South Mayo awaits constituency boundary recommendations

The publication of the recommendations on possible boundary changes to Dáil and European Parliament Constituencies tomorrow morning will be eagerly awaited in south Mayo where part of the county is in the Galway West constituency.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s Independent Electoral Commission will publish its recommendations on Ireland’s Dáil and European Parliament Constituency Review 2023 at 8am tomorrow morning. An Coimisiún will lay its independent recommendations before the Oireachtas on the make-up of Ireland’s electoral constituencies for the next Dáil and European Parliament elections.

A record 556 submissions were received by An Coimisiún Toghcháin regarding boundary changes with many residents in south Mayo and local public representatives calling for the electoral divisions currently in the Galway West constituency to be returned to the Mayo constituency.

Constituency boundary changes in 2011 saw a large chunk of south Mayo including Ballinrobe transferred into the Galway West constituency but much of the area returned to the Mayo constituency following a further redrawing in 2017.

However, a significant part of south Mayo including Cong, Cross, The Neale, Shrule, Kilmaine, Gortjordan, Ballycushion and Kilroe remain in Galway West.

Many residents made submissions calling for the areas to be returned to the Mayo constituency as did a number of local public representatives.

Mayo TD, Michael Ring was among those to make a submissions where he stated that 'the county boundary should not be breached'

“I am anxious that an area of South Mayo would revert back to the Constituency of Mayo. I believe that the county boundary should not be breached. Under the last Constituency review in 2017, a population of 4,893 in South Mayo was retained in the Galway West constituency. I am asking that the following areas be returned to within the Mayo boundary: – Cong, Dalgan, Houndswood, Kilmaine, Neale and Shrule,” he stated.

Fellow Fine Gael TD, Alan Dillon also made a submission where he said it was 'of paramount importance that the county boundary be reinstated, and South Mayo’s rights and identity be respected'.

“The new constituency of Galway West established in 2013, has had detrimental effects on the people of South Mayo. The inclusion of this region in the Galway West constituency has diluted its identity and disregarded the historical and cultural contributions of South Mayo to our great county of Mayo.

“The results of the 2022 Census are expected to reveal a rise in the county’s population, further highlighting the need to reassess the current constituency boundaries. Having Mayo TDs straddling two local authority areas is neither feasible nor efficient for managing representations. This administrative challenge places undue strain on our elected representatives and their constituents.

“As such, I propose that the old Mayo constituency be reinstated with five TDs, ensuring that the rights of the people of South Mayo are respected and their voices are properly heard. Areas such as Cong, Cross, The Neale, Kilmaine, Gortjordan, Ballycushion, Shrule, Glencorrib, and Killroe need to be brought back to vote in Mayo for the next general election,” he stated in his submission.

Local councillor Patsy O'Brien urged An Coimisiún Toghcháin to return the south Mayo electoral divisions to the Mayo constituency and make it a five-seater constituency.

“Galway city population has grown by 6,000 since 2011 and the county's population has grown by 3 percent gives weight to the argument that Mayo should be a five seater instead of being a fragmented county. South Mayo has become a political island, it falls between two stools in Galway west and Mayo.

“We have a fragmented county but yet the entire county is still covered by Mayo County Council,” he concluded.