The 1979 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 1979 European Parliament election. These were the first direct elections to the European Parliament, and the first election to be held simultaneously across the entire Island of Ireland since the 1921 Irish elections. The election was conducted under the single transferable vote.
Constituencies Ireland was entitled to 15 MEPs who were elected on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) in four constituencies based on the provinces of Ireland: Connacht–Ulster (3 seats); Dublin (4 seats); Leinster (3 seats); Munster (5 seats).
Results
MEPs elected
Constituency NamePartyEP group Connacht–Ulster Neil Blaney Joe McCartin Seán Flanagan Dublin Richie Ryan John O'Connell Síle de Valera Michael O'Leary Leinster Mark Clinton Patrick Lalor Liam Kavanagh Munster T.J. Maher Eileen Desmond Tom O'Donnell Jerry Cronin Noel Davern
Voting details
ConstituencyElectorateTurnoutSpoiltValid PollQuotaSeatsCandidatesConnacht–Ulster 442,471 320,713 (72.5%) 14,547 (4.5%) 306,166 76,542 3 11Dublin 618,454 304,068 (49.2%) 8,653 (2.8%) 295,415 59,084 4 13Leinster 486,248 322,312 (66.30%) 15,416 (4.80%) 306,896 61,380 3 9Munster 641,625 445,192 (69.40%) 14,597 (3.3%) 430,595 71,766 5 13 Total 2,188,798 1,392,285 (63.6%) 53,213 (3.8%) 1,339,072— 15 46
Aftermath Provisional Sinn Féin did not to contest the election. However, the relative success of Bernadette McAliskey in Northern Ireland helped prompt Sinn Féin to stand in subsequent European elections.
References
External links ElectionsIreland.org – 1979 European Parliament (Ireland) election results Irish Elections – 1979 European Election