European Elections 2014

 European Elections 2014

In January, Minister for the Environment and local Government Phil Hogan confirmed that the local and European elections would be held on the 23^rd of May.  Voting is set to take place between 7am and 10pm on the day. As yet, not all Irish candidates have been confirmed but this will happen in the coming weeks.

What is the European Parliament?

The European Parliament is made of MEP’s elected by each member state to promote the interests of the citizens of the European Union. Through its legislative and budgetary and supervisory powers it is vital in directing the annual EU budget and in the supervision of the economy as well as areas of the broader EU legislative process.

Direct elections to the European Parliament are held every five years within a four day period, usually in June, but in May of this year, throughout the European Union. The polling period must be a least 12 hours
between 7:00am and 10:30pm. There are 766 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). These are elected by voters in 28 EU member states (Including Croatia, which joined the EU in July 2013.)
The European Council Decision of 28 June 2013 (2013/312/EU) will see 11 representatives elected in Ireland for the 2014-2019 parliamentary term to the European Parliament. This is a reduction of one representative which is as a result of EU expansion to make way for representatives from new member states.

The European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2014 (pdf, 239kb) implements the recommendations that have come from the Report on European Parliament Constituencies 2013. That is to change our current seats and constituencies to 11 seats across three constituencies.

European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2014 http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/LocalGovernment/Voting/FileDownLoad,36781,en.pdf

Changes to Irish Constituencies:

Ireland previously had 12 MEP’s but this has been reduced to eleven since the adjustment of constituencies. The Dublin constituency will remain the same, however others will see substantial changes.

These changes will mean that the North-West and East constituencies will be abolished and a new constituency, the Midlands-North-West constituency will be created comprising of four seats.  This new constituency will include the North-west constituency (excluding Co. Clare – now part of the south constituency) and the part of north Leinster that currently makes up part of the East constituency.

The south constituency will now include Carlow, Clare, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow increasing its size and the number of seats to four. The changes will be made in the coming weeks under the new Local Government Bill. 

In summary:  Ireland is reducing the number of constituencies from 4 to 3: Dublin, which elects 3 MEPs, Midlands-North-West and South which will each elect 4 MEPs.

Who is eligible to vote?

Only Irish and European citizens can vote in European elections. Those that wish to vote must be registered on the register of electors. The register of electors that will be in force was published on 1 February 2014.

Anyone who is not yet on the register of electors and is eligible to vote in the European elections still has time to apply for the supplementary register of electors. Application forms for this must be received by the registration authority before the 6 May 2014. 

To check if you are registered follow the link http://www.checktheregister.ie/PublicPages/Default.aspx?uiLang=

For those who wish to be included in the supplement to the postal and special voters lists, the application forms have to be received by the registration authority before the 26 April 2014.

The following people may vote by post in a European Parliament election:

• Members of An Garda Siochana.
• Members of the Defence Forces.
• Civil servants and their spouses attached to Irish missions abroad.
• Electors living at home who are unable to vote at the polling station due to a physical illness or disability.
• Full-time students registered at home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State.
• Prisoners detained as a result of an order of a court.

For more information on postal voting check out Citizens Information: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/elections_and_referenda/european_elections/european_elections.html




James Dooley
GCD FLAC