# Connacht–Ulster (European Parliament constituency)

Connacht–Ulster was a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland between 1979 and 2004. Throughout its history, it elected 3 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) using the single transferable vote (STV) system.

## History and boundaries

The constituency was created in 1979 for the first direct elections to the European Parliament. It comprised the counties of Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo from the historic province of Connacht together with the Ulster counties of Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan. It was abolished under the European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2004 and succeeded by the new North-West constituency.

## MEPs

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for Connacht–Ulster 1979–2009 :
| Key to parties  FF = Fianna Fáil  FG = Fine Gael  IFF = Independent Fianna Fáil  Ind = Independent ||||||||
| Parl. | Election | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) |
| 1st | 1979 | | Neil Blaney (IFF) | | Seán Flanagan (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 2nd | 1984 | | Ray MacSharry (FF) | | Seán Flanagan (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 2nd | 1987 | | Mark Killilea (FF) | | Seán Flanagan (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 3rd | 1989 | | Mark Killilea (FF) | | Neil Blaney (IFF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 4th | 1994 | | Mark Killilea (FF) | | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 5th | 1999 | | Dana Rosemary Scallon (Ind) | | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 5th | 2002 | | Dana Rosemary Scallon (Ind) | | Seán Ó Neachtain (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
| 6th | 2004 | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. |
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
### 1999 election

1999 European Parliament election: Connacht–Ulster :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher | 20.6 | 66,055 | 66,381 | 66,902 | 72,673 | 98,258 | |
| | Fine Gael | Joe McCartin | 19.9 | 63,632 | 63,811 | 64,506 | 68,388 | 72,764 | 75,275 |
| | Independent | Dana Rosemary Scallon | 16.0 | 51,086 | 51,366 | 52,802 | 59,444 | 67,887 | 72,855 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Noel Treacy | 15.0 | 47,933 | 48,060 | 48,470 | 51,544 | | |
| | Independent | Marian Harkin | 14.8 | 47,372 | 47,712 | 48,632 | 56,141 | 60,316 | 64,152 |
| | Sinn Féin | Seán MacManus | 6.4 | 20,457 | 20,571 | 20,801 | | | |
| | Labour | Gerard Gibbons | 3.3 | 10,522 | 10,827 | 10,972 | | | |
| | Independent | Liam Sharkey | 1.7 | 5,334 | 5,404 | | | | |
| | Independent | Luke 'Ming' Flanagan | 1.6 | 5,000 | 5,539 | 5,650 | | | |
| | Natural Law | Paul Campbell | 0.6 | 1,920 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Paul Raymond | 0.3 | 840 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 541,552 Valid: 320,151 Spoilt: 12,085 (3.6%) Quota: 80,038 Turnout: 332,236 (61.4%) ||||||||||
Mark Killilea retired and his seat was gained by Independent Dana Rosemary Scallon.

### 1994 election

1994 European Parliament election: Connacht–Ulster :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher | 22.9 | 53,171 | 54,122 | 57,657 | 59,372 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Mark Killilea | 19.6 | 45,638 | 46,445 | 47,500 | 53,030 | 59,773 |
| | Fine Gael | Joe McCartin | 16.4 | 38,039 | 38,861 | 39,461 | 43,896 | 49,371 |
| | Fine Gael | Jim Higgins | 13.3 | 30,947 | 32,100 | 32,768 | 37,135 | 42,153 |
| | Progressive Democrats | Bobby Molloy | 9.1 | 21,219 | 22,784 | 23,538 | | |
| | Labour | Ann Gallagher | 8.5 | 19,826 | 22,195 | 25,303 | 27,875 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Pat Doherty | 6.0 | 13,939 | 14,665 | | | |
| | Green | Richard Douthwaite | 3.7 | 8,628 | | | | |
| | Natural Law | Mary Louise Lacey | 0.5 | 1,223 | | | | |
| Electorate: 496,352 Valid: 232,630 Spoilt: 4,971 (2.1%) Quota: 58,158 Turnout: 237,601 (47.9%) |||||||||
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher of Fianna Fáil gained the seat vacated by Neil Blaney.

### 1989 election

1989 European Parliament election: Connacht–Ulster :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Mark Killilea | 17.2 | 53,842 | 53,950 | 54,122 | 54,395 | 54,668 | 55,095 | 57,686 | 58,795 | 67,246 |
| | Independent Fianna Fáil | Neil Blaney | 16.9 | 52,852 | 53,075 | 53,922 | 54,425 | 55,981 | 56,940 | 59,954 | 63,193 | 69,857 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Seán Doherty | 15.5 | 48,288 | 48,367 | 48,569 | 48,725 | 49,186 | 49,474 | 50,694 | 51,562 | 53,641 |
| | Fine Gael | Joe McCartin | 14.9 | 46,523 | 46,579 | 46,694 | 47,045 | 47,328 | 47,589 | 52,737 | 71,091 | 84,697 |
| | Progressive Democrats | Bobby Molloy | 13.0 | 40,476 | 40,564 | 40,754 | 41,613 | 41,804 | 43,254 | 45,621 | 48,227 | |
| | Fine Gael | Paddy Harte | 9.8 | 30,745 | 30,798 | 31,225 | 31,559 | 31,715 | 32,137 | 34,663 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Angela Lupton | 3.3 | 10,165 | 10,212 | 10,254 | 10,553 | 10,615 | 11,154 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Pat Doherty | 2.5 | 7,716 | 8,119 | 8,237 | 8,315 | 10,668 | 11,094 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin | 2.0 | 6,173 | 6,441 | 6,553 | 6,656 | | | | | |
| | Labour | Ivan McPhillips | 1.6 | 4,969 | 5,012 | 5,306 | | | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Jimmy Brick | 1.5 | 4,759 | 4,840 | 5,333 | 6,710 | 6,841 | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Seamus Rodgers | 1.3 | 4,097 | 4,112 | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Dermot Guy | 0.5 | 1,697 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 464,661 Valid: 312,302 Spoilt: 10,362 (3.2%) Quota: 78,076 Turnout: 322,664 (69.4%) |||||||||||||
Neil Blaney regained his seat at the expense of Fianna Fáil.

### 1984 election

1984 European Parliament election: Connacht–Ulster :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Ray MacSharry | 24.1 | 56,803 | 56,955 | 57,252 | 57,718 | 57,896 | 58,740 | 59,448 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Joe McCartin | 21.7 | 51,164 | 51,293 | 51,545 | 51,752 | 54,991 | 57,247 | 57,761 | 76,674 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Seán Flanagan | 17.3 | 40,760 | 41,017 | 41,424 | 41,615 | 41,788 | 42,657 | 43,021 | 43,915 | 46,010 |
| | Independent Fianna Fáil | Neil Blaney | 13.8 | 32,504 | 32,875 | 33,622 | 35,379 | 35,610 | 37,340 | 40,415 | 42,324 | 44,430 |
| | Fine Gael | Joseph Murrin | 8.5 | 20,107 | 20,204 | 20,415 | 20,568 | 23,190 | 25,154 | 25,459 | | |
| | Labour | Michael D. Higgins | 3.5 | 8,337 | 9,205 | 9,401 | 9,587 | 9,988 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Pól Ó Foighil | 3.0 | 7,144 | 7,214 | 7,282 | 7,323 | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin | 2.6 | 6,103 | 6,158 | 7,167 | 10,043 | 10,159 | 10,417 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Eddie Fullerton | 2.5 | 5,771 | 5,896 | 6,706 | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Mary McGing | 1.8 | 4,176 | 4,294 | | | | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Jimmy Brick | 1.1 | 2,612 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 471,577 Valid: 235,481 Spoilt: 5,763 (2.4%) Quota: 58,871 Turnout: 241,244 (51.2%) |||||||||||||
Neil Blaney lost his seat to Ray MacSharry of Fianna Fáil.

### 1979 election

1979 European Parliament election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Independent Fianna Fáil | Neil Blaney | 26.6 | 81,522 | | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Joe McCartin | 15.5 | 47,519 | 47,989 | 49,697 | 50,474 | 51,696 | 65,471 | 66,901 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Seán Flanagan | 12.5 | 38,233 | 38,653 | 39,478 | 40,732 | 52,409 | 54,826 | 82,209 |
| | Fine Gael | Patrick Cooney | 10.9 | 33,360 | 34,142 | 36,596 | 37,281 | 38,006 | 50,025 | 51,267 |
| | Fine Gael | Myles Staunton | 10.6 | 32,485 | 32,773 | 35,343 | 35,746 | 36,189 | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Jim Doolan | 9.1 | 27,739 | 28,263 | 29,781 | 30,606 | 37,781 | 38,576 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Sean McEniff | 8.4 | 25,774 | 26,267 | 26,782 | 27,818 | | | |
| | Labour | Michael D. Higgins | 4.3 | 13,062 | 14,013 | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin The Workers' Party | Tony Coffey | 1.1 | 3,329 | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin The Workers' Party | Séamus Rodgers | 0.9 | 2,696 | | | | | | |
| | Community Democrats | Christopher Morris | 0.2 | 447 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 442,471 Valid: 306,166 Spoilt: 14,547 (4.5%) Quota: 76,542 Turnout: 320,713 (72.5%) |||||||||||