Midlands–North-West (European Parliament constituency)

Midlands–North-West is a European Parliament constituency in Ireland. It elects 5 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

History and boundaries

Midlands–North-West was created for the 2014 European Parliament election when Ireland's allocation of seats was reduced from 12 to 11 due to the accession of Croatia to the European Union. It followed a recommendation of a 2013 Constituency Commission report on European Parliament constituencies in Ireland. It consisted of the old North-West constituency, except for County Clare which was moved to the South constituency; as well the northern and central Leinster part of the East constituency. The Irish Times criticised the wide geographic spread of the constituency, calling it "a heterogeneous mish-mash of counties with little historic or cultural connection to each other". It was nicknamed "Malin M50" for its wide spread, from the suburbs of Dublin to the Atlantic seaboard.

For the 2019 European Parliament election, a reapportionment following Brexit and the loss of 73 MEPs from the United Kingdom gave two additional seats to Ireland. Following a recommendation of the Constituency Commission, counties Laois and Offaly were moved to the South constituency, with Midlands–North-West maintaining its 4 seats.

At the 2024 European Parliament election, Midlands–North-West increased to 5 seats, with the transfer of County Laois and County Offaly from South. This followed a recommendation of the Electoral Commission, where Ireland had been allocated one additional MEP. This gives the new constituency a population of 1,831,741, as of the 2022 census

The constituency comprises the counties of Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath; and the city of Galway.

The main urban areas of Midlands–North-West (by population size) are Galway, Drogheda, Dundalk, Navan, Newbridge, Naas, Portlaoise, Athlone, Mullingar, Letterkenny, Celbridge, Sligo, Maynooth, Leixlip, Ashbourne and Tullamore.

MEPs

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

^ *: Outgoing MEP elected at the previous election.
^ †: Outgoing MEP coopted subsequent to the previous election.

2024 election

2019 election

2014 election

References

1. West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
2. North-West (European Parliament constituency)
3. Midlands West (European Parliament constituency)
4. East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
5. North West England (European Parliament constituency)
6. 2024 European Parliament election in Ireland
7. European Parliament constituency
8. South (European Parliament constituency)
9. European Parliament constituencies in the Republic of Ireland
10. Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
11. Midlands Central (European Parliament constituency)
12. 2019 European Parliament election in Ireland
13. Meriden (UK Parliament constituency)
14. European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom
15. 1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
16. Midlands
17. South East England (European Parliament constituency)
18. East (European Parliament constituency)
19. 2014 European Parliament election in Ireland
20. South West England (European Parliament constituency)