ELECTION 2024: An over North West constituency parties they will represent

On June 7 the people of Sligo will be voting in the Local and European Election. John Comiskey - AKA ‘The Tally Man’ - in his latest column for the takes a look at the landscape of the European election for Irish voters with an overview of who has declare

JUNE is the month this year that will see the election to the European Parliament of members from each of the 27 member states.

This makes it the biggest election constituency in the world and will elect 705 members of which fourteen will be from Ireland.

There are eight political groups in the Parliament to which the MEP can align themselves: The European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) EPP; Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats; Renew Europe Group RE; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance EFA; European Conservatives and Reformists; Identity and Democracy; GUE/NGL; Non-attached Members.

Fine Gael MEPs are aligned to the EPP, Fianna Fáil to RE, Greens to Greens/EFA, Sinn Féin and Independents 4 Change to GUE/NGL.

Ireland is divided into three constituencies for this election, Dublin which will elect four MEPs, Ireland South and Ireland Midlands/North West which will elect five each. The Midlands/North West constituency is the largest area wise and comprises of fifteen counties and 14 Dáil constituencies with a total of 57 TDs.

It is a slow start to an election that requires a huge amount of travel and canvass by the candidates. We get the feeling that the novelty of European Election is waning, even the largest grouping in Europe, the EPP led by Ursula von der Leyen is only starting the campaign this weekend while the socialist group have been a little more active.

So far, we have three candidates for Fianna Fáil, Senator Niall Blaney, Senator Lisa Chambers and Barry Cowen TD. Fine Gael will have two candidates as Nina Carberry joins outgoing MEP Maria Walsh.

Sinn Féin contest with Michelle Gildernew MP and outgoing MEP Chris MacManus. Aontú have leader Peadar Tóibín TD, Green Party have Senator Pauline O'Reilly, National Party have James Reynolds, Irish Freedom Party have Hermann Kelly, People Before Profit have Dr Brian O'Boyle, Independent Ireland have Ciaran Mullooly and Independent outgoing MEP Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan.

FIANNA FÁIL

Senator Niall Blaney: From a family of politicians in Donegal, his father Harry, grandfather Neil and uncle Neil were all TDs and he himself a former TD sought the nomination at the selection convention but was defeated by Barry Cowan and subsequently added to the panel.

In 1999 he was elected to Donegal County Council as an Independent Fianna Fáil councillor and then as a TD in 2002. In 2006 he joined Fianna Fáil and was elected TD in 2007.

He did not contest a Dail election again concentrating on the Seanad.

He was unsuccessful in seeking the European election nomination in 2019. Rating 6/10.

Senator Lisa Chambers: A barrister by profession and first elected to Mayo County Council in 2014 Lisa went on to be elected to Dail Eireann in 2016 having been unsuccessful in 2011.

She was defeated in the 2020 General election and was subsequently elected to the Seanad where she is currently Leader of the Seanad. A former member of the Army Reserve where she was a commissioned officer of Second Lieutenant. Lisa was spokesperson on defence on the Fianna Fáil front bench and later had the Brexit portfolio.

She also sought the nomination at a selection convention but was defeated by Barry Cowan before been added to the panel. Rating 7/10

Barry Cowen TD: Son of Bernard Cowan who was a TD, Senator, and Minister of State, he was a Fianna Fáil councillor on Offaly County Council from 1991 until 2011 when he was elected TD to succeed his brother, former Taoiseach, Brian Cowan in the constituency of Laois/Offaly.

He was re-elected to Dáil Éireann in 2016 in the Offaly constituency and presently is TD for Laois/Offaly since 2020. He has been spokesperson for Social Protection, Housing, Planning and Local Government together with Public Expenditure and Reform on the Fianna Fáil front bench. He served as Minister for Agriculture from June to July when 2020 when he was sacked by Taoiseach, Micheal Martin following controversy over a drink driving conviction. Rating 7/10.

SINN FÉIN

Michelle

Gildernew MP:

First contested election for the

Dungannon area in 1996, County

Tyrone native

Michelle was unsuccessful in the

Northern Ireland

Forum elections for Fermanagh/South Tyrone. In 1997 she was part of the Sinn Féin delegation to Downing Street.

In 1998 she was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Northern Ireland and re-elected in 2003 and 2007.

In 2001 Michelle was elected MP

Fermanagh/South Tyrone, the first Sinn Fein woman to be elected to Westminster since Countess Markievicz, a seat she held until 2015 before regaining at the 2017 elections and holds presently.

She was Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland assembly from 2007 -2011 and is currently Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health. Rating 7/10

Chris MacManus MEP: Son of Sean MacManus who was a lead negotiator on the Sinn Féin team that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Chris has been involved in local politics since his election to Sligo Borough Council in 1999 taking the second seat.

He was elected at each subsequent election until 2014 when Borough Councils were abolished.

He was co-opted to fill the seat on Sligo County Council caused by the resignation of his father and retained the seat at the 2019 election.

Chris joined Martin Kenny as Sinn Féin candidates in Sligo/Leitrim in 2016 general election and was the last to be eliminated in the ultimate battle for the last 2 of 4 seats. He continued to serve as a member of Sligo County Council until 2020 when he replaced Matt Carthy as MEP. Chris is a member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Rating 7/10

FINE GAEL

Nina Carberry: The Meath native is a retired National Hunt Jockey and has had an impressive career in horse racing, the highlight been the winner of the Irish Grand National. She is a married mother of two girls and has been on various celebrity events including Ireland's Fittest Family and Dancing with the Stars where she was a winner in 2022.

She says her travels in the constituency makes her very much aware of the problems facing rural Ireland. Rating 6/10

Maria Walsh MEP: A winner of the Rose of Tralee in 2014, Maria then went on to serve as a Trooper in the Cavalry Squadron of the Army Reserve from 2017 to 2019 before Fine Gael selected her to join Mairead McGuinness MEP on the ticket for the European Parliament in 2019.

Maria was elected taking the third seat and helped by the transfer of Mairead's surplus. Her campaign in Europe has been to promote anti-fracking, sexual rights and greater rights for women. Rating 6/10

AONTÚ

Peadar Tóibín TD: He is the leader of the party Aontú, which is the Irish for unity and consent and was founded in January 2019. Peadar is a native of Drogheda, County Louth, but his activity in politics has been in County Meath. While a student in UCD he was a member of Fianna Fail but joined Sinn Féin in 1998 and was an unsuccessful local election candidate in 2004 for Navan Town Council and Navan electoral area of Meath County Council.

In 2007 he was co-opted to Navan Town Council and held the seat at the 2009 local election. Elected as Sinn Féin TD to Dáil Éireann in 2011 he was suspended for voting against the party whip on two occasions and resigned from the party in 2018.

He retained his Dail seat at the 2020 general election for Meath West.

Following the defeat of the recent referendums in which Aontú campaigned for a NO vote he said they were the only party in touch with the people. He has stated he will contest the next General Election regardless of the outcome of this campaign. Rating 6/10

PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT

Dr Brian O'Boyle: A lecturer in Economics at ATU St Angela's, Sligo, he has been active in politics with research in the global political economy and campaigning on a socialist platform. Currently a member of the Sligo Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Condemns the activities of the far right and states his reason for running is “to highlight the fact that the EU is a rich man's club that currently presides over staggering levels of inequality”. People Before Profit have one councillor, Gino O'Boyle on Sligo County Council. Rating 4/10

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