The possibility of new constituencies for Lucan in Dublin and Carrigaline in Cork were considered as part of the Electoral Commission’s boundary review but were not recommended, newly published papers have shown.
The documents offer insight into the deliberations of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission, as it developed proposals for redrawing the electoral map to reflect Ireland’s growing population.
Along with “Dublin Lucan” and “Carrigaline” constituencies, maps were prepared for the possibility of splitting Donegal and Louth into two constituencies each.
Ultimately, none of these options were recommended.
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There are more maps with different options mulled over for redrawing constituencies in the southeast and North Dublin than any other areas.
In an indication of the tricky considerations for these places, maps with six different options for boundary changes were prepared for both – twice as many than for any other places.
The 2023 constituency review recommended increasing the number of TDs from 160 to 174 and the number of constituencies by four to 43.
In a statement accompanying the publication of the Constituency Review Papers, An Coimisiún Toghcháin said, “the recommendations reduced many existing county boundary breaches that saw people voting in a constituency outside of their county, and removed seven of the 10 previously existing breaches, reducing the size of two more, while creating just three new county boundary breaches”.
Seven constituencies remained unchanged.
The recommendations were implemented for the 2024 General Election.
Some of the most dramatic redraws came in the southeast.
The new three-seat constituency of Wicklow-Wexford was created with the remaining parts of the old separate Wicklow and Wexford constituencies losing one seat each to become four-seaters.
The old five-seat Tipperary constituency was replaced with the two three-seat Tipperary North and Tipperary South constituencies.
The creation of the new Tipperary North constituency included the addition of 13 electoral divisions with a combined population of about 6,400 people from neighbouring Co Kilkenny, perhaps the most controversial recommendation in the constituency review.
One paper from a commission meeting in July 2023 set out how transferring the population of Urlingford, Co Kilkenny, and its hinterland from the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency to Tipperary North was the preferred option at the time.
The document notes: “If Urlingford is not transferred to Tipperary North, then Carrick-on-Suir [Co Tipperary] must be transferred to Waterford.”
In North Dublin, the old five-seat Dublin Fingal constituency was replaced by two three-seaters – Dublin Fingal East and Dublin Fingal West.
Dublin Fingal East includes Swords, Malahide and Donabate while Dublin Fingal West includes Balbriggan and Skerries, rural parts of north county Dublin to the west and Dublin Airport in the south.
One alternative option presented was a four-seat Fingal North and a three-seat Fingal South which would have required population transfers to the latter from Dublin North West and Dublin Bay North.
