Ireland has told the EU that it favours holding next year’s European elections between June 6th and 9th next year.
The date for the next European Parliament elections is currently the subject of discussions, with various dates in May and June of next year mooted.
Ireland has, however, indicated its preference for the “default” date of between June 6th to 9th. If no decision is made to change that the end of next month, that is the date which will be selected.
That will also almost certainly be the date for the local elections in Ireland too.
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The information was revealed to Labour leader, Ivana Bacik, in the answer to a parliamentary question last week.
“As matters currently stand, fixing the election period for the next European Parliament elections in 2024 is the subject of ongoing discussions at the Working Party on General Affairs,” the response to the question said.
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“A number of alternative dates have recently been proposed for the months of May and June 2024 and the Swedish presidency has requested Member States to provide feedback on the various options. In this context, Ireland has signalled its preference for the default dates (ie June 6th to 9th 2024).”
Last week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that due to population changes, Ireland could receive an extra European Parliament seat or possibly two extra. There are currently 13 MEPs elected from Ireland – four from the Midlands-Northwest constituency, five from the South and four from Dublin. Two extra seats could see the creation of a fourth constituency, Mr Varadkar suggested.
