Candidates
Who are the candidates?
Choose one of the links below to see the official list of candidates for that constituency:
Returning Officers for each of the constituencies.
Who is eligible to stand as a candidate in the European Elections?
Any EU citizen over the age of 21 and resident in Ireland is eligible to be a candidate for the elections.
Who is not eligible?
If any of the following applies to you, you will not be eligible to participate in the elections:- if you are disqualified from election to the Dáil;
- if you are a candidate for election in another EU Member State;
- if you are a national of another Member State and you may not stand as a candidate for election in that Member State because of a law in that Member State;
- if you are a judge, the Comptroller and Auditor General, a member of the Garda Síochána, a whole-time member of the Defence Forces or a civil servant (and it does not specifically state in your contract of employment that you may be a member of the European Parliament);
- if you are a person of unsound mind;
- if you are presently in prison serving a term greater than 6 months;
- or if you are an undischarged bankrupt.
How to become a candidate?
The official nomination period will take place between Saturday, 2 May (10 am) and Monday, 11 May (12 noon). Candidates can withdraw their nomination until Tuesday, 12 May (12 noon). To become a candidate, you must obtain a nomination paper from the Returning Officer for your constituency and you may then be nominated by yourself or by one elector from the constituency in which you intend standing. There is no longer a requirement to pay a deposit to be nominated for membership of the European Parliament. As a Political Party candidate, you must be nominated by your party and produce a Certificate of Party Affiliation. As an independent candidate, you must produce a document containing 60 signatures of 'assenters' who are registered voters in the constituency. You must then complete the nomination paper and present it to the Returning Officer for your constituency. The Returning Officer will then decide on the validity of your nomination paper within one hour after it is presented to him or her.
If you are not an Irish or a UK citizen, you must also make a statutory declaration and produce an attestation from your home Member State that you are not disqualified from standing as a candidate there.
If you are not a member of an Irish Political Party but you are a member of a Political Group in the European Parliament you may have the name of that group included on all ballot papers and notices. You may also submit a photograph and/or a political party emblem to appear on the ballot paper.
As a candidate at a European Parliament election, you are entitled to send one election letter free of postage charge to every elector in the constituency. If you are a member of a Political Party with another candidate in the constituency, you will only be allowed one election letter free of postage charge between you.
What happens when a candidate is elected?
If you are the Attorney General, the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad or a Minister of State and you are elected to the European Parliament, you will cease to hold your original post on the day you are elected to the European Parliament.
Replacement candidates
There are no by-elections for the European Parliament. If an MEP dies or resigns, the vacancy is filled from a replacement list. Both party and non-party candidates therefore have to present a list of replacement candidates to the Returning Officer, to ensure that MEPs who retire/resign from the European Parliament during their five year term can be replaced by the next available candidate on their replacement list. Political Parties are entitled to provide a list of up to four names for each candidate and independent candidates are entitled to provide a list of up to three names each.
A person cannot be nominated as a replacement candidate in more than one constituency. However, a person who is actually a candidate in the election can also be a replacement candidate. On polling day, the ballot papers will refer to the replacement list for each candidate. The replacement lists will be displayed at each polling station.
