Cllr’s call to respect ‘our county boundary’

CHANGES McCabe wants Meath ‘reunited’ after submissions on electoral boundaries closed last week

Submissions on the review of electoral boundaries closed last week and voters and politicians across the county are hoping that any new Dáil constituencies will be within the county boundary.

The Kells Municipal District straddles three different Dáil constituencies, Meath East, Meath West and Cavan/Monaghan, while the Laytown Bettystown Municipal District straddles both the Meath East and Louth constituencies.

Cllr Paul McCabe who represents the Kells area said straddling three Dáil constituencies had led to great confusion and frustration among his constituents as well as low voter turn-out.

"They feel completely disenfranchised and under-represented at a national level, particularly since the most recent change in boundaries in 2017 when large parts of North Meath were moved into the Cavan/Monaghan constituency," he said.

In a submission to the Electoral Commission, Cllr McCabe said: "This was a regrettable development which resulted in natural and long established boundaries being breached, indeed in many cases parishes were split between two Dáil constituencies. This change and the unfamiliarity of the candidates with their new voters resulted in a lower than usual voter turnout in the general election in 2020.

"I would simply ask the Commission to reunite the county of Meath, respect our county boundaries and allow local politicians to represent local communities."

Meath residents currently vote in four different constituencies, Meath West, Meath East, Louth and Cavan/Monaghan. Part of County Westmeath including Delvin and Castlepollard are currently in the Meath West constituency.

Cllr Wayne Harding is also hoping that the constituencies will be contained within counties.

"There is a lot of confusion. People on the coast are being asked to vote for Meath County Council on one hand, but then for the Louth Dail constituency, instead of Meath.

"It is called East Meath for a reason, so I am hoping the coast is brought back in to the Meath East constituency," he said.

Submissions on the boundary review closed last Wednesday.

The Electoral Commission is now tasked with redrawing constituencies based on population and increases since the last election and in their remit it is stated that "the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable".

Election planners for the major parties believe that the likely outcome in Meath is that the county will be divided into two four-seater constituencies - Meath East and Meath West,

The area along the coast, which is currently in the Louth constituency is expected to be returned to Meath East.

Directors of Elections are expecting to see the town of Kells and surrounding areas become part of Meath West and areas such as Meat Hhill and Drumconrath that are in Cavan/Monaghan would be restored to Meath West.

The Castlepollard/Delvin areas of Co Westmeath, which are currently in Meath West are expected to be restored to a Westmeath constituency.

However, there has been a strong campaign by the Drogheda City Status group to create a separate constituency in Drogheda, which would be likely to take in the coastal area of Meath, but it is possible there will not be the necessary population.

Another possibility is that Meath would be divided between north and south, but would that see a very high population in the south, which coukd result in a five-seater constituency.