title: Connacht–Ulster (European Parliament constituency)
text: # Connacht–Ulster (European Parliament constituency)
  
  Connacht–Ulster was a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland between 1979 and 2004. Throughout its history, it elected 3 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) using the single transferable vote (STV) system.
  
  Although the constituency was abolished in 2004, Connacht-Ulster is still often used when analysing election results by region, as in this analysis of the results by region of the 2018 referendum to remove the constitutional prohibition of abortion.
  
  ## History and boundaries
  
  The constituency was created in 1979 for the first direct elections to the European Parliament. It comprised the counties of Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo from the historic province of Connacht together with the Ulster counties of Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan. It was abolished under the European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2004 and succeeded by the new North-West constituency.
  
  ## MEPs
  
  Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for Connacht–Ulster 1979–2009 :
  
  | Key to parties  FF = Fianna Fáil  FG = Fine Gael  IFF = Independent Fianna Fáil  IND = Independent ||||||||
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Parl. | Election | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) | Member (Party) |
  | 1st | 1979 | | Neil Blaney (IFF) | | Seán Flanagan (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 2nd | 1984 | | Ray MacSharry (FF) | | Seán Flanagan (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 2nd | 1987 | | Mark Killilea (FF) | | Seán Flanagan (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 3rd | 1989 | | Mark Killilea (FF) | | Neil Blaney (IFF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 4th | 1994 | | Mark Killilea (FF) | | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 5th | 1999 | | Dana Rosemary Scallon (IND) | | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 5th | 2002 | | Dana Rosemary Scallon (IND) | | Seán Ó Neachtain (FF) | | Joe McCartin (FG) |
  | 6th | 2004 | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. | Constituency abolished. See North-West. |
  
  Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.
  
  ## Elections
  
  ### 1999 election
  
  Mark Killilea retired and his seat was gained by Independent Dana Rosemary Scallon.
  
  ### 1994 election
  
  Pat "the Cope" Gallagher of Fianna Fáil gained the seat vacated by Neil Blaney.
  
  ### 1989 election
  
  Neil Blaney regained his seat at the expense of Fianna Fáil.
  
  ### 1984 election
  
  Neil Blaney lost his seat to Ray MacSharry of Fianna Fáil.
  
  