EU Elections Constituency Profile - Midland North-West: No shortage of choice as 27 candidates vie for five seats
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It would be fair to describe the Midlands North-West constituency as a Frankenstein’s monster of an electoral area in the upcoming European elections.
Stretching from the most northern part of the country at Malin Head, all the way down to the peatlands of Offaly, while spanning Carlingford Lough out to Galway Bay.
When being redrawn last year, the constituency was granted an extra seat with the addition of Laois and Offaly to its borders, bumping it up to five seats from four.
The behemoth constituency not only takes up a record number of counties, with 15 making up its borders, it also has a record number of candidates standing for election.
With 27 election hopefuls and just five seats available, there will be a lot of disappointed faces who don’t make it over the line when the counting begins on June 9.
Of those in the running, Fianna Fáil is perhaps taking the boldest strategy in an attempt to gain a seat in the area for the first time in 10 years.
With three candidates on the ticket for the party, questions will be asked as to whether or not any will be able to make it over the line or will they instead split the vote and leave the party seatless for the third time running.
This strategy was born out of necessity rather than desire, with the party initially hoping to have just two on the ballot. Sitting Laois-Offaly TD Barry Cowen had been the favourite, with the party also wanting to put senator Lisa Chambers in the running.
However, after a narrow selection convention, Mr Cowen beat his nearest rival, senator Niall Blaney, by just 70 votes. But, with new gender quota rules, both Mr Blaney and Ms Chambers were added to the ticket.
The emergence of Independent Ireland could be cause for concern for the Fianna Fáil frontrunner Cowen, with newcomer and former RTÉ journalist Ciaran Mullooly looking to siphon votes from the Offaly TD.
But before joining Independent Ireland, Mullooly had been wooed by Fianna Fáil for a tilt at Europe, with former minister Noel Dempsey trying to bring him into the fold.
For Fine Gael, the party will be trying its best to retain the two seats that it won in 2019. At the time, Mairead McGuinness — now Ireland’s EU Commissioner — topped the poll and brought along first-time MEP Maria Walsh.
It was the only electoral boost that then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar got during his tenure as Fine Gael leader.
However, Ms McGuinness is gone, along with her replacement Colm Markey — who was shifted off the stage in favour of champion jockey and dancer Nina Carberry.
Ms Carberry is the latest celebrity candidate to be brought into the fold by Fine Gael, who have a long history of high-profile names being added to their tickets. Case in point: Ms Walsh, who is a former Rose of Tralee.
There is no certainty that they will hang on to their two seats, but incumbency could help Ms Walsh get over the line. However, with what seems to be two strong candidates, new leader Simon Harris may hope for a miracle and try to retain both seats.
At the last election, Sinn Féin bucked the overall election trend and managed to retain then-MEP Matt Carthy, after a slate of poor results in the locals and Europeans in 2019.
But after his election to the Dáil in 2020, Mr Carthy was replaced by Sligo councillor Chris MacManus who is seeking to be returned to the European Parliament. He is being joined on the ticket by Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, a long-serving MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
Gildernew is set to primarily campaign in the border region of the constituency, while Mr MacManus is taking the remainder of the electoral area.
Initial polling for the European constituency shows that Ms Gildernew is slightly ahead of Mr MacManus, but she is a relative unknown for voters in the Republic.
With an extra seat in play, Sinn Féin will hope to capitalise and try to bring home a second seat in the constituency. It will be a tall order for the party to do so, with strong support for independents such as Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, particularly from the rural hinterlands of the constituency.
Flanagan, who first took up a seat in Europe a decade ago, will be hoping that his strong brand, particularly on agricultural issues which he has championed in the European Parliament, will see farmers back him for a third term.
For the Greens, their candidate senator Pauline O’Reilly will likely struggle, due to the party performing best in the capital rather than in more rural environs. Votes for the senator will most likely come from the bigger urban centres within the constituency, in places such as Galway, but that is unlikely to push her over the line to be elected.
In 2019, the party had a strong performance, with the then-Green Party, now-Independent candidate Saoirse McHugh taking home over 50,000 first-preference votes. Her star had been firmly solidified through an RTÉ television debate, where she tackled Independent candidate Peter Casey over his views on immigration.
However, having been out of the spotlight in the four years since she left the Green Party, it may be difficult for McHugh to take home the same level of support as last time around, alongside a lack of party structure surrounding her.
Alongside Ms McHugh, Mr Casey is taking a further tilt at political office, after over four years of radio silence from the former panelist.
Mr Casey has run in several elections in recent years, including the 2018 Presidential election, alongside the 2019 European Parliament election and 2020 general election.
He is currently running on an anti-migrant and anti-green platform, with his campaign repeatedly criticising both the Government parties and Sinn Féin for what he describes as a “total open border policy”.
The Social Democrats are also contesting the constituency with a high-profile housing expert and activist in Rory Hearne. A Maynooth University academic and author, Mr Hearne faces an uphill battle to clinch a seat here. He has made his displeasure very clear in recent days over his exclusion from the first TV debate that showcases candidates standing in the constituency.
Aontú is also contesting, with party leader Peadar Tóibín hoping to take a seat. However, there have been some eyebrows raised, as Tóibín has committed to running at the next general election, regardless of whether or not he wins a seat at Europe.
With the party emboldened following their support of no-no votes in the Care and Family referendums, Tóibín could be looking to build on such support to elevate him to Europe, then giving him the space to be replaced by his sister, Emer Tóibín.
The constituency also contains multiple hard- and far-right candidates, stretching from the National Party to newer outfits such as the Irish People Party and Ireland First.
For the National Party, two candidates are in the running: Justin Barrett and James Reynolds. This isn’t due to an expectation to take home two seats, but is rather due to ongoing disputes as to who is the leader of the National Party.
The (disputed) leader of the far-right National Party. Mr Barrett gained prominence during the 8th Amendment campaign, and has run for office on several occasions, but has never been elected.
A Donegal senator and former TD, Niall Blaney first started in politics as a member of Independent Fianna Fáil — a splinter group formed by his uncle following the 1969 Arms Crisis. He first took up a seat in the Dáil in 2002, before joining Fianna Fáil in 2006. He stood down in 2011, but returned to the Seanad in 2020.
Cahill is one of a number of anti-immigrant and far-right candidates standing for election in Midlands North West. An engineer based out of Salthill in Galway, Cahill represents the newly formed Irish People Party.
A retired champion jockey and a former coach on RTÉ’s Ireland’s Fittest Family, Carberry is the latest celebrity candidate to be added to the Fine Gael election ticket. Additionally, she took home the gold and won Dancing with the Stars Ireland in 2022.
Ahead of the Fine Gael selection convention in March, sitting MEP Colm Markey withdrew at the last minute to allow Carberry take up his spot, in a bloodless coup for the new arrival on the political stage.
An entrepreneur who was involved establishing a number of businesses across the US, Australia and Ireland, Casey was also one of the investors involved in Dragon’s Den between 2012 and 2014. He has previously run for a number of elections, including the 2018 Presidential election where he finished in second place, behind incumbent Michael D Higgins.
Casey has become known for his stance on immigration and first gained significant prominence for his comments criticising Travellers. He was unsuccessful in contesting both the 2019 European elections and the 2020 general election.
A former TD for Mayo, Chambers lost her seat in 2020 after four years in the Dáil. However, she later entered into the Seanad, where she now leads the Upper Chamber.
Chambers has been in trouble in recent years, including being caught up in the 2019 Votegate controversy where she voted for her party colleagues Timmy Dooley and Dara Calleary. More recently, Chambers was heavily criticised for campaigning in favour of the Family and Care referendums, but then announcing that she had in fact voted against both proposals.
She was added to the Fianna Fáil ticket, alongside Blaney, after Barry Cowen won the February selection convention.
Barry Cowen, younger brother of former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, is a Fianna Fáil TD for Laois-Offaly. Cowen has held a seat for Fianna Fáil since 2011, taking the seat of his brother after his retirement.
A former agriculture minister who served just 17 days in office, before being sacked by then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin over a controversy involving a drink-driving conviction.
One of a number of Independents running in Midlands North West, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan has held a seat in Europe since 2014. Nicknamed 'Ming' for how he shaves his beard, similarly to Ming the Merciless from comic strip , the MEP has campaigned strongly on issues around agriculture and more recently on defective blocks and the ongoing Mica crisis.
He has been a longtime proponent of legalising cannabis, having sent over 200 joints to the Oireachtas in 2001 — enough for each TD and senator in Leinster House. He previously said that he grows cannabis on his balcony in Brussels.
Originally from Granard in Longford, Garland is an independent candidate who runs Ferdian Events, an events management company primarily focused on Irish and Spanish arts. He also runs the Barcelona Comedy Festival.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Garland is also an active proponent of decriminalising cannabis.
An MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Gildernew is a first-time candidate south of the border. Alongside taking a seat at Westminster, Gildernew also held a seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly, holding the agriculture ministerial brief for four years. She was originally considered by Sinn Féin to contest the 2011 Presidential election, before the party chose Martin McGuinness as their standard bearer.
A housing expert and lecturer at Maynooth University, Rory Hearne is the first Social Democrat candidate to contest the Midlands North West constituency. Author of , which sets out Hearne’s argument to solving the housing crisis, he has repeatedly criticised RTÉ in recent days due to his exclusion from a televised debate.
Keenan is based in Tullamore, Co Offaly. She is a songwriter, artist, and sports psychologist.
A former press officer for Nigel Farage, Kelly is the president of the Irish Freedom Party. Originally from the Bogside in Derry, Kelly has repeatedly backed ‘Irexit’, a call for Ireland to leave the European Union. He currently works as an assistant for Cristian Terhes, a Romanian right-wing MEP within the European Conservatives and Reformists Group.
The Galway-based Landy is the CEO of the Family Resource Centre National Forum, which aims to help support children and families to combat disadvantage.
Alongside his bid for Europe, Landy is contesting the local elections in the Athenry-Oranmore area.
The sitting Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands North West. He was initially co-opted into the parliament after Matt Carthy was elected as a TD in 2020. While he was born in London, MacManus returned to Sligo in his early years and served as a Sinn Féin councillor between 1999 to 2014. He returned to the council in 2017, being co-opted into his father Seán MacManus’s seat.
He is a well-known film buff, with the MEP initially being approached by famed director Ken Loach to play a part in his 2014 film — which was entirely shot in both Sligo and Leitrim.
The vice-president of the far-right Ireland First Party, Maguire spent most of her life in the UK, with her working as a self-employed businesswoman. Maguire is nicknamed ‘Alacoque’, after the French Catholic visitation nun who promoted the Sacred Heard of Jesus devotion.
A former Green Party candidate from Achill, McHugh rebuked the party on their entrance into Government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in 2020. McHugh gained significant prominence in the 2019 European elections, with performances in televised debates pushing her to sixth place with over 50,000 first-preference votes.
The former RTÉ correspondent-turned-politician is one of many candidates being fielded by Independent Ireland. Previously working in RTÉ as the midlands correspondent, Mullooly was initially being courted by Fianna Fáil for a tilt at Europe, before opting to join the party of independents.
Mullooly has already set himself apart from his party leader, Michael Collins, previously saying that he does not agree with his comments that rapists should be chemically castrated or that sex work should be legalised.
A lecturer at the Atlantic Technological University, O’Boyle has been a long-standing People Before Profit member, having previously been involved in water charges protests in Sligo. He is also a twice published author, with books Austerity Ireland and Tax Haven Ireland.
O’Reilly is a first-time senator for the Green Party, having been elected to the Seanad in 2020. She currently serves as the Cathaoirleach for the party. In 2021, O’Reilly was among a number of Green senators to table no-confidence in Hazel Chu as cathaoirelach, as she planned to run as an Independent in a Seanad byelection.
An Irish-Australian software engineer and founder of the Software Freedom Institutue, Pocock is based in Dublin and running as an independent.
A former chairman of Longford IFA, Reynolds is the disputed leader of the far-right National Party.
An Independent candidate based in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, Smith is an accountant and has primarily been campaigning through her use of TikTok. She has received backing from sitting independent TD for Tipperary, Mattie McGrath.
The leader of Aontú, Tóibín was previously a Sinn Féin TD but left the party in 2018 over the party’s stance on abortion. He is the party’s only TD, but he garnered more attention during his campaign for a no-no vote in the referendums on family and care in March.
Tóibín has confirmed that he will contest the next general election, regardless of whether or not he wins a seat in the European Parliament. This has fuelled speculation that, if elected, he will be quickly replaced by his sister Emer Tóbín.
Originally from Boston, Walsh returned from the US at a young age to Shrule in Co Mayo, before emigrating to New York after college. She was crowned the winner of the 2014 Rose of Tralee, where she competed as the Philadelphia Rose.
Walsh was criticised in 2019 for voting against a parliament resolution to increase search and rescue in the Mediterranean. However, she rejected assertions that she did not support such missions, but was concerned about amendments that she believed would tip off human smugglers.
Based out of Celbridge in Co Kildare, Waters is a former GP who was suspended by the Medical Council after refusing to administer people the covid-19 vaccines.
A former journalist and columnist, Waters has been active in recent years — alongside Gemma O’Doherty — against covid restrictions. He supported a no vote in the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum. He is currently being sued by journalist Kitty Holland for defamation.