Louth's Mairead McGuinness elected Vice President of EPP

Tánaiste Simon Harris has today welcomed the election of Louth's Mairead McGuinness as Vice-President of the European People’s Party (EPP).

McGuinness began her political career in 2004 when she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East constituency, representing the Fine Gael party. She was re-elected in 2009, 2014, and 2019, serving a total of 16 years. During her tenure, she was a member of the European People's Party and served on committees such as Agriculture and Rural Development, and Environment, Public Health and Food Safety .

In 2014, McGuinness was elected Vice-President of the European Parliament and was promoted to First Vice-President in 2017, a position she held until 2020. In October 2020, she was appointed European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and the Capital Markets Union, serving until November 2024 .​

Speaking after the vote, the Tánaiste said: “I am delighted that Mairead McGuinness has been elected by her colleagues from across Europe to serve as a Vice President of the EPP.

“The overwhelming level of support that Mairead received underlines the high regard she is held in across Europe being elected alongside other EU Prime Ministers and EU Commissioners.

“Mairead’s election is also a vote of confidence in the Fine Gael party. Fine Gael has not held a Vice Presidency position since the election of Minister Helen McEntee to the role in 2019. When I was elected leader of Fine Gael last year, I stated that one of my key priorities was increasing Fine Gael’s engagement with the EPP and regaining the Vice Presidency position within the party.

“Fine Gael is the party of Europe in Ireland, the party was a founding member of the EPP in 1976. Mairead follows in the footsteps of Fine Gael public representatives serving at the highest levels of the EU political infrastructure.

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“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.”

Following her election, Ms. McGuinness said: “I am very grateful to my EPP colleagues for expressing confidence in me to serve as their Vice President. The EU faces significant uncertainty given current geopolitical instability at present and therefore Ireland’s voice at the heart of the EPP has never been more important.

“I want to thank all my colleagues who expressed confidence in me today by electing me to this position. I look forward to beginning my work immediately”.

Senator Eileen Lynch, International Secretary of Fine Gael said: “I’m pleased that Mairead has been elected as Vice President of the EPP. Fine Gael is a long-standing member of the EPP family and it is vital that we again have a seat at the table. These are challenging times for the EU politically, so it is incredibly important that Fine Gael continues to provide a strong Irish voice within the EPP.”