South (European Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Southern Italy (European Parliament constituency).

South
European Parliament constituency
Map of the European Parliament constituencies with South highlighted in red
Location among the current constituencies
South shown within Ireland (2014–2019, 2024– boundaries)
Member stateIreland
Created2004
MEPs
  • 3 (2004–2014)
  • 4 (2014–2020)
  • 5 (2020–)
Sources
[1]

South is a European Parliament constituency in Ireland. It elects 5 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

History and boundaries

It was created in 2004 with the same area as the old Munster constituency, except for County Clare which was then in North-West.[1] [2] It was expanded in 2014 when it took in counties of southern Leinster from the disbanded East constituency and became a 4-seat constituency.[3] In 2016, 74.1% of the constituency's population lived in Munster, while the southern Leinster counties accounted for 25.9%.[4]

The constituency is often referred to by media sources and candidates as "Ireland South" during news reports or candidate remarks.[5][6]

At the 2019 European Parliament election, a reapportionment following Brexit and the loss of 73 MEPs from the United Kingdom gave two additional seats to Ireland. Following a recommendation of the Constituency Commission, South gained territory and an additional seat, from 4 to 5.[7][8][9] However, the last candidate elected, would not take her seat until after the United Kingdom left the European Union.[10]

At the 2024 European Parliament election, the counties of Laois and Offaly were transferred to Midlands–North-West, while South remains a 5-seat constituency.[11] This followed a recommendation of the Electoral Commission, where Ireland had been allocated one additional MEP.[12][13]

It comprises the counties of Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow; the cities of Cork, Limerick, and Waterford.

The main urban areas (by population size) are Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Bray, Kilkenny, Ennis, Carlow, Tralee, and Wexford.

Elections Area Seats
2004, 2009 Counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford; and the cities of Cork, Limerick and Waterford. 3[1][14]
2014 Addition of counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow from East; and Clare from North-West. 4[15]
2019 Addition of counties Laois and Offaly from Midlands–North-West 4/5[10][9]
2024 Loss of Laois and Offaly to Midlands–North-West 5

MEPs

2019–2024 boundaries
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for South 2004–
Key to parties
Parl. Election Member
(Party)		 Member
(Party)		 Member
(Party)		 Member
(Party)		 Member
(Party)
6th 2004[16] Kathy Sinnott
(Ind) 		Brian Crowley
(FF) 		Simon Coveney
(FG) 		3 seats
2004–2014
2007[a] Colm Burke
(FG)
7th 2009[17] Alan Kelly
(Lab) 		Seán Kelly
(FG)
2011[b] Phil Prendergast
(Lab)
8th 2014[18] Liadh Ní Riada
(SF) 		Deirdre Clune
(FG) 		4 seats
2014–2019
9th 2019[19] Mick Wallace
(I4C) 		Billy Kelleher
(FF) 		Vacant Grace O'Sullivan
(GP)
2020[c] Deirdre Clune
(FG)
10th 2024 Kathleen Funchion
(SF) 		Cynthia Ní Mhurchú
(FF) 		Michael McNamara
(Ind)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

  1. ^ Simon Coveney was re-elected to the 30th Dáil and was substituted by Colm Burke (FG / EPP-ED) on 19 June 2007.
  2. ^ Alan Kelly was elected to the 31st Dáil and was substituted by Phil Prendergast (Lab / S&D) on 21 April 2011.
  3. ^ Deirdre Clune, the last elected candidate in 2019, was not an MEP between the time of the 2019 election (24 May 2019) and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU (31 January 2020). This is because the reallocation of European Parliament seats did not take effect until after Brexit.

Elections

^ *: Outgoing MEP elected at the previous election.
^ †: Outgoing MEP coopted subsequent to the previous election.

2024 election

2024 European Parliament election: South (5 seats)[20][21][22]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Fine Gael Seán Kelly[*] 17.83 122,777                                      
Fianna Fáil Billy Kelleher[*] 13.23 91,074 93,037 93,084 93,290 93,388 93,675 93,777 93,959 94,419 95,042 95,405 96,786 99,778 100,832 103,492 106,051 107,834 120,105    
Independent Michael McNamara 8.18 56,339 56,862 57,174 57,298 57,497 57,633 57,809 58,897 59,752 60,285 62,591 64,761 66,656 67,507 74,197 75,570 83,702 86,757 87,542 92,871
Fianna Fáil Cynthia Ní Mhurchú 8.02 55,209 55,979 56,048 56,259 56,380 56,541 56,780 57,144 57,467 57,913 58,278 59,194 61,259 61,780 63,540 65,361 66,198 72,523 75,900 92,502
Inds. 4 Change Mick Wallace[*] 7.67 52,803 53,193 53,428 53,701 54,107 54,386 55,600 55,967 56,327 56,979 57,989 59,511 60,547 61,668 64,637 67,146 71,910 73,714 73,947 84,157
Sinn Féin Kathleen Funchion 7.35 50,580 50,723 50,755 50,955 51,176 51,501 51,984 52,106 52,565 53,300 53,655 54,297 55,600 71,350 72,081 76,697 81,268 82,315 82,508 90,070
Green Grace O'Sullivan[*] 6.92 47,661 48,022 48,093 48,239 48,304 48,576 49,139 49,289 49,492 50,420 50,576 51,290 54,621 54,978 55,660 63,335 63,923 68,441 69,197  
Fine Gael John Mullins 4.83 33,281 35,914 35,951 36,155 36,268 36,373 36,460 36,599 36,743 36,984 37,212 37,950 39,525 39,832 41,397 42,831 43,601      
Ireland First Derek Blighe 3.64 25,071 25,128 25,263 25,401 26,192 26,564 26,752 27,640 28,105 28,886 33,111 34,836 35,267 35,739 37,742 38,625        
Sinn Féin Paul Gavan 3.25 22,392 22,512 22,530 22,617 22,789 22,895 23,186 23,242 23,508 23,806 24,109 24,623 25,521              
Labour Niamh Hourigan 3.09 21,272 21,546 21,566 21,709 21,822 22,006 22,352 22,523 22,988 23,679 23,892 24,211                
Independent Ireland Eddie Punch 3.01 20,751 20,920 21,018 21,080 21,212 21,258 21,663 21,903 22,114 22,237 23,509 25,221 25,787 26,167            
Social Democrats Susan Doyle 2.94 20,229 20,344 20,372 20,566 20,630 21,229 21,992 22,110 22,407 25,138 25,253 25,725 28,589 29,163 29,617          
Aontú Patrick Murphy 2.05 14,124 14,199 14,384 14,417 14,548 14,638 14,802 15,075 15,705 15,811 17,421                  
Irish Freedom Michael Leahy 1.78 12,259 12,320 12,476 12,527 13,128 13,201 13,301 14,390 15,067 15,183                    
Rabharta Lorna Bogue[a] 1.28 8,788 8,844 8,916 9,027 9,086 9,584 10,040 10,279 10,826                      
Independent Una Mc Gurk 0.93 6,387 6,469 6,584 6,628 6,729 6,828 6,888                          
Independent Mary Fitzgibbon 0.91 6,281 6,379 6,578 7,139 7,272 7,684 7,794 8,328                        
PBP–Solidarity Cian Prendiville 0.91 6,243 6,274 6,340 6,382 6,516 6,650                            
Independent Graham de Barra 0.66 4,575 4,607 4,684 4,810 4,906                              
The Irish People Ross Lahive 0.65 4,461 4,492 4,574 4,636                                
Independent Christopher V.S. Doyle 0.51 3,530 3,554 3,592                                  
Independent Ciaran O'Riordan 0.36 2,477 2,485                                    
Electorate: 1,345,792   Valid: 688,564   Spoilt: 24,759   Quota: 114,761   Turnout: 713,323 (53.0%)  
  1. ^ Did not appear on the ballot as Rabharta. The Electoral Commission proposed the registration of the party to contest European and local elections on 12 April. However, as the proposed decision was subject to a 21-day appeal period, it was not in force for the 7 June 2024 elections.[23]

2019 election

Ireland South elected 5 MEPs but the 5th candidate elected, Deirdre Clune, did not take her seat until 31 January 2020, when the United Kingdom had withdrawn from the European Union.

2019 European Parliament election: South (5* seats)[24][25][2][26][27]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Fine Gael Seán Kelly[*] 16.47 118,446 118,491 118,677 118,775 119,125 119,382 119,547 119,717 119,885                      
Fianna Fáil Billy Kelleher 11.69 84,084 84,107 84,165 84,239 84,389 84,560 84,655 84,842 84,972 85,452 86,027 87,037 87,966 88,604 89,040 92,893 131,665      
Inds. 4 Change Mick Wallace 11.37 81,780 82,033 82,163 82,374 82,697 82,903 83,459 83,811 84,028 84,276 85,277 87,613 88,806 90,285 95,834 101,792 109,221 112,528 139,529  
Sinn Féin Liadh Ní Riada[*] 10.99 78,995 79,062 79,204 79,309 79,494 79,662 79,864 80,165 80,292 80,732 81,721 82,839 83,790 84,892 87,214 91,727 95,446 98,248    
Green Grace O'Sullivan 10.56 75,887 75,986 76,188 76,314 76,584 76,658 76,959 77,243 77,355 77,694 78,757 80,050 80,645 81,932 84,671 93,037 95,996 98,606 114,287 119,701
Fianna Fáil Malcolm Byrne 9.62 69,167 69,202 69,273 69,317 69,383 69,512 69,557 69,673 70,899 71,169 71,843 72,134 72,854 73,783 74,371 80,624        
Fine Gael Deirdre Clune[*] 8.98 64,605 64,631 64,692 64,764 64,900 65,006 65,116 65,253 65,559 66,050 66,733 67,277 67,899 69,096 69,566 89,755 97,956 101,047 110,085 112,162
Fine Gael Andrew Doyle 5.39 38,738 38,755 38,788 38,804 38,842 38,926 38,950 38,996 39,294 39,429 39,855 40,014 40,586 41,069 41,416          
Labour Sheila Nunan 3.07 22,082 22,120 22,200 22,259 22,329 22,391 22,461 22,634 22,708 22,901 23,527 23,857 24,342 24,943 25,969          
Solidarity–PBP Adrienne Wallace 2.06 14,810 14,966 15,017 15,216 15,362 15,403 15,795 16,116 16,217 16,387 16,917 17,407 17,736 18,485            
Independent Dolores Cahill 1.47 10,582 10,639 10,746 10,884 10,938 11,238 11,397 11,720 12,628 14,213 15,039 15,470 17,135              
Independent Diarmuid O'Flynn 1.37 9,828 9,865 9,941 9,995 10,179 10,231 10,399 10,613 10,661 10,948 11,157                  
Independent Liam Minehan 1.31 9,426 9,458 9,783 9,858 9,972 10,253 10,331 10,468 10,547 11,707 12,275 12,774                
Independent Breda Gardner 1.29 9,306 9,331 9,401 9,436 9,496 9,724 9,869 9,975 10,222 10,838                    
Independent Theresa Heaney 1.04 7,475 7,498 7,596 7,738 7,808 8,005 8,197 8,373 8,561                      
Independent Allan Brennan 0.65 4,665 4,691 4,734 4,791 4,841 4,956 5,028 5,132                        
Identity Ireland Peter O'Loughlin 0.51 3,685 3,762 3,806 3,922 4,009 4,050 4,184                          
Independent Colleen Worthington 0.46 3,285 3,306 3,319 3,551 3,653 3,713                            
Independent Paddy Fitzgerald 0.44 3,183 3,198 3,258 3,301 3,333                              
Independent Walter Ryan-Purcell 0.40 2,863 2,897 2,918 3,066                                
Independent Maurice Sexton 0.34 2,419 2,467 2,545                                  
Independent Peter Madden 0.33 2,397 2,411                                    
Direct Democracy Jan van de Ven 0.20 1,421                                      
Electorate: 1,417,017   Valid: 719,194   Spoilt: 36,793   Quota: 119,866   Turnout: 53.4%  

Following a recheck of the votes for O'Sullivan and Ní Riada after the 18th count, a full recount was requested by the Sinn Féin candidate. Returning officer Martin Harvey announced that the recount would begin on 4 June. RTÉ reported that the recount could take up to 28 working days.[28] On 4 June, Ní Riada withdrew the request for a recount.[29] After the transfer of Ní Riada's votes and Mick Wallace's surplus, Grace O'Sullivan and Deirdre Clune were deemed elected, but Clune did not take office as an MEP until Brexit had taken effect.

2014 election

2014 European Parliament election: South (4 seats)[18]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Fianna Fáil Brian Crowley[*] 27.4 180,329                      
Sinn Féin Liadh Ní Riada 19.1 125,309 129,957 130,840 132,590                
Fine Gael Seán Kelly[*] 12.7 83,520 92,042 92,355 92,758 93,106 94,266 95,683 95,736 98,646 106,068 113,311 121,566
Fine Gael Simon Harris 7.8 51,483 53,912 54,161 54,511 55,273 56,050 56,691 56,738 59,056 63,536 66,061 70,808
Fine Gael Deirdre Clune 7.2 47,453 51,850 52,097 52,295 52,798 54,081 55,293 55,340 58,311 64,889 69,009 74,370
Independent Diarmuid O'Flynn 4.6 30,323 31,649 33,311 34,840 36,198 38,960 43,628 44,023 48,125 51,387    
Labour Phil Prendergast[†] 4.6 30,317 32,360 32,664 33,147 33,560 34,150 34,874 34,939 42,213      
Fianna Fáil Kieran Hartley 4.6 29,987 50,349 50,653 50,953 51,475 52,481 54,475 54,559 56,746 59,722 64,357  
Green Grace O'Sullivan 4.2 27,860 29,360 29,999 31,075 31,962 32,829 34,443 34,607        
Catholic Democrats Theresa Heaney 2.1 13,569 14,677 15,159 15,655 17,016 19,114            
Independent Richard Cahill 1.6 10,719 11,661 12,408 13,152 15,310              
Direct Democracy Jan van de Ven 1.4 9,255 9,586 10,125                  
Independent Jillian Godsil 1.4 9,179 9,829 10,607 11,531                
Independent Peter O'Loughlin 1.0 6,561 7,000                    
Fís Nua Dónal Ó Ríordáin 0.2 1,634 1,766                    
Electorate: 1,221,683   Valid: 657,498   Spoilt: 21,798 (3.2%)   Quota: 131,500   Turnout: 679,296 (55.6%)  

2009 election

2009 European Parliament election: South (3 seats)[17][30]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Fianna Fáil Brian Crowley[*] 23.7 118,258 119,625 122,404 132,410        
Fine Gael Seán Kelly[*] 18.6 92,579 94,430 96,153 97,482 98,394 134,712    
Sinn Féin Toiréasa Ferris 13.0 64,671 65,861 67,304 68,296 69,295 73,389 74,480  
Labour Alan Kelly 12.9 64,152 66,121 69,683 70,309 70,991 78,651 83,921 105,597
Independent Kathy Sinnott[*] 11.7 58,485 62,057 64,295 65,518 66,920 71,349 75,168 95,134
Fine Gael Colm Burke 10.8 53,721 54,617 57,190 57,884 58,654      
Fianna Fáil Ned O'Keeffe 3.3 16,596 16,896 17,124          
Green Dan Boyle 3.1 15,499 16,250            
Independent Alexander Stafford 2.3 11,692              
Independent Maurice Sexton 0.5 2,474              
Electorate: 861,727   Valid: 498,127   Spoilt: 11,836 (2.3%)   Quota: 124,532   Turnout: 509,963 (59.2%)  

2004 election

2004–2009 Ireland South constituency boundaries
2004 European Parliament election: South (3 seats)[16]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Fianna Fáil Brian Crowley[*] 25.9 125,539          
Fine Gael Simon Coveney 24.6 118,937 120,261 120,537 121,332    
Independent Kathy Sinnott 18.4 89,127 89,872 90,175 92,010 97,057 120,600
Fianna Fáil Gerry Collins[*] 15.1 73,131 74,991 75,246 75,577 78,367 87,658
Sinn Féin David Cullinane 6.7 32,643 32,848 32,977 33,561 35,385  
Labour Brendan Ryan 4.1 19,975 20,086 20,170 20,576 24,406  
Green Chris O'Leary 2.3 10,896 10,980 11,056 11,478    
Independent Gerry Hannan 1.3 6,394 6,428 6,551 6,934    
Independent Lily Moynihan 1.2 5,831 5,914 6,048      
Independent Anthony O'Connor 0.4 1,797 1,822        
Electorate: 802,359   Valid: 484,270   Spoilt: 14,124 (2.8%)   Quota: 121,068   Turnout: 498,394 (62.1%)  

References

  1. ^ a b European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2004, s. 4 (No. 2 of 2004, s. 4). Enacted on 27 February 2004. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 11 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Leahy, Pat (18 May 2024). "European Parliament elections: a few clear leaders and then a mad scramble for seats". The Irish Times.
  3. ^ McGee, Harry (28 April 2014). "New European Parliament constituencies have Wonderland logic". The Irish Times.
  4. ^ Census 2016
  5. ^ "European Election: Ireland South constituency results". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  6. ^ "As it happened: All seats filled in Ireland South". RTÉ News. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Dublin and South to gain extra European Parliament seats". RTÉ News. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Report on European Parliament Constituencies 2018" (PDF). Constituency Commission. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  9. ^ a b European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019, s. 7 (No. 7 of 2019, s. 7). Enacted on 12 March 2019. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 11 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019, s. 6 (No. 7 of 2019, s. 6). Enacted on 12 March 2019. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 11 April 2019.
  11. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023, s. 5: Amendment of European Parliament Elections Act 1997 (No. 40 of 2023, s. 5). Enacted on 19 December 2023. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 22 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Review of European Parliament Constituencies Report 2023" (PDF). Electoral Commission. 20 November 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  13. ^ Burns, Sarah (20 November 2023). "Extra European Parliament seat recommended for Midlands-North West". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  14. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009, s. 8 (No. 4 of 2009, s. 8). Enacted on 24 February 2009. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 11 April 2019.
  15. ^ European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2014, s. 3 (No. 2 of 2014, s. 3). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 December 2015.
  16. ^ a b "2004 European Parliament election – South". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  17. ^ a b "2009 European Parliament election – South". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  18. ^ a b "2014 European Parliament election – South". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  19. ^ "Liadh Ní Riada concedes defeat in Ireland South elections". Irish Examiner. 4 June 2019.
  20. ^ "RTÉ 2024 Elections". RTÉ. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  21. ^ "EU Elections Information Hub". European Movement Ireland. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  22. ^ "EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Meet the Candidates". Ireland Votes. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Changes to Register of Political Parties See New Party Proposed and Name/Emblem Changes for Another". Electoral Commission. 12 April 2024.
  24. ^ McMorrow, Conor (2 February 2019). "Runners and riders line up for Euro election race". RTÉ News.
  25. ^ McGee, Harry (23 March 2019). "Fianna Fáil adds Kelleher to European ticket in Ireland South". The Irish Times.
  26. ^ Cork City Returning Officer. "Candidates for European Election 2019".
  27. ^ "South". RTÉ.
  28. ^ O'Sullivan, Jennie (30 May 2019). "Full recount in Ireland South could cost up to €1m". RTÉ News.
  29. ^ "Tuesday's Evening Round-Up: Ní Riada concedes, Rainfall warning and Taylor's homecoming". Irish Examiner. 4 June 2019.
  30. ^ "Nominations close for Europe elections". RTÉ News. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.