South Mayo omitted from new constituency renaming

Renaming of Galway West constituency rejected


Ciara Galvin
ciaragalvin@mayonews.ie

A proposal by Fianna FΡil Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív to rename the newly drawn Galway West constituency to Galway West – Mayo South has been rejected by Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan
Deputy Ó Cuív tabled an amendment to the Electoral Amendment Bill 2013 but it was rejected by the Government at the Environment sub-committee last week.
“It is very disappointing that Minister Hogan and his Fine Gael and Labour colleagues have rejected this simple proposal, despite the fact that it is the will of the people in South Mayo to be recognised in the newly drawn constituency,” said Deputy Ó Cuív. Not admitting defeat, Deputy Ó Cuív said he will put down a similar amendment at the report stage of the legislation and ‘push it to a vote so that all members have their say’.
“I hope that having had time to consider this, the Fine Gael and Labour Deputies across Mayo and Galway, including the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister Michael Ring, will do the right thing for the people of South Mayo and ensure that they are recognised in the naming of this new constituency. ”    
Fianna FΡil Councillor Damien Ryan said for the 10,306 voters that now find themselves in Galway-West electoral area, they would now have no affinity to their electoral area.
“It’s a ridiculous move. The least the government could do would be give the people a bit of recognition or an acknowledgment that South Mayo is now included in Galway West,” said Cllr Ryan.
Fine Gael Councillor Patsy O’Brien agreed that South Mayo should be included in the electoral area renaming.
“I think we (Fine Gael) have made submissions on the matter as well,” he said.

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