2009 European Parliament election in Ireland

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12 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout	57.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Enda Kenny Brian Cowen Eamon Gilmore Party Fine Gael Fianna Fáil Labour Alliance EPP ALDE S&D Leader since 2 June 2002 7 May 2008 6 September 2007 Last election 27.8%, 5 seats 29.5%, 4 seats 10.5%, 1 seat Seats won 4 / 12 3 / 12 3 / 12 Seat change 1 1 2 Popular vote 532,889 440,562 254,669 Percentage 29.1% 24.1% 13.9% Swing 1.3 5.4% 3.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   LI Leader Joe Higgins Gerry Adams Declan Ganley Party Socialist Party Sinn Féin Libertas Alliance GUE/NGL GUE/NGL Lib.eu Leader since 1996 1983 30 October 2008 Last election 1.3%, 0 seats 11.1%, 1 seat New Seats won 1 / 12 0 / 12 0 / 12 Seat change 1 1 0 Popular vote 50,510 205,613 99,709 Percentage 2.7% 11.2% 5.4% Swing 1.4% 0.1% 5.4%
Colours indicate winning party.

The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections. Two by-elections (Dublin South and Dublin Central) were also held on the same day.^[1]

National and regional summaries

The governing Fianna Fáil party lost one MEP and a significant share of the vote, in line with the day's other election results. Fine Gael increased its national vote share but lost a seat. The Labour Party, which increased its delegation from one MEP to three, was the only major party to make seat gains. Sinn Féin lost its only MEP in the Republic of Ireland, and the Socialist Party won a seat for the first time. One independent MEP lost her seat. The Green Party's vote was halved, and the pan-European Libertas party, based in Ireland, also failed to make a breakthrough.

In Dublin, Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael and Proinsias De Rossa of Labour were re-elected, while Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party defeated the incumbent Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin MEPs to take the third seat. In the East constituency, Mairead McGuinness of Fine Gael and Liam Aylward of Fianna Fáil were re-elected. Nessa Childers of Labour took the vacant final seat. North-West re-elected independent ALDE MEP Marian Harkin and Jim Higgins of Fine Gael, while the Fianna Fáil seat was retained by former MEP Pat "the Cope" Gallagher. In South, Brian Crowley of Fianna Fáil was re-elected, Seán Kelly won a seat from his Fine Gael colleague Colm Burke, and Labour's Alan Kelly took the last seat in a tight contest between him, Sinn Féin's Toiréasa Ferris and the incumbent Independent Kathy Sinnott in the final count.^[2]

Constituency changes

In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Nice, the number of MEPs from Ireland in the European Parliament was reduced from 13 to 12 for this election. The Dublin constituency was reduced from 4 seats to 3, and the counties of Longford and Westmeath were transferred from the East constituency to the North-West constituency. The election was conducted under the single transferable vote in Ireland; the only other constituencies to elect their MEPs under STV are Malta and Northern Ireland, with the rest of Europe using variants of the list system.

Results

Elections to the European Parliament in Ireland – 2009^[3]

Party		European party	Party leader	First pref vote	%	±%	Seats	±
	Fine Gael	EPP	Enda Kenny	532,889	29.1	1.3	4	1
	Fianna Fáil	ALDE	Brian Cowen	440,562	24.1	5.4	3	1
	Labour Party	S&D	Eamon Gilmore	254,669	13.9	3.4	3	2
	Socialist Party	GUE/NGL	Joe Higgins	50,510[4]	2.7	1.4	1	1
	Sinn Féin	GUE/NGL	Gerry Adams	205,613	11.2	0.1	0	1
	Libertas	EFD	Declan Ganley	99,709	5.4	5.4	0	±0
	Green Party	Greens/EFA	John Gormley	34,585	1.9	2.4	0	±0
	Independent			210,776	11.5	4.0	1	1
Total				1,829,313	100	—	12	−1

MEPs elected

Voting details