The constituency was created for the 2004 election and was a successor to the constituency of
Leinster. From 2004 to 2009, it comprised the
Leinster counties excluding the
Dublin constituency. For the 2009 election, the counties of
Longford and
Westmeath were transferred from East to the
North-West constituency. It then comprised the counties
Carlow,
Kildare,
Kilkenny,
Laois,
Louth,
Meath,
Offaly,
Wexford and
Wicklow. For the
2014 European Parliament election the constituency was abolished, with the northern part (Kildare, Laois, Louth, Meath, Offaly) transferred to the new
Midlands–North-West constituency, and the southern part (Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow) transferred to the
South constituency. ==MEPs==