BROUGHAN NOTES CONSTITUENCY COMMISSION REPORT BUT DEPLORES CUT IN DUBLIN DAIL REPRESENTATION
Dublin North East Labour Deputy Tommy Broughan has noted the Constituency Commission Report 2012 but has deplored the cut in Dublin and Northside representation.
Deputy Broughan commented, “It is firstly regrettable that Portmarnock, Balgriffin and districts has been removed from the new Dublin Bay North constituency but the creation of a 5-seat constituency in Dublin Fingal made that inevitable. However, the effective merger of Dublin North Central and Dublin North East into the 5 seat Dublin Bay North has reduced the region’s Dail representation from 6 seats to 5 (over the 2007 Commission Report) and from 7 to 5 (over the 2004 Commission Report). The new amalgamated Dublin Bay North 5-seater is the third biggest Dail constituency in Ireland (after Galway West and Tipperary) with an astonishing 146,512 electors or 29,302 voters per T.D.
“It is deplorable that the present government (which is rightly committed to the abolition of the Senate) simultaneously allowed the Dail to be cut to 158 seats (after 30 years of a 166 seat Dail Eireann). The resulting impact on the Dublin region is most severe with a reduction of three seats to 44 (from 47 in 2004 and 2007) when it was generally felt by political scientists that Dublin was underrepresented by at least two seats for the past two decades.
“The first obligation of deputies elected to the 31st Dail is to continue to strongly represent the districts for which they were elected and this, of course, includes Portmarnock and Balgriffin up to the next General Election. Also on the positive side of the 2012 Commission Report is the fact that virtually all of the greater Coolock/Artane area and its seven parishes have been put together into the one Dail constituency for the first time since the old Dublin North East was divided up in the mid-1970s (into Dublin North East and Artane). The artificial division of Coolock between 2 constituencies was always bad for the region. It is also great that the whole Raheny district is united once more into one constituency.
The new constituency of Dublin Bay North puts the key Dublin City North Central District and its important wards of Coolock/Artane, Donaghmede/Raheny and Clontarf/Marino into one Dail constituency (along with the old Howth/Baldoyle/Sutton Ward of Fingal County.) Socially, economically and culturally the vast new constituency has indeed much in common. Having already represented the whole Coolock/Artane and the Donaghmede/Raheny Ward on Dublin City Council, it will now be a pleasure to join with Labour Colleagues from the old North Central Constituency in helping to represent wonderful city districts like Marino, Donnycarney, Clontarf and Killester.”
