Ask The Candidates! #EUelections2019

The upcoming European and Local elections on Friday, May 24th are an important one. People will be canvassing for your votes, and so we have pulled together some key questions around particular themes that our members have been working on.  These cover areas of human rights and anti-racism; international trade deals and Palestinian solidarity along with health equality and access to medicines

There is some overlap, but our members feel these are vital questions they think prospective candidates need to be able to answer. And the more of us that ask them on our doorsteps, meetings or hustings, the higher the pressure is applied, encouraging these candidates to either take or reject a progressive stand. 

Human Rights and Anti-racism

What is your position on the narrowed remit of Operation Sofia, which has brought an end to search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and the end of the Irish Naval Rescue mission?

Are you satisfied that Ireland is compliant with the European Reception Conditions Directive which we opted into in June 2018?  Do you believe Ireland meets its European obligations to asylum seekers concerning the rights to work, housing, and education?

What is your position on the policy of returning people to unsafe countries such as Libya, in breach of international law?

Are you or is your party a signatory of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) Anti-racism Protocol 2019?

Trade deals, social justice and Palestine

What is your position on ensuring that trade policy takes account of social and environmental issues, in particular, will you work to ensure the EU implements an effective ban on the importation into the EU of goods produced in the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

What is your position on Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, such as is contained in the proposed EU Canada trade deal, CETA, that allows corporations to sue governments for any changes they may make to social and environmental regulations?

What position will you take concerning the re-opening of EU-USA trade talks and in particular will you ensure that such trade talks will not be mandated while the USA is not in compliance with its climate change obligations?

Access to Medicines and Health

What measures will you take as an MEP to ensure EU investments in medicines Research & Development (R&D) are driven by public health need rather than profit and to ensure the accessibility, availability, and affordability of the results of R&D?

What measures will you take as an MEP to advance reform of the intellectual property rights system in the EU to ensure a healthy balance between public interest and private profit?

What measures will you take as an MEP to ensure transparency (in R&D, manufacturing, marketing, etc.) in medicines development and commercialization?

Here’s the full list of candidates in each constituency:

Dublin

This area covers Dublin city and county and there are four seats available. 

  • Frances Fitzgerald TD (Fine Gael)
  • Mark Durkan (Fine Gael, former SDLP leader)
  • Barry Andrews (Fianna Fáil)
  • Lynn Boylan MEP (Sinn Féin)
  • Alex White (Labour)
  • Clare Daly TD (Independents4Change)
  • Ciarán Cuffe (Green Party, Dublin City councillor
  • Gary Gannon (Social Democrats, Dublin City councillor)
  • Eílis Ryan (The Worker’s Party, Dublin City councillor)
  • Gillian Brien (Solidarity/People Before Profit)
  • Rita Harrold (Solidarity/People Before Profit)
  • Alice Mary Higgins (Independent, current Senator)
  • Eamon Murphy (Independent, pro-life activist)
  • Hermann Kelly (Independent, founder Irexit Freedom to Prosper)
  • Gemma O’Doherty (Independent, campaigner)
  • Ben Gilroy (Independent, anti-eviction activist)
  • Aisling McNiffe (Independent, carer)
  • Mark Mullan (Independent, humanitarian aid worker)
  • Tony Bosco Lowth (Independent, gardener and social entrepreneur)

 Midlands North West

In this consituency there are four seats available and it comprises Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath. 

  • Mairead McGuinness MEP (Fine Gael)
  • Maria Walsh (Fine Gael, former Rose of Tralee)
  • Brendan Smith TD (Fianna Fáil)
  • Anne Rabbitte TD (Fianna Fáil)
  • Matt Carthy MEP (Sinn Féin)
  • Dominic Hannigan (Labour)
  • Saoirse McHugh (Green Party)
  • Cyril Brennan (Solidarity/People Before Profit)
  • Michael O’Dowd (Renua)
  • Patrick Greene (Direct Democracy Ireland)
  • Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagen MEP ( Independent)
  • Peter Casey (Independent, former presidential candidate)
  • Dilip Mahapatra (Independent, doctor)
  • Fidelma Healy Eames (Independent, former Fine Gael senator)
  • Olive O’Connor (Independent, health advocate)
  • James Miller (Independent)
  • Diarmaid Mulcahy (Independent, business advisor)

Ireland South

There are five seats in this constituency which covers Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.

  • Deirdre Clune MEP (Fine Gael)
  • Seán Kelly MEP (Fine Gael)
  • Andrew Doyle TD (Fine Gael)
  • Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fáil, Wexford county councillor)
  • Billy Kelleher TD (Fianna Fáil)
  • Liadh Ní Riadh MEP (Sinn Féin)
  • Shelia Nunan (Labour)
  • Mick Wallace TD (Independents4Change)
  • Grace O’Sullivan (Green Party senator)
  • Adrienne Wallace (Solidarity/People Before Profit)
  • Jan Van de Ven (Direct Democracy Ireland)
  • Peter O’Loughlin (Identity Ireland)
  • Breda Gardner (Independent Kilkenny county councillor)
  • Diarmuid O’Flynn (Independent, anti-bailout campaigner)
  • Liam Minehan (Independent, farmer)
  • Walter Ryan Purcell (Independent, tour operator)
  • Theresa Heaney (Independent, homemaker)
  • Paddy Fitzgerald (Independent, retired farmer)
  • Dolores Cahill (Independent/Irexit Freedom to Prosper)
  • Maurice Sexton (Independent, scientist)
  • Allan Brennan (Independent, project manager)
  • Colleen Worthington (Independent, homemaker)
  • Peter Madden (Independent, environmental educator)