 27 May 2011 —
Last election 13.9%, 3 seats 1.9%, 0 seats 2.7%, 1 seat
Seats won
0 / 11
0 / 11
0 / 11
Seat change Decrease 3 Steady Decrease 1
Popular vote 88,229 81,458 29,953
Percentage 5.3% 4.9% 1.8%
Swing Decrease 8.6% Increase 3% Decrease 0.9%
Members of the
European Parliament
for Ireland
1st delegation (1973)
2nd delegation (1973–1977)
3rd delegation (1977–1979)
1st term (1979)
2nd term (1984)
3rd term (1989)
4th term (1994)
5th term (1999)
6th term (2004)
7th term (2009)
8th term (2014)
9th term (2019)
10th term (2024)
List of women MEPs

National and regional summaries

In contrast to a poor local election result, Fine Gael retained 4 seats, remaining the largest Irish party at a European level. Despite winning the largest number of first preference votes, Fianna Fáil lost 2 seats – a result of poor candidate selection and a reduction in the number of seats. The Labour Party, bearing the brunt of voter anger with the Coalition government, suffered a meltdown, losing all three of its seats, including its seat in Dublin which it had held since 1989. The Socialist Party also lost its sole seat. The big winners were Sinn Féin and Independents who won three seats each.

In Dublin, Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin topped the poll and a tight four-way battle for the remaining two seats ensued between Brian Hayes of Fine Gael, ex-Labour MEP turned independent Nessa Childers, Fianna Fáil's Mary Fitzpatrick and the Green Party's Eamon Ryan. Hayes and Childers won with Hayes ahead of Ryan at the final count by a margin of 1,200 votes.

In South, both Brian Crowley of Fianna Fáil and Seán Kelly of Fine Gael were re-elected while first time candidate Liadh Ní Riada of Sinn Féin won a seat. The last seat was taken by Fine Gael Senator Deirdre Clune ahead of her party colleague Simon Harris.

In the new Midlands–North-West constituency, independent TD Luke 'Ming' Flanagan topped the poll while Mairead McGuinness of Fine Gael and Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy took the next two seats. Fianna Fáil's two-candidate strategy in the constituency backfired, with sitting MEP Pat "the Cope" Gallagher narrowly losing to independent Marian Harkin. For the first time, Ireland's delegation to the European Parliament had more women than men.

Constituency changes

The Constituency Commission made changes to the constituencies of Ireland so as to reduce the total number of MEPs from 12 to 11, due to the accession of Croatia to the European Union.[4]

The North-West and East constituencies were abolished. A new 4-seat constituency called Midlands–North-West was created. It comprised all the area of the previous North-West constituency, with the exception of County Clare which was moved to the South constituency; as well as the north Leinster part of the East constituency.[5]

The South constituency was increased in size by the addition of counties Carlow, Clare, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow.[5] and the number of seats increased from 3 to 4.

There were no changes to the Dublin constituency.

Results
2014–2019 European Parliament Ireland constituencies
Elections to the European Parliament in Ireland – 2014
Party Euro party Euro group Party Leader Votes[nb 1]  % +/– Seats +/–
Fine Gael EPP EPP Enda Kenny 369,120 22.3 6.8 Decrease
4 / 11
 Steady
Sinn Féin None GUE/NGL Gerry Adams 323,300 19.5 8.3 Increase
3 / 11
 3 Increase
Fianna Fáil ALDE ALDE Micheál Martin 369,545 22.3 1.8 Decrease
1 / 11
 2 Decrease
Labour Party PES S&D Eamon Gilmore 88,229 5.3 8.6 Decrease
0 / 11
 3 Decrease
Green Party EGP G–EFA Eamon Ryan 81,458 4.9 3 Increase
0 / 11
 Steady
Socialist Party EACL GUE/NGL Collective leadership 29,953 1.8 0.9 Decrease
0 / 11
 1 Decrease
Direct Democracy Ireland None None Jan Van de Ven 24,093 1.5 new
0 / 11
 Steady
People Before Profit Alliance EACL GUE/NGL None 23,875 1.5 new
0 / 11
 Steady
Catholic Democrats None None Nora Bennis 13,569 0.8 new
0 / 11
 Steady
Fís Nua None None None 4,610 0.3 new
0 / 11
 Steady
Independent 328,766 19.8 8.3 Increase
3 / 11
 2 Increase
Valid votes 1,656,518 97.3
Blank and invalid votes 45,424 2.7
Totals 1,701,942 100.0 —
11 / 11
 1 Decrease
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 3,245,348 52.4 6.2 Decrease
Source: ElectionsIreland.org

Notes
  1. First preference votes: Under Ireland's STV (Single transferable vote) voting system, voters number candidates in order of their preference, from Number 1 upwards. The candidate who is given a Number 1 by the voter is said to have received his (or her) first preference vote.

Post-Poll Alliance
EPP S&D ECR ALDE GUE/NGL G-EFA EFDD NI Republic of Ireland
Total
4 (FG) 1 (Childers) 1 (FF/Crowley) 1 (Harkin) 3 (SF)
1 (Flanagan)		 11

Voting details
Constituency Electorate Turnout Spoilt Valid Poll Quota Seats Electorate per Seat Candidates
Dublin 820,668 358,943 6,368 352,575 88,144 3 273,556 12
Midlands–North-West 1,202,997 663,703 17,258 646,445 129,290 4 300,749 14
South 1,221,683 679,296 21,798 657,498 131,500 4 305,420 15
Total 3,245,348 1,701,942 45,424 1,656,518 — 11 31

Opinion polls

Dublin
Date Polling agency Sample size Boylan (SF) Hayes (FG) Childers (Ind) Fitzpatrick (FF) Costello (Lab) Ryan (GP) Smith (PBPA) Murphy (SP) Tallon (Ind) Darcy (DDI) Whitehead (DDI) Wise (FN)
26–28 AprilMillwardBrown/Sunday Independent[6]50020%15%19%13%12%11%5%4%–1%––
1–2 MayRedC/Sunday Business Post[7]50015%18%10%13%13%12%9%7%2%1%1%0%
13–14 MayMillwardBrown/Sunday Independent[8]50023%22%13%11%10%7%6%7%–1%––
3–15 MayBehaviour & Attitudes/Sunday Times[9]50019%16%11%12%7%11%10%9%3%0%1%1%
23 MayBehaviour & Attitudes/RTÉ Exit Poll[10]100024%14%11%12%8%14%6%7%1%1%1%0%

Midlands–North-West
Date Polling agency Sample size Carthy (SF) Byrne (FF) Flanagan (Ind) Gallagher (FF) Harkin (Ind) Higgins J. (FG) McGuinness (FG) Higgins L. (Lab) Mullen (Ind) Dearey (GP) Fitzsimons (Ind) Gilroy (DDI) Nic Fhearra (FN) Fay (Ind)
26–28 AprilMillwardBrown/Sunday Independent[6]50017%16%12%9%12%11%11%4%3%2%3%1%––
1–2 MayRedC/Sunday Business Post[7]50014%8%14%9%16%10%16%5%6%2%0%0%0%–
13–14 MayMillwardBrown/Irish Independent[11]50019%9%15%10%12%6%13%5%5%3%1%1%0% 0%
3–15 MayBehaviour & Attitudes/Sunday Times[12]50014%9%17%8%12%7%21%5%5%1%0%1%0%0%
23 MayBehaviour & Attitudes/RTÉ Exit Poll[10]100013%10%20%11%11%7%16%4%4%2%0%1%0%1%

South
Date Polling agency Sample size Crowley (FF) Ní Riada (SF) Kelly (FG) Clune (FG) Harris (FG) Prendergast (Lab) O'Flynn (Ind) Godsil (Ind) Hartley (FF) O'Sullivan (GP) Van De Ven (DDI) O'Riordan (FN) Cahill (Ind) Heaney (CD)
26–28 AprilMillwardBrown/Sunday Independent[13]50036%15%12%12%7%4%7%3%2%1%1%–0%0%
1–2 MayRedC/Sunday Business Post[7]50028%14%18%8%7%9%4%3%3%6%1%0%––
13–14 MayMillwardBrown/Irish Independent[11]50032%16%15%10%9%6%4%2%2%4%0%0%0%0%
3–15 MayBehaviour & Attitudes/Sunday Times[12]50035%14%17%10%8%5%2%2%1%3%1%0%2%1%
23 MayBehaviour & Attitudes/RTÉ Exit Poll[10]100026%17%12%9%7%5%5%1%5%5%1%1%3%1%

Party polling

The figures are for first-preference votes, as STV is a ranked voting system.

Dublin
Date Source Polling agency Fine Gael Labour Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Socialist Green PBP Others
28 April 2014 Sunday Independent[14] MillwardBrown 15% 12% 13% 20% 4% 11% 5% 20%
2 May 2014 Sunday Business Post[15] RedC 18% 13% 13% 15% 7% 12% 9% 14%
14 May 2014 Sunday Independent[8] MillwardBrown 22% 10% 11% 23% 7% 7% 6% 14%
14 May 2014 The Sunday Times[16] Behaviour & Attitudes 16% 7% 12% 19% 9% 11% 10% 16%

Midlands–North-West
Date Source Polling agency Fine Gael Labour Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Green Others
28 April 2014 Sunday Independent[17] MillwardBrown 22% 4% 25% 17% 2% 30%
2 May 2014 Sunday Business Post[15] RedC 26% 5% 17% 14% 2% 36%
14 May 2014 Sunday Independent[18] MillwardBrown 19% 5% 19% 19% 3% 34%
14 May 2014 The Sunday Times[16] Behaviour & Attitudes 28% 5% 17% 14% 4% 35%

South
Date Source Polling agency Fine Gael Labour Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Green Others
28 April 2014 Sunday Independent[17] MillwardBrown 30% 4% 39% 15% 1% 11%
2 May 2014 Sunday Business Post[15] RedC 33% 9% 31% 14% 6% 8%
14 May 2014 Sunday Independent[18] MillwardBrown 34% 6% 34% 16% 4% 6%
14 May 2014 The Sunday Times[16] Behaviour & Attitudes 35% 5% 36% 14% 3% 8%

See also

Notes
  1. Note that parties (other than independents) are initially ordered by number of seats won, followed by number of first preference votes [nb 1] if number of seats won is the same. Here Fine Gael and Sinn Féin are shown ahead of Fianna Fáil, who got more first preference votes, but won fewer seats.
  2. Popular vote means First preference votes. [nb 1]

    References
    1. "Results of the 2014 European elections - Results by country - Ireland - European Parliament". Results of the 2014 European elections - Results by country - Ireland - European Parliament.
    2. "Local and European elections to be held on 23 May". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
    3. "Voter turnout of close to 50% reported in some areas". RTÉ News. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
    4. "New Irish MEP constituencies announced". RTÉ News. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
    5. "Report on European Parliament Constituencies 2013" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
    6. "Hayes faces defeat in European elections, poll shows".
    7. "Aertv". Aertv.ie.
    8. "EXCLUSIVE: Poll shows SF and FG to top Euro elections in Dublin - Independent.ie".
    9. Sunday Times/Behaviour & Attitudes European Elections Archived 19 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine Behaviour & Attitudes, May 2014.
    10. Behaviour & Attitudes, May 2014.
    11. Fionnan Sheehan; Niall O'Connor (17 May 2014). "Flanagan on Course to Win Seat as Martin faces Key Test". Irish Independent.
    12. "Poll suggests SF & Independents' support has increased". RTÉ News. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
    13. "Hayes faces defeat in European elections, poll shows - Independent.ie".
    14. "Hayes faces defeat in European elections, poll shows". Irish Independent. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
    15. "Aertv". Aertv.ie.
    16. "Ireland's largest independent Market Research company - Market Research agency in Dublin, Quantitative and Qualitative research - Behaviour & Attitudes". Behaviour & Attitudes.
    17. "SF on course for Euro election victories but FG's Kelly faces defeat". Irish Independent. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
    18. "Flanagan on course to win seat as Martin faces key test - Independent.ie".
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