2004 European Parliament election in Ireland

2004 European Parliament election in Ireland

←  1999 11 June 2004 2009  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
13 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout	1,841,335 (59.0% 8.8 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Enda Kenny Bertie Ahern Gerry Adams Party Fine Gael Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Alliance EPP–ED UEN GUE/NGL Leader since 2 June 2002 19 December 1994 1983 Last election 24.6%, 4 seats 38.6%, 6 seats 6.3%, 0 seats Seats won 5 / 13 4 / 13 1 / 13 Seat change 1 2 1 Popular vote 464,414 524,504 197,715 Percentage 27.8% 29.5% 11.1% Swing 3.2 pp 9.1 pp 4.8 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Pat Rabbitte Trevor Sargent Joe Higgins Party Labour Green Socialist Party Alliance PES Greens/EFA Leader since October 2002 6 November 2001 — Last election 8.7%, 1 seat 6.7%, 2 seats 0.8%, 0 seats Seats won 1 / 13 0 / 13 0 / 11 Seat change 2 Popular vote 188,132 76,917 23,218 Percentage 10.5% 4.3% 1.3% Swing 1.8 pp 2.4 pp 0.5 pp
Colours indicate winning party.

The 2004 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2004 European Parliament election. The voting was held on Friday, 11 June 2004. The election coincided with the 2004 local elections. The election was conducted under the single transferable vote.

This was the first election that Fine Gael won more seats than Fianna Fáil, who had won most seats at every election from 1979.

Constituency revision

Since the 1999 European Parliament election, Ireland's entitlement had fallen from 15 seats to 13 seats due to European Union expansion and some constituencies boundaries and names were changed.

• Munster constituency lost County Clare and was reduced from 4 seats to 3 and renamed South
• Connacht–Ulster gained County Clare and was renamed North-West
• Leinster had no boundary changes but was reduced from 4 seats to 3 and renamed East
• Dublin was unchanged

Results

The election was organised by city/county council area, the basis for the local elections being held simultaneously. Voters received different-coloured ballot papers for the European election, city/county council election, and a constitutional referendum, all of which went into the same ballot box and were separated by colour once the boxes arrived at the count centre for the city/county. Not all voters received all ballots as the franchises differ. The European ballots were all counted in one city/county, necessitating a second transportation of the separated ballots from the other city/county centres. For example, the East ballots were counted in Navan, County Meath. ^[1]

Elections to the European Parliament in Ireland – 2004

Party		European party	Party Leader	1st Pref Vote	%	±%	Seats	±
	Fine Gael	EPP-ED	Enda Kenny	494,412	27.8	+3.2	5	+1
	Fianna Fáil	UEN	Bertie Ahern	524,504	29.5	−9.1	4	−2
	Sinn Féin	GUE/NGL	Gerry Adams	197,715	11.1	+4.8	1	+1
	Labour Party	PES	Pat Rabbitte	188,132	10.5	+1.8	1	±0
	Green Party	Greens/EFA	Trevor Sargent	76,917	4.3	−2.4	0	−2
	Socialist Party		Joe Higgins	23,218	1.3	+0.5	0	±0
	Independent			275,870	15.5	+1.2	2	±0
Total				1,780,768	100.0	—	13	–2

MEPs elected

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament for Ireland, 2004–2009

Constituency	Name	Party		EP group
Dublin	Gay Mitchell		Fine Gael		EPP–ED
	Eoin Ryan		Fianna Fáil		UEN
	Mary Lou McDonald		Sinn Féin		GUE/NGL
	Proinsias De Rossa		Labour		PES
East	Mairead McGuinness		Fine Gael		EPP–ED
	Avril Doyle		Fine Gael		EPP–ED
	Liam Aylward		Fianna Fáil		UEN
North-West	Marian Harkin		Independent		ALDE
	Seán Ó Neachtain		Fianna Fáil		UEN
	Jim Higgins		Fine Gael		EPP–ED
South	Brian Crowley		Fianna Fáil		UEN
	Simon Coveney		Fine Gael		EPP–ED
	Kathy Sinnott		Independent		IND/DEM

Voting details

2004–2009 European Parliament Ireland constituencies

Constituency	Electorate	Turnout	Spoilt	Valid Poll	Quota	Seats	Candidates
Dublin	821,723	435,136 (52.9%)	13,239 (3.0%)	421,897	84,380	4	12
East	806,598	471,895 (58.5%)	18,717 (3.9%)	453,178	113,295	3	13
North-West	688,804	435,910 (63.3%)	14,487 (3.3%)	421,423	105,356	3	9
South	802,359	498,394 (62.1%)	14,124 (2.8%)	484,270	121,068	3	10
Total	3,119,484	1,841,335 (59.0%)	60,567 (3.3%)	1,780,768	—	13	44

Seats

Constituency	Area	Seats	Pop.	per Seat
Dublin	County Dublin	4	1.1m	275k
East	Leinster less County Dublin	3	1m	333k
South	Munster less County Clare	3	1m	333k
North-West	Connacht plus counties Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Clare	3	800k	270k
Total		13	3.9m	300k

See also

• List of members of the European Parliament for Ireland, 2004–09 – List ordered by constituency
• For the Northern Ireland European Parliament elections, see 2004 UK European Parliament election.

References

1. Murphy, Tom (10 June 2004). "91,000 people are eligible to vote". Wicklow People. Retrieved 19 October 2018.

External links

• ElectionsIreland.org – 2004 European Parliament (Ireland) election results
• European Election News by European Election Law Association (Eurela)