23 Meith 2014, 15:09
The outcome of the recent European elections will be considered by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs tomorrow with Trinity Professor Gail McElroy and Suzanne Lynch, European Correspondent of the Irish Times.
23 June 2014
Prof McElroy is Head of the Political Science Department at Trinity College Dublin, while Suzanne Lynch is the Irish Times’ European Correspondent based in Brussels.
Chairman of the Committee Dominic Hannigan TD says: “The May European parliamentary elections resulted in significant gains for a range of diverse parties across a number of Member States. Far-right, anti-EU parties enjoyed unprecedented successes in France, Britain and Denmark, with anti-establishment parties gaining ground in other Member States. While both pro-European parties of the centre-right and centre-left will continue to control the European parliament, the elections pose serious questions about Europe’s response to the unprecedented economic crisis and the future direction of European integration.
“It is a timely opportunity to hear the distinct perspectives of political scientist Prof Gail McElroy and Brussels-based Irish Times journalist Suzanne Lynch. Of interest to the Committee will be the extent to which pan-European issues figured in the campaign, the relatively low turnout across the Union of 43 percent, as well as how the surge in anti-establishment MEPs will impact on the work of the European Parliament.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Tuesday 24 June in Committee Room 1, LH 2000 at 2 pm. Public proceedings can be viewed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
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Committee Membership
Deputies: Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard J. Durkan, John Halligan, Dominic Hannigan (Chair), Seán Kyne, Dara Murphy (Vice-Chair) and Joe O’Reilly
Senators: Colm Burke, Aideen Hayden, Terry Leyden, Catherine Noone and Kathryn Reilly