THE Electoral Commission has published its constituency review which sees the Limerick City constituency remain a four-seater, while the county loses three electoral divisions – Birdhill, Kilcomenty and Newport – as they form part of new three-seater constituency Tipperary North.
The report recommends 174 TDs in the next Dáil, an increase of 14. The number of constituencies would also increase from 39 to 43.
Limerick Green Party TD Brian Leddin takes the view that the Commission had one hand tied behind its back by being asked to align constituencies with county boundaries.
“In the case of Newport, Birdhill, and Kilcomenty it makes sense that these are in the Tipperary constituency but it makes much less sense that suburbs of Limerick City, like Westbury and Shannon Banks, are not in the Limerick City constituency,” he opined.
While the Commission places a high importance on aligning Dáil constituencies with county boundaries, in the case of the Limerick City constituency it makes less sense to do so, according to Deputy Leddin.
The natural economic and administrative catchment of Limerick City, he insists, very much includes the suburbs of Westbury and Shannon Banks as well as Ardnacrusha and Parteen (the electoral areas of Ballyglass and Cappavilla).
While previously these areas were part of the Limerick City constituency, they are currently split away from it in the Clare constituency.
“This incoherence means that the residents of those suburbs are represented by politicians of a largely rural constituency, whose urban centre is 41km away in Ennis, despite the fact that those residents are living in areas that are contiguous to Limerick City,” Deputy Leddin said.
