Let us vote in Offaly again - Obama's cousin

The eighth cousin of US President Barack Obama is this week asking to be allowed to vote as an Offaly constituent in future, after his home village of Moneygall was moved to the North Tipperary constituency in 2007. The move is up for discussion thanks to the recent publication of the Electoral Amendment Bill following the publication of preliminary census results. A Constituency Commission is now to review Dail and European Parliament Constituencies countrywide. "I think it's time to resume normal service and return us back to the Laois/Offaly constituency," President Obama's eighth cousin Henry Healy said yesterday. "Fair enough, we have a strong association to Tipperary here in Moneygall. All our sports are played in Tipperary. But we live in Offaly so it's only fair we're represented by Offaly too." Offaly County Councillor Peter Ormond from nearby Shinrone, which was also moved to the North Tipperary constituency in 2007, is set to bring the issue to the council's attention at a meeting next Monday. He's asking his fellow council members to agree to make a submission to the Constituency Commission to reverse the 2007 decision to move parts of South Offaly to the constituency of North Tipperary. "Since that decision was announced in October 2007 there has been widespread anger among all constituents," Cllr Ormond said. The move four years ago affected 4,276 people in the parishes of Moneygall, Dunkerrin, Shinrone and part of Roscrea, and saw politics in the area transcend not only county but provincial boundaries. "It was a complete shock when it happened," Cllr Ormond added. The setting up of a new Constituency Commission gives affected people their first opportunity to make representations with a view to reversing the 2007 decision. Cllr Ormond said that as the constituency of Laois/Offaly has seen a substantial increase in population and now exceeds the constitutional limit of 30,000 people per TD, changes will have to be made regardless. "In terms of reference, it states that 'the breaching of boundaries shall be avoided as far as practical'," Cllr Ormond said. "I am hoping that when this commission is set up in the coming months all interested parties will come together and make viable recommendations to the commission. Given the importance of this issue, I hope all political parties and representatives will make representations that will see the people of South Offaly return to their rightful place." The Constituency Commission is due to be set up in the coming months, and will report within three months of the publication of the final census results, which are due in April 2012.