'Ming' remembers late father who celebrated his Euro win five years ago

Five years ago, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan's late father, Luke senior, was at the Castlebar count centre to celebrate his son’s previous European election victory but he sadly passed away in September 2022. 

His father’s absence was very much to the forefront of his mind when he recently secured his European Parliament seat for a third successive time.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald recently after the conclusion of the count in Castlebar, he said: “As the election unfolded and after each night's debates and after each different thing happened, you know, the thought does enter your head: ‘I'll ring my father’, and then the penny drops.

“You can't ring them and it just shows you how final death is and how important these people are. But so we were certainly thinking about him last night (after being elected). I'm sure he's smiling down and I'm sure he's delighted."

As the Castlerea native savoured another impressive European Parliament election victory, topping the poll and comfortably retaining his seat for a third successive time, the Castlerea native was also making headlines with hints of a presidential bid.

Firstly, his election win in the Midlands-Northwest has now firmly consolidated his position as a seasoned politician in the corridors of Brussels. With a poll topping vote of 78,214, he was the first of the five MEPs elected in the constituency after exceeding the quota of 113,325 with a total vote of 118,754.

“The first preference vote was very, very satisfying but equally satisfying was to see the transfer that I got. Regardless of what the party was I seemed to get big numbers.

“It was particularly satisfying to say that there is an appeal there across a variety of different political fields, so I'm over the moon. To reach the quota was also very satisfying, and ending up on 118,000 votes, which is roughly what I got in first preferences in 2014. So the supporter base is out there,” he said.

That talk of a solid support base brings us to his comments during the count about a desire to run for the Irish presidency. Further reflections make it clear that he has given it some consideration in advance of the current incumbent in the Áras, Michael D. Higgins, completing his second five-year term at the end of next year.

“I've managed to succeed at local, national and European level, and in the European election campaign, I campaigned in 15 counties. I came out top of the pile, and you're talking about over half the land mass of the country.

“So if I run for a presidential election from an organisational point of view, we're only talking another eleven counties and it's not beyond me to organise something like that. And it's not beyond me to be able to put together a campaign that could be successful, so we'll rule nothing out,” he said.

It’s also not lost on the newly elected MEP that his local town has a special history when it comes to the Irish Presidency. 

“The first President of Ireland was a Castlerea man (Douglas Hyde) so we might get a Castlerea man in the next time. Anything is possible and I have proved that.

“I’ll look at how things will develop over the next year and see who throws their hat in the ring. 

"But my priority at the moment is looking at what's going to come down the line when it comes to proposals on the new common agricultural policy, and continuing on with my job there,” he said.