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.
MEPs elected
Constituency NamePartyEP group Dublin Gay Mitchell Eoin Ryan Mary Lou McDonald Proinsias De Rossa East Mairead McGuinness Avril Doyle Liam Aylward North-West Marian Harkin Seán Ó Neachtain Jim Higgins South Brian Crowley Simon Coveney Kathy Sinnott
Voting details
ConstituencyElectorateTurnoutSpoiltValid PollQuotaSeatsCandidatesDublin821,723435,136 (52.9%)13,239 (3.0%)421,897 84,380412East806,598471,895 (58.5%)18,717 (3.9%)453,178 113,295313North-West688,804435,910 (63.3%)14,487 (3.3%)421,423 105,35639South802,359498,394 (62.1%)14,124 (2.8%)484,270 121,068310Total3,119,4841,841,335 (59.0%)60,567 (3.3%)1,780,768— 1344
Seats ConstituencyAreaSeatsPop.per SeatDublinCounty Dublin41.1m275kEastLeinster less County Dublin31m333kSouthMunster less County Clare31m333kNorth-WestConnacht plus counties Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Clare3800k270kTotal133.9m300k
See also List of members of the European Parliament for Ireland, 2004–2009 – List ordered by constituency For the Northern Ireland European Parliament elections, see 2004 UK European Parliament election.
References
External links ElectionsIreland.org – 2004 European Parliament (Ireland) election results European Election News by European Election Law Association (Eurela)