Mairead McGuinness elected Vice-President of the European People’s Party

Former EU commissioner and Drumconrath woman Mairead McGuinness has been elected to one of the vice-presidency positions in the European People’s Party (EPP).

Ms McGuinness was among 12 candidates running for 10 “vice-president” positions in the centre-right EU political grouping that includes Fine Gael.

The EPP is the largest group in the European Parliament and includes the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), Polish prime minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party, and the People’s Party in Spain.

Fine Gael has traditionally held one of the group’s vice-president positions, but failed to nominate a candidate to contest the last internal election three years ago.

Fine Gael MEPs Seán Kelly, Regina Doherty, Maria Walsh and Nina Carberry have congratulated Mairead McGuinness on her election as Vice-President of the European People’s Party in Valencia today (Wednesday).

Seán Kelly MEP and Leader of Fine Gael in the European Parliament said: “Mairead achieved a strong result today in her election as Vice-President of the EPP Party, the most influential political grouping in Europe, of which Fine Gael is a founding member party.

“Today's achievement is reflective of Mairead’s distinguished career as an MEP, including her time as First Vice President of the European Parliament, and most recently as European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union. She will bring significant political expertise, experience, and a proven track-record at EU level to her new role.

“The Fine Gael team continues to work hard for Ireland in Europe, with our EPP colleagues”, MEP Kelly added.

In a statemet, Tanaiste Simon Harris said:

“Mairead will bring a wealth of experience and a respected voice to this role where she will help shape the polices of the biggest political party in Europe.”