In the latest instalment of EM Ireland’s ‘Just the Facts’ series, we will be exploring Ireland’s recent general election, held on 8 February, from an EU perspective. Sinn Féin, for the first time, received the highest share of votes in a general election. This is a change to the status quo in the Irish political…
European Movement Ireland is an independent, not-for-profit, membership-based organisation working to develop the connection between Ireland and Europe since its founding in 1954. As per our practice at general elections, European Movement Ireland has published this factual overview of excerpts from political party manifestos framed around a number of EU issues. This is to provide…
On Sunday 10 November, Spain held its fourth general election in four years, after its political parties failed to reach a governing deal in the wake of April’s inconclusive polls. Spaniards elected the 14th Cortes Generales (both houses of parliament) with all 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies up for election, as well as…
Introduction: Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe yet to see the rise of an electorally significant far-right populist movement. The recent European Parliament elections confirmed this with the ruling Socialist Party (PS) winning 33% of the vote, the first time in 20 years a governing party had topped a European poll. Prime…
[Speaking to the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs for European Movement Ireland on 12 June 2019, was our Executive Director, Noelle O Connell, and our Head of Policy and Advocacy, Daniel Keohane] Chair, Members of the Committee, Thank-you for your invitation to attend today’s proceedings to discuss Irish public opinion on, and engagement…
On Wednesday, 05 June Denmark took to the polls for the second time in a fortnight. This time the Danish electorate chose a new Parliament or Folketing, as it’s known in Denmark. Background Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with a Prime Minister who acts as head of government and a monarch as head of state. …
On Sunday, 28 April, Spain held its third general election in just over three years. Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister and leader of the socialist PSOE (Spanish Social Workers Party), called a snap election after his budget was rejected in February. Background Spain is a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI serving as the official…
The weekend just gone was supposed to be Brexit weekend. But the UK government and the EU agreed at a recent summit to shift the Brexit date to at least April 12, and perhaps longer depending on what happens at Westminster. Even so, it is worth reflecting on the lessons of Brexit since the 2016…
Estonians went to the polls on Sunday, 3 March to elect a new Parliament, known as the Riigikogu. The current opposition centre-right party, Reform, defied pre-election opinion polls, winning 28.8 per cent of the vote and 34 seats (just over a third of the total). Pre-election favourites, Estonia’s current governing centre-left party, Centre, came second,…
The European Parliament elections will take place across the EU between 23-26 May 2019. In Ireland, we will vote on Friday, 24 May 2019. As part of our – European Movement Ireland – campaign to help raise awareness amongst the Irish public about the European elections, we will be following the story of 6 Irish…