EU Elections Constituency Profile - Ireland South: With 23 candidates, some big names could miss out
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There aren't many times that you can group the voters of Corca Dhuibhne and Greystones, of Hook Head and Thomondgate, of Gurranabraher and Urlingford, but the European elections offer us a lot of unique opportunities.
Ireland South spans 10 counties and goes coast to coast from Kerry to Wicklow and Clare to Wexford. Having lost Laois and Offaly, the constituency is now effectively the lower third of the island and will take in more than 1.8 million people, or 371,000 for each one of its five MEPs.
The landscape in Ireland South has shifted slightly with Fine Gael's Deirdre Clune deciding to retire from politics rather than contest another election, leaving one of the seats open. The four remaining MEPs — Fine Gael's Sean Kelly, Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher, the Green Party's Grace O'Sullivan and independent Mick Wallace — will all be back for another shot at Europe.
That quarter will be joined by no less than 19 other candidates, a slate that will include two sitting TDs, a sitting senator, a party leader, a UCC professor, an immigration lawyer, a former ICMSA head and a number of high-profile far-right activists.
It is a crowded field, a large constituency and some big names could be in line to miss out.
Four of the five MEPs will return, each with records in Europe that they will point to as evidence that they should be given five more years to shuttle between Brussels and Strasbourg, arguing and negotiating in the EU maze.
In the Fine Gael corner, Mr Kelly will look to retain the seat that he has held since 2009. He was originally tapped up to run for the party by then-leader Enda Kenny, whose wife Fionnuala is a first cousin of Mr Kelly, after he had finished up as President of the GAA.
When Ms Clune decided she would not return, Mr Kelly said he was up for another tilt at Brussels and Strasbourg. "That's the plan. I have been asked by the party and am willing to do so. I'm here in Brussels and have a job of work to do and keep doing.
"I didn't get the flu bug, the covid bug, or the retirement bug," he added, though he has been at the centre of Fine Gael's friction with its European grouping, the European People's Party. That friction increased in March when all five Fine Gael MEPs voted in favour of the Nature Restoration Law in the European Parliament, something the EPP sought to derail.
Speaking to the , MEP Seán Kelly said the EPP was not happy with Fine Gael’s position. "We did go against the group and they weren’t happy because our votes were crucial but we were right."
The Ireland South MEP was not appointed to go to Dubai last December to attend Cop28 despite being rapporteur for the EPP group to lead a directive that sought to modernise EU buildings to make them fit for a greener and more digital society. Although it cannot be proved, it is believed he was not sent due to his voting record on the NRL.
Billy Kelleher of Fianna Fáil spent 22 years as a TD for Cork North Central before running for Europe, though he did originally lose his selection convention to now-Senator Malcolm Byrne. At the time, he was rumoured to have been at odds with Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin and party headquarters officials over his decision to seek the MEP candidate selection, a claim publicly denied by all involved.
Mr Kelleher is now the vice-chair of the EU Delegation for relations with the US, and is a member of the Economic Committee at the parliament. In 2020, he apologised for having flew from the Belgian capital to attend the Dáil sitting in the Convention Centre Dublin which saw his party leader elected Taoiseach. In 2022, he and Senator Timmy Dooley travelled to the Ukrainian city of Lviv to meet with political representatives at the outbreak of the Russian invasion.
Independents 4 Change MEP Mick Wallace has been arguably the constituency's most controversial representative over the last few years.
In March of last year, Mr Wallace was one of 13 MEPs who voted against an EU resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, having voted against a 2022 motion which called for harsher sanctions and increased military support for Ukraine, but also called for countries to "massively increase their military assistance, particularly in the areas where it is requested by the Ukrainian Government, in order to allow Ukraine to regain full control over its entire internationally recognised territory and successfully defend itself against any further aggression by Russia".
The resolution was passed with 504 votes in favour, 26 against and 36 abstentions, with Mr Wallace and Clare Daly supporting an amendment which "regrets the absence of EU diplomatic initiatives".
Mr Wallace said that he did not vote against a condemnation of Russian aggression, saying that he has done so frequently. He said that adding weapons to the Ukrainian war was not the right move.
"When we vote against a resolution, it isn't because...to say that we voted against the resolution condemning Russia's invasion, that's actually not true. That's a complete distortion of the reality. We voted against the resolution, because it contains a whole lot of stuff that we disagree with. Like for example, it calls on member states to massively increase their military assistance.
"We don't believe that pouring more weapons into Ukraine is a good idea. We think more Ukrainians will die and it's going to have a terrible impact on an awful lot of people."
In 2021, the pair defended a trip to visit an Iraqi militia. The two had visited a brigade headquarters of Hashed al-Shaabi in Iraq to criticise American foreign policy in the region. Footage of the visit was used in a YouTube video to promote the group. Fianna Fáil senator Malcolm Byrne called the visit "an embarrassment to Ireland".
The Green Party's Grace O'Sullivan is a veteran of the Greenpeace movement, having been a member of the original Rainbow Warrior when it was bombed in New Zealand in 1985 by French Intelligence. A 2014 profile of the MEP talks about how she once climbed up the anchor chain of a Russian nuclear warship.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, she has put environmental and humanitarian issues at the forefront of her work in Brussels, acting as the lead reporter on files related to conservation, an EU action plan on climate and on the protection of the Southern Bluefin Tuna.
Ms O'Sullivan was the Greens-European Free Alliance political grouping on a new directive that could see single-use sachets of ketchup in fast-food restaurants and plastic wrapping on fruit and vegetables done away with.
Across the constituency, the issues are as varied as its many counties.
In urban areas, health and housing are cited as major concerns, while some candidates say that immigration is the leading concern. Recently released figures show that between them, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Clare have taken in around 15,000 Ukrainians and 4,000 or so international protection applicants.
Perhaps reflecting Ireland at large, there is little talk of the final shape of the European parliament, or what the Germans call the spitzenkandidat — the idea that MEPs effectively elect the next President of the European Commission. Much of what comes up on the doors, candidates say, reflects the local concern more than the European.
On the European end, there is a large part of the constituency in the southeast where there is a feeling that Europe has somewhat left them behind. Indeed, as recently as October, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that the "southeast is no longer left behind" when he opened the Wexford campus of the South East Technological University.
There are as many variables in this contest as there are candidates, with everything from geography to place on the political spectrum to order of eliminations set to dictate how things go when the counting starts in Nemo Rangers.
The Irish Times/Ipsos poll published last Saturday shows Fine Gael's Sean Kelly holds a commanding 23% of support, with Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher on 18% and Sinn Féin's Kathleen Funchion on 11%. Fianna Fáil's Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is on 7%, Sinn Féin's Paul Gavan is on 6% and Labour's Niamh Hourigan is on 5%.
Independent Michael McNamara, Fine Gael's John Mullins and Ireland First's Derek Blighe each follow on 4%, with the Green's Grace O'Sullivan and independent Mick Wallace on 3%, and Social Democrat Susan Doyle on 2%. All other candidates lie on 1% or less.
That fragmentation suggests that it will take some time before the final shake-up is known. Fianna Fáil's 25% would put it in with a chance of taking two seats, but it would need to be strong on transfers.
Fine Gael took two last time out with around 30% of the vote across three candidates. Fine Gael would need to have Mr Mullins much higher to realistically have a chance, though a Sunday Independent poll put him on 6% and Mr Kelly on 14%.
That second poll was also much better reading for Mr McNamara, who lies fourth on 8% of votes.
Sources within a number of campaigns have cautioned reading too much into either poll, arguing that the constituency's size makes getting a read on it difficult and saying that many people will not decide their votes until the week of the poll.
But whatever way you look at it, there are two incumbents who look relatively safe — Mr Kelly and Mr Kelleher — and two who look in real danger, Mr Wallace and Ms O'Sullivan.
That would leave three seats to be gained with Ms Funchion and Mr McNamara expected to be in the final shake-up. If they're right, that final seat could be the one to keep us all watching Ireland South for many days.
With four incumbents for five seats, that leaves 19 hopefuls in a crowded field that promises a long, long count and, wherein the order of eliminations could decide as much as the first preference votes.
For the parties which have MEPs, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have added running mates, with the Greens opting not to.
Businessman and entrepreneur John Mullins will join Sean Kelly on the ticket, hoping that his links to Cork can help him hold the seat currently held by Deirdre Clune.
Mr Mullins, 56, a former CEO of Bord Gáis and the Port of Cork but who has spent the last decade building his renewables firm, Amarenco, has been a key strategist for the party since his student days.
He worked in senior positions in the ESB, PwC, NTR Plc, Greenstar and Bioverda, before he was appointed chief executive of Bórd Gáis in 2007.
He told the : “You only get one opportunity at life, and I’ve done a lot to date but I felt now, this is the right time for me to do this.
“I have spent the last few months discussing with family and friends the idea of standing for election and I only decided in recent days to throw my hat in the ring."
His addition to the ticket came amid speculation that Fine Gael had struggled to find someone based in the Rebel County to run. It is understood former Cork hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín was “sounded out” to see if he would be interested in running, but declined.
Fianna Fáil added former RTÉ journalist Cynthia Ní Mhurchú in March. Ms Ní Mhurchú started her career as a primary school teacher in her native Carlow and currently works as a barrister.
She has previously worked as a bilingual broadcaster and journalist for a range of media organisations, including RTÉ, Raidió na Gaeltachta, the Sunday Independent and the Sunday Tribune, and co-hosted the “Riverdance” Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in 1994.
For Sinn Féin, it will run one candidate from each of the Houses of the Oireachtas. In December, the party announced Senator Paul Gavan as its candidate in Ireland South.
Mr Gavan, a Labour Panel senator from Limerick, has served in the Seanad since 2016. He is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Seanad spokesperson on workers' rights.
He will be joined by Carlow-Kilkenny TD Kathleen Funchion.
She is the party’s spokesperson on Children, Equality and Disability. She was first elected as a TD in 2016 having served on the Kilkenny county council from 2009 to 2016. She first contested the European elections in 2009 in the old East constituency and finished fifth, having taken 6.2% of the first preference vote.
She said that her candidacy would focus on issues in the southeast.
"In making the decision to contest I was conscious that it is time that the interests of the southeast are properly represented and that this region has a voice to ensure that it is not ignored in terms of investment and economic development as it has often been."
Another TD on the ballot will be Michael McNamara, a former Labour TD, now independent from Clare. He confirmed his candidacy for the Ireland South constituency last month.
He said that he believes that Europe must "work for Ireland" and has focused on the issue of immigration in recent months.
Announcing his candidacy he said: "When the Irish people voted for greater integration of the European Union, they voted to opt out of justice / immigration measures for reasons as valid now as then. This government is intent on ceding these key areas of national sovereignty to Brussels. That’s why, more than ever, we will need representation in Europe asking the difficult questions."
Mr McNamara was elected as an independent in 2020 having lost his seat in 2016. In 2018, he won an appeal against a conviction for dangerous driving against him on the same night that he was pepper-sprayed by a Garda.
Labour's candidate is not a TD, but rather the sister of one. Professor Niamh Hourigan is a Sociologist and Vice-President of Academic Affairs at Mary Immaculate College and her sister is independent TD Neasa Hourigan.
The Social Democrats will run Cork-based solicitor Susan Doyle. Ms Doyle will also be running in the local elections for Cork City’s South East Local Electoral Area.
Rabharta leader Lorna Bogue, a former Green Party councillor, will also run. She holds a masters in economic analysis and was press officer for Cork Together for Yes during the Repeal campaign.
Áontú's candidate will be Patrick Murphy, the Chief Executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation.
People Before Profit will run the former Limerick City councillor Cian Prendiville.
Eddie Punch, who was the general secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) for 25 years, is among the slate of independents which includes drug harm reduction campaigner Graham De Barra, Kerry barrister Una McGurk, Cork man Ciaran O'Riordan, nursing lecturer Mary Fitzgibbon and engineer Christopher V.S. Doyle.
The constituency will also see three candidates from the far-right contesting.
Former architect and planner Michael Leahy will contest for the Irish Freedom Party, the party led by Hermann Kelly, the former press officer for Nigel Farage.
Ross Lahive of the Irish People party has appeared in court in the last year in relation to incidents surrounding protests at libraries.
Construction worker Derek Blighe leads the Ireland First party, which has gained attention largely through anti-migrant rhetoric and protest. In 2023, he applied to have a court case against him struck out because of personal difficulties it is causing for him, having been charged with entering the Palyanytsya Ukrainian Hub, Merchants Quay, Cork, as a trespasser and committing an arrestable offence, namely theft of a T-shirt to the value of €4.