World of Politics with Harry McGee

A strange thing happens to people who contest European elections. They are forgotten about – whether they win or lose. Politicians with a really strong national profile who become MEPs seem to slowly slip off the radar, as though the elections are a way of slowly ghosting them.

European Parliament elections are what’s known as second-tier elections – or what the electorate might consider almost like a luxury item.

Unlike general elections where your vote will determine who will run the country over the next five years, the European Parliament seems, just, less important.

There are 705 members of the Parliament from 27 countries. Ireland has 13 MEPS, which is about two per cent.

The Parliament isn’t the power broker in Europe. It’s not even the second most powerful power broker. It’s firmly number three behind the EU Council (the leaders) and the EU Commission.

Besides, Europe has always seemed, just, remote to most Irish voters. So it’s no surprise that people don’t put a huge amount of stock in it.

I’d say if I asked you to name the four MEPs for this constituency, you would struggle to name more than one or two.

No, Mairéad McGuinness is no longer an MEP. She’s a European Commissioner now. She may be an MEP again in the future if the Government decides it needs a new Commissioner next year. But for now, she’s not.

The easy ones are Maria Walsh and Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan. Slightly trickier are the other two – Colm Markey (Fine Gael) and Chris MacManus (Sinn Fein). Neither roll of the tongue, principally because neither were elected. They were both on the substitute list.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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