Former Meath TD Hannigan selected by Labour to run for Europe

The Labour Party has selected Dominic Hannigan to contest the Midlands North West constituency in this May’s European Parliament

Speaking after the convention in Mullingar today, the former Meath East TD said: "I am delighted to have been selected as the candidate for the Midlands North West constituency.

“My campaign to win a seat begins right now. I will be fighting to change the focus of Europe to a more social union, where workers rights, social rights and human rights are at the core.

“As a former chair of the European Union Affairs in the Oireachtas, I am well aware of the challenges posed by Brexit and I will be pushing for Ireland's interests to be protected in the parliament. We need an MEP with links to the Socialists and Democrats in the parliament - the second biggest group - and I have those links.

“The challenge is big but I believe I have the energy, knowledge and commitment to win this seat."

Dominic Hannigan is a former councillor, senator and TD for Meath East, who lost his Dail seat in the 2016 general election.  In the Oireachtas he chaired first the Good Friday Agreement Committee and the European Union Affairs Committee. He regularly speaks about Brexit and its potential impact on Ireland. A civil engineer by profession, Hannigan also holds masters degrees in transport and in finance. For the last eight years he has been a non-executive director of LGBT, charity BelongTo.

He has been involved in the gin distilling industry in Mayo since departing the Dail.

At the convention, he emerged victorious over Iverna McGowan, who stood down as director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office to seek the nomination.