Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew misses out on final seat in Ireland’s European elections

Former Northern Ireland MP Michelle Gildernew has lost out on a seat in the European Parliament.

In the early hours of Friday morning, the constituency of Midlands-North-West elected Fine Gael’s Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh as well as Independent Ireland candidate and former RTE correspondent Ciaran Mullooly.

It followed shortly after the election of Fianna Fail’s Barry Cowen, while left-wing independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan was the first candidate over the line in the constituency on Thursday. But Sinn Fein's Ms Gildernew, the former Fermanagh & South Tyrone MP just lost out, coming sixth in the five-seater.

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It was the last constituency to declare in the European Parliament elections. Irish voters headed to the polls last Friday to pick 949 local councillors, 14 MEPs and the country’s first directly elected mayor.

Ms Gildernew was one of 27 candidates who contested the massive 15-county constituency to be one of the Republic of Ireland’s members of the European Parliament. But she missed out by almost 5,500 votes as her party lost the seat it had held since 2014.

Outgoing Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief Pat Cullen is running as Sinn Fein’s candidate in Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the upcoming UK General Election after Ms Gildernew last month confirmed she will not be standing for re-election and would instead be running in the Midlands North West constituency in the European election.

She said at the time: “That is my sole focus. I will not be running in the forthcoming Westminster election. In 2001 when I was first elected by a margin of 53 votes to the seat held by Bobby Sands in 1981 I was humbled.

“It has been both a privilege and an honour to represent the people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone since; and I will be forever grateful for the trust they have placed in me.”

Fermanagh and South Tyrone is one of the closest electoral races in the UK, with Michelle Gildernew holding the seat in 2019 by just 57 votes.

Party vice president Michelle O’Neill said there “absolutely has to be a role” for Ms Gildernew moving forward, describing her colleague as a “stalwart”.

Ms O’Neill described Ms Gildernew as a “fantastic asset” for Sinn Fein, adding: “I know where Michelle Gildernew will be for the next three weeks, right up until July 4, she will be walking hand in hand with Pat Cullen in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to get Pat elected. But there absolutely has to be a role for Michelle going forward. She has been a stalwart in that constituency for so long and she will be back in whatever form that will take.

“Michelle standing in the Midlands-North-West constituency was both a statement of intent and a statement of ambition. In life you can choose to stand still or you can try to edge forward. On this occasion it hasn’t worked out, but that doesn’t mean we won’t come back at it again and again and again.”

Overall Sinn Fein has increased its presence in the European Parliament from one to two, while Labour holds one seat, the Independent Ireland party claimed one and two non-party aligned independents fill the remainder. Fianna Fail has doubled its European representation to four, with Fine Gael also on four – down one from its previous showing in 2019.

Five MEPs have lost their seats throughout the entire process - Sinn Fein’s Chris MacManus, Greens Grace O’Sullivan and Ciaran Cuffe as well as independents Mick Wallace and Clare Daly.

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