Michelle Gildernew fails to win Ireland MEP seat

The outgoing MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Michelle Gildernew, has failed to win a seat in the European Parliament.

The Sinn Féin representative contested the European election in the Republic of Ireland’s Midlands-North-West constituency.

Ms Gildernew was in the running for the final seat but she lost out to Ciarán Mullooly, a former high profile news reporter with the Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

The Sinn Féin candidate did not attend the declaration of the final result, which took place in Castlebar, County Mayo, just after 03:00 BST on Friday morning.

She missed out by almost 5,500 votes, as her party lost the seat it had held since 2014.

Last month, after the UK general election was called while she was a candidate in the European elections, Michelle Gildernew announced that she would not defend her seat in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

She said her “sole focus” was on the European campaign in the Republic.

Her failure to be elected as an MEP means she now holds no major elected position, after serving as an MLA or MP for around a quarter of a century.

In a double blow for Sinn Féin in Midlands-North West, which runs along the border, its outgoing MEP Chris McManus failed to retain his seat in the constituency.

The five seats in the constituency have been won by outgoing MEPs Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Independent, and Maria Walsh, Fine Gael; newcomers Nina Carberry, a well known Irish jockey and Fianna Fáil's Barry Cowen, a brother of the former taoiseach Brian Cowen, and Independent Ireland's Ciarán Mullooly.

The Taoiseach Simon Harris and the Tánaiste Micheál Martin both travelled to County Mayo for the final stages of the count.

Mr Harris said he was ecstatic at his party’s success, while Mr Martin played down suggestions that Fianna Fáil’s three candidate strategy had hampered its chances of taking a second seat in the constituency.

Ms Gildernew has been the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2017. She also held the seat between 2001 to 2015.

She was the first female candidate elected from her party to the House of Commons in more than 80 years since Countess Markievicz in 1918.

She was also the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2007 to 2011.

Ms Gildernew has held senior roles within Sinn Féin, both as health spokesperson and as a member of the party's national executive.

Meanwhile, Independent Michael McNamara, Sinn Féin's Kathleen Funchion and Fianna Fáil's Cynthia Ní Mhurchú have taken the final three seats in the Ireland South constituency.

Independents4Change MEP Mick Wallace lost his seat as he was the sixth and lowest-placed candidate after the 20th count in the five-seat constituency.

They will join Fine Gael's Seán Kelly and Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher as MEPs for Ireland South.