Politics

European elections are ‘going to be tough’ for Fine Gael, MEP Seán Kelly says

European People’s Party gathering in Romania with Ursula von der Leyen set to be backed to seek second term as commission president

The European People's Party (EPP) congress is taking place in Bucharest this week. Photograph: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images

Shauna Bowers
Wed Mar 6 2024 - 19:00

The upcoming European elections will be difficult for Fine Gael due to a fall in support for the party and Sinn Féin’s increased popularity, Ireland South MEP Seán Kelly has said.

Speaking in advance of a European People’s Party (EPP) conference in Romania on Wednesday, Mr Kelly said opinion polling indicates that it is “going to be tough” for Fine Gael to match its result in 2019, when it won five of Ireland’s 13 seats.

“I always like to think I’m realistic and I don’t go around blasé, saying ‘we’re going to gain or retain seats’. Looking at the polls, we are at 19 per cent, Sinn Féin are 28. We have five MEPs, they have one,” he said.

“Fianna Fáil are around the same as us. Being realistic, it will be very hard to retain the five, but we’ll fight for it. It’s going to be difficult. We’ve been in Government for 13 or 14 years now and there’s probably an accumulation of issues that people are not happy with.”

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The European Parliament elections are to take place in June and the Irish electorate will this time be voting to fill 14 seats after the approval of a decision by the European Council to increase the size of the parliament.

Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune, who is not seeking to be returned to the parliament, said election outcomes are “never clear”, but she has confidence in Fine Gael’s ability to hold five seats. She said European elections are “not about one individual, it’s about the team on the ground, and you wouldn’t underestimate that” when it comes to the party.

The EPP is an umbrella group representing centre-right parties across Europe, including Fine Gael in Ireland, as well as government parties in Greece, Poland, Latvia, Croatia, Lithuania, Sweden, Romania, Finland and Luxembourg.

[ Fine Gael in awkward position as European politics shifts right ]

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is seeking another term and is to be formally selected as the EPP’s official candidate for the presidency in a vote in Bucharest on Thursday.

Mr Kelly and Ms Clune reiterated their support for Dr von der Leyen, who has come under fire over her stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Mr Kelly said you can “find fault with everybody and she made a few mistakes” but he said she “got most of the big issues right” such as uniting Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic and condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers is a reporter for The Irish Times

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