FINE GAEL HAS selected Senator Regina Doherty, a former minister, as the party’s new candidate in the upcoming EU elections.

Members voted at a convention this weekend for Doherty to run in the Dublin constituency in place of MEP Frances Fitzgerald, who has decided not to contest the seat again.

Other contenders in the selection process were Minister Josepha Madigan and Senator Barry Ward.

Doherty has been a Senator since June 2020 after she lost her seat in the Dail in that year’s election. She was Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection from mid-2017 until the end of her term, including the first several months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Decisions made in Brussels and Strasbourg affect everyone’s lives in Dublin,” Doherty said in a statement. 

“Due to international events, there are many challenges facing this country. I want to ensure that Dublin’s voice – the capital of a proud nation – is heard loudly within the European Parliament and to continue the good work of all the Fine Gael MEPs.”

🇪🇺Tonight, Senator @ReginaDo has been selected to represent Fine Gael in the Dublin European Elections in June. pic.twitter.com/6c5fmvNiNB

— Fine Gael (@FineGael) February 18, 2024

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin selected its candidates for the midlands north west constituency, naming Chris MacManus and Michelle Gildernew.

MacManus is a current MEP, while Gildernew is an MP in Northern Ireland.

“Chris MacManus and Michelle Gildernew are two great candidates for the Midlands-North West, with strong records of standing up for workers and families, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said, adding: “There’s an appetite for real change, and that demand is growing stronger by the day.”

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Niamh Hourigan was selected as the Labour Party’s candidate in the Ireland South constituency.

The new Labour candidate, who is the sister of Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan, is the Vice-President of Academic Affairs at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick and has previously worked as a sociologist in University College Cork and the University of Limerick.

“Our daily lives are increasingly governed by European policy and protocols and for the past 10 years, those who support the Labour voice and the Labour perspective in Ireland South have had no-one to represent them in Europe,” Niamh Hourigan said.

“In this particularly politically fractious time, incensed by global conflict, climate change, and significant crises in housing and the cost-of-living, I believe I can be the Labour voice in Europe and can fight to push these crucial policies at a European level.”

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