European Parliament elections

Elections to the European Parliament are held in Ireland every five years. The most recent European elections took place in Ireland on Friday, 7 June 2024.

In these elections, EU citizen’s resident in Ireland choose the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who will represent their interests in the European Parliament. Together with government representatives from 27 EU Member States, MEPs shape and decide on new laws that influence lives across the European Union. MEPs are elected according to national electoral systems.

In Ireland, we use an electoral system know as proportional representation with a single transferable vote or PR-STV. European Parliament elections take place every five years. Voters in Ireland will elect 14 MEPs in 2024, one more than in the 2019 elections. A total of 720 MEPs will be elected in June 2024.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin carried out a review of the European election constituencies in November 2023. As a result of this, one additional MEP was allocated to a revised Midland’s North West constituency.

Ireland is divided into three constituencies for European elections:

• Dublin – elects 4 MEPS
• South – elects 5 MEPS
• Midlands-North-West – elects 5 MEPS

The person responsible for conducting the election on polling day in each of the constituencies is called a Returning Officer.

The next European elections will be held in 2029.

Irish citizens aged 18 and over, who are on the electoral register, can vote in the European election. Irish citizens who are living in another EU country can vote in that country.

If you are from another EU Member State and living in Ireland, you can vote in the European election in Ireland. To do so your name has to be on the register of electors. If you are an EU citizen but have not registered to vote at a previous European election in Ireland you must apply for registration and complete a statutory declaration form, EP1. The statutory declarations are sent to your home Member State to avoid duplicate voting.

In the European elections, you cannot vote in more than one constituency or country.

• The deadline to register and update your details for in-person voting for the 7 June elections has passed (20 May).

• The deadline for postal and special voting arrangements for the 7 June elections has passed (11 May).

You can register to vote in the European elections at any time on checktheregister.com.

Read more on the eligibility criteria for postal and special voting.

When you arrive at your polling station, you will be asked for your name and address. You may also be asked for a valid form of I.D. If polling station staff are satisfied with your identity, and your name is on the register of electors, they will stamp a ballot paper and give it to you.

You can then take your ballot paper into a private voting booth. The ballot paper list each of the candidates’ names, in alphabetical order, party emblems and images of each candidate. There will be a box to the right of each candidate’s name. You mark your preference for each candidate in the box to the right.

You mark a ‘1’ in the box beside your first choice candidate and, if you wish, a ‘2’ in the box beside your second choice candidate, a ‘3’ in the box beside your third choice candidate, and so on.

• By marking a ‘1’ beside a candidate you are saying ‘I wish to vote for this candidate.’

• By marking a ‘2’ beside a candidate you are saying ‘If my first choice candidate does not need my vote because they have already been elected or excluded from the count, I want my vote to go to this second candidate.’

• By marking a ‘3’ beside a candidate you are saying ‘If my first and second choice candidates do not need my vote, I want my vote to go to this third candidate’.

This system of voting gives you a wide variety of choice. You can choose many different candidates and mark them in order of your preference. You can mark your preferences for as many or as few candidates as you wish. This is your decision.

For each ballot paper make sure you start with ‘1’ then ‘2’ then ‘3’ and so on. To ensure your vote is counted make sure you mark your preferences as clearly as possible. If you do not want to fill out a preference for all candidates on the ballot paper, the box beside those you are not voting for must be left empty. Do not make any other mark on the ballot paper. If you do, your vote may be considered invalid/spoilt and not counted.

If you have a visual impairment, a Ballot Paper Template will be available at every polling station and you can use it to cast your vote.

When you have voted you should fold your ballot paper, return and place it into the ballot box at the same station.

View multilingual information about voting in elections in Ireland. 

Voters receive one European Parliament ballot paper. The paper you receive will depend in which constituency that you live in. The three constituencies are:

• Midlands-North-West
• South, and
• Dublin

The Midlands-North-West constituency is a five seat constituency (electing 5 MEPs) representing Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath. If you are eligible and on the electoral register you will receive a ballot paper for the Midlands-North-West constituency for the European Parliament elections as well as a ballot paper to vote in the local elections.

The South constituency is a five seat (electing 5 MEPs) constituency representing the counties of Carlow, Clare, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. This means that if you are eligible to vote and on the register you will receive a ballot paper for the South constituency for the European Parliament elections, as well as a ballot paper for your local electoral area (LEA) to vote in the local elections. If you vote in Limerick, you will also receive a third ballot paper for a directly elected mayor.

The Dublin constituency is a four seat constituency, meaning that four candidates will be elected to represent this constituency. If you are eligible and on the electoral register in Dublin, you will receive a ballot paper for the Dublin constituency in the European Parliament elections as well as a ballot paper to vote in the local elections.

For information about how to fill out your ballot paper properly, visit our How to vote page.

For more information about the European Parliament boundaries, visit our Constituency and Electoral Boundary Reviews page.

Below are samples of the ballot papers from the 2024 European Parliament election for each constituency.

View an accessible format of the Dublin constituency sample ballot paper. 

View an accessible format of the Midlands-North-West constituency sample ballot paper.

View an accessible format of the South constituency sample ballot paper.