On Friday, the Irish people go to the polls to select representatives in Europe.
Carlow and Kilkenny are part of Ireland South with the eight other counties of Wexford, Waterford, Wicklow, Tipperary, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Clare.
There are 23 candidates, 15 male & eight female, all of whom are looking for enough votes to secure them one of five seats at the MEP table, four of them sitting representatives while outgoing Deidre Clune’s not contesting.
Who are they, what do they stand for and why should they get our number ones? Do we care about the European Elections in general?
Here’s what some people across Carlow and Kilkenny think;
All 23 were invited to The KCLR Daily this morning to give their pitches and to discuss a range of topics – like these ones;
You can now click through below each candidate’s pitch and further down you’ll find the debates.
For the last few weeks we’ve been visiting the Local Electoral Areas across Carlow and Kilkenny and you can listen back to the Local Election candidates and their voters’ concerns here – Tullow, Piltown, Kilkenny, Castlecomer, Carlow, Callan Thomastown and Bagenalstown.
The Candidates Are:
Derek Blighe (Ireland First):
Lorna Bogue (An Rabharta Glás):
Graham de Barra (Independent):
Christopher VS Doyle (Independent):
Susan Doyle (Social Democrats):
Mary Fitzgibbon (Independent):
Kathleen Funchion (Sinn Féin):
Paul Gavan (Sinn Féin):
Niamh Hourigan (Labour):
Billy Kelleher (Fianna Fáil):
Seán Kelly (Fine Gael):
Ross Lahive (The Irish People):
Michael Leahy (Irish Freedom Party):
Una McGurk (Independent):
Michael McNamara (Independent):
John Mullins (Fine Gael):
Patrick Murphy (Aontú):
Cynthia Ní Mhurchú (Fianna Fáil):
Ciarán O’Riordan (Independent);
Grace O’Sullivan (The Green Party):
Cian Prendiville (People Before Profit / Solidarity):
Eddie Punch (Independent Ireland):
Mick Wallace (Independents4Change):
The Debates
The first panel featured Christopher VS Doyle (Independent), Cynthia Ní Mhurchú (Fianna Fáil), Grace O’Sullivan (The Green Party), Kathleen Funchion (Sinn Féin) and Cian Prendiville (People Before Profit):
Our second debating panel comprised Graham de Barra (Independent), Niamh Hourigan (Labour) and Susan Doyle (Social Democrats);
The third grouping to discuss a range of topics included Eddie Punch (Independent Ireland), Patrick Murphy (Aontú), Independent Una McGurk and Michael Leahy of the Irish Freedom Party;
