TaxSource Total

Here you can access summary of the key current tax developments in Ireland, the UK and internationally as reported by Chartered Accountants Ireland

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European elections: the story so far

Individual country results continue to be finalised across the EU in the European Parliament elections. The results so far reflect a boost for Green and far right parties with centrist groups suffering but perhaps not as much as predicted.

EU results – rise of the Greens

Across the EU, after voter decline in recent years, turnout for the 2019 elections is the highest in 20 years. The results look as though the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and centre-left Socialists and Democrats (the S&D) parties in the Parliament have lost their combined majority as Greens, liberals and nationalists see an increase in support. Pro-EU parties will still hold a majority of seats, despite the rise in support for populist and far-right parties.

The results in Ireland are as follows:

Dublin

South

Midlands – North – West

Ciaran Cuffe – Green Party

Sean Kelly – Fine Gael

Mairead McGuinness – Fine Gael

Frances Fitzgerald – Fine Gael

Billy Kelleher – Fine Fáil

Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan – Independent

Clare Daly – Independents for Change

Grace O’Sullivan – Green Party

Matt Carthy – Sinn Féin

Barry Andrews* – Fine Fáil

Deirdre Clune* – Fine Gael

Maria Walsh – Fine Gael

*will only take up seat when the UK leaves the EU.

Northern Ireland

Martina Anderson (Sinn Féin), Diane Dodds (DUP) and Naomi Long (Alliance Party) took the three seats in Northern Ireland.

Britain

In Britain, Nigel Farage’s new pro-Brexit Party was the big winner in the European Parliament elections taking almost a third of the vote, followed by the pro-European Liberal Democrats (less than 20 percent). It was a difficult election for the Conservative and Labour parties with the Tories recording less than 10 percent of the vote; its lowest since 1832. With both pro and anti-Brexit parties topping the polls in the UK, these results might be a reflection of just how tight a second Brexit referendum result could be.

Voter turnout

Turnout across the EU averaged 51 percent with Belgium recording the highest number of voters with almost 89 percent of the electorate turning out. Ireland recorded 49.7 percent turnout, while the UK had 36.9 percent. Slovakia had the lowest turnout in terms of voters with 22.74 percent.