MEP FRANCES FITZGERALD has announced that she does not intend to run for re-election in the upcoming 2024 European Parliament elections.

Fitzgerald, a member of Fine Gael and a former Tánaiste, has been an MEP for the Dublin constituency since July 2019.

In a statement this afternoon, Fitzerald said: “Over recent weeks I have taken time to reflect on the 2024 European Parliament Elections and have decided that I will not contest the Dublin constituency again. I will continue to work hard in the European Parliament until the end of this term in 2024, representing people across the Dublin Constituency.”

She said that “as Fine Gael prepares for the 2024 European Elections I look forward to supporting and campaigning for our candidates, and particularly for the person that I hope will be supported by the voters and become my successor in Dublin”.

“Democracy and peace are under immense strain, and we must elect people to the European Parliament who are fully committed to the founding values of the EU.”

Over recent weeks I have taken time to reflect on the 2024 European Parliament Elections and have decided that I will not contest the Dublin constituency again.

I want to thank the people of Dublin who have trusted me to represent their voice at local, national & European level. pic.twitter.com/cQFFMz45bm

— Frances Fitzgerald MEP (@FitzgeraldFrncs) November 6, 2023

The next EU elections are due to take place between 6 and 9 June 2024. Voting in Ireland will take place alongside local elections for city and county councils. 

Candidacy announcements for the EU elections tend to happens well in advance given that sitting MEPs have to balance time between Brussels and their home constituencies, and the fact that European constituencies are much larger than those of national or local elections.

That means, though, that inertia tends to fall over the European Parliament in the weeks and months ahead of an election.

Ireland’s MEP quotient is set to rise from 13 to 14 next year as part of changes across the bloc to reflect population levels.

Fitzgerald was elected in 2019 in the Dublin constituency on the 14th count with 16.2% of first preference votes.

“In the European Parliament, working with a superb team, I have informed and developed just and sustainable policies in a range of areas – equality, violence against women, the sustainable development goals, international development, trade, health, finance and banking,” she said in her statement today.

“Politics can be a singularly individual and, at times, lonely space, but it is also one in which strong, trusted and lasting relationships form and make tackling the challenges of democracy and governing possible. Much remains to be done. Children’s rights, business and ethical international trade, and health issues will continue to be priorities for me.

“It will come as no surprise, that I will also continue my long-standing commitment to equality and women’s rights, working to address the reality of our unfinished democracy by advancing the role of women as leaders in political and public life.”

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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was “was very sorry to hear that Frances had decided not to seek re-election to the European Parliament”.

“Given the big vote she secured in 2019 and her hard work in Brussels and Dublin since then, I have no doubt that she would have been comfortably re-elected,” he said.

“Frances came to politics believing that our country needed to be a safer place for women and a place in which women and girls had equality of opportunity.

“Thanks to Frances Fitzgerald and the women around her, we are on the cusp on achieving exactly that. The work goes on and I know Frances’ decision not to contest re-election next year does not mean that she not remain actively involved and interested in public affairs, equality and social justice.”

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This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work are the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.