Nominations: A total of 44 people will contest the 13 European Parliament seats in the June 11th elections with 17 Independent candidates lodging nomination papers.
When nominations closed at noon yesterday, 13 had been put forward in the East constituency, 12 in Dublin, 10 in South and 9 in North West.
There were no major surprises among the nominations, although a number of previously unmentioned Independents emerged.
Fianna Fáil is running eight candidates, Fine Gael six, Labour four, Sinn Féin four, the Green Party three and the Socialist Party has one candidate.
They will be seeking seats in four constituencies: Dublin (four seats), East (three seats), South (three seats) and North West (three seats).
Candidates must be over 21 years of age.
All EU citizens who have been included on the electoral register are entitled to vote. Some 3,084,131 are currently registered.
Each candidate can spend up to €230,000 during the campaign. Candidates who are either elected or get one quarter of the quota in first preference votes are entitled to a refund from the Exchequer of up to €38,092.14 of their election expenses.
A statement in writing of all election expenses must be submitted to the Standards in Public Offices Commission within 56 days of polling day.
Voting will take place between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday June 11th.
Counting of votes will take place on Sunday June 13th, but the result will not be announced until after 9 p.m., when polls will have closed in all 25 EU member-states.
The candidates in Dublin are: Mr Royston Brady (FF), Mr Eoin Ryan (FF), Mr Gay Mitchell (FG), Ms Ivana Bacik (Lab), Mr Proinsias de Rossa (Lab), Ms Patricia McKenna (Green), Ms Mary Lou McDonald (SF), Mr Joe Higgins (Socialist Party) and Independents Mr Barry Despard, Mr Paul Doonan, Mr Brendan Price and Mr Tom Prendeville.
The candidates in the East constituency are: Mr Liam Aylward (FF), Mr Séamus Kirk (FF), Ms Avril Doyle (FG), Ms Maireád McGuinness (FG), Mr Peter Cassells (Lab) Mr Mary White (Green), Mr John Dwyer (SF) and Independents Mr Justin Barrett, Mr Seanan Ó Coistin, Mr Liam Ó Gogain, Mr Joe O'Neal, Mr Clifford T Reid and Mr Eoin Dubsky.
The candidates in the South constituency are: Mr Gerard Collins (FF), Mr Brian Crowley (FF), Mr Simon Coveney (FG), Mr Brendan Ryan (Lab), Mr Chris O'Leary (Green), Mr David Cullinane (SF) and Independents Ms Kathy Sinnott, Mr Gerard Hannan, Ms Lily Moynihan and Mr Anthony O'Connor.
The candidates in the North West constituency are Mr Seán Ó Neachtain (FF), Dr Jim McDaid (FF), Mr Jim Higgins (FG), Ms Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG), Mr Hugh Baxter (Lab), Mr Pearse Doherty (SF), and there are three Independents - Ms Marian Harkin, Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon and Ms Marie Hainsworth.