SEÁN KELLY AND John Mullins have been selected by Fine Gael members to represent the party in the Ireland South constituency in June’s European elections.

The selection convention took place at Hotel Minella in Clonmel in county Tipperary today.

Mullins, who served as the CEO of Bord Gáis between 2007 and 2012, is set to replace Deirdre Clune on the ticket. He is currently the group chairman of Amarenco, a solar energy firm.

Clune, who has been an MEP for 10 years, announced in November she would not seek re-election.

Mullins today said he was “honoured” to be chosen as Fine Gael’s new candidate.

“My focus will be on creating a new rural contract, putting renewable energy as one of Ireland’s largest exports and ensuring that Ireland has a new strong experienced negotiator for our interests,” he said.

Kelly thanked Clune for her work in Ireland South over the past decade. He was first elected to the European Parliament for Fine Gael in 2009, and was re-elected in 2014 and 2019.

‘Vital’ work

Speaking today, Kelly said the upcoming European election is “set to be critically important for Fine Gael, for Ireland, and for Europe as a whole”.

“It is vital that we continue to position ourselves at the forefront of EU decision-making and ensure the EU delivers for Irish citizens,” he added.

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Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, who is also Fine Gael’s European Director of Elections, chaired today’s convention.

Speaking after the announcement, Coveney said his party’s MEPs have been “vital” in Europe in recent years as the country navigated Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and other global issues like the war in Ukraine.

Ireland currently has 13 MEPs but will have 14 after the upcoming election, which is expected to take place on Friday 7 June.