Calls for Offaly constituency to return as a three-seater for election

Prior to the next general election, the five-TD Laois/Offaly constituency should be split into two three-seat constituencies, according to a number of submissions that were made to the Electoral Commission recently.

The commission was set up to determine the constituency make-up of the next Dáil and is due to present its constituency review recommendations to the Oireachtas by the end of August.

It received more than 500 submissions from politicians, political parties, and members of the public in relation to the constituency boundaries nationally. Laois/Offaly TD Charlie Flanagan, the Labour party organisation in the constituency, the Offaly Fianna Fáil party and a number of individuals were among those who made their views known to the commission.

A theme which emerged from many of the local submissions was a desire for Laois and Offaly to be split into two constituencies, with a population transfer of 4,500 from Laois to Offaly proposed by some in order to balance their respective electoral populations.

One of the submissions was by John Joe Fennelly, who wrote: "The population of Laois and Offaly is now 174,325, which is the appropriate figure for 6 Dáil seats. This can best be achieved by having two 3-seat constituencies; one for Laois and one for Offaly.

"However, the population of Laois is 9,000 more than the population of Offaly. It is necessary to transfer a population of approximately 4,500 from Laois to the Offaly constituency, to make sure the population per TD is balanced in both counties.

"Portarlington town already straddles the county boundary and it makes sense to transfer the population of some of Portarlington, approximately 4,500 people, to the Offaly constituency."

Similar points were made in submissions that were sent to the commission by Carol Harte, Cathriona Clooney and Liam Campion.

Deputy Charlie Flanagan, in his submission, took issue with the fact that "just somewhat short of 20,000 people" from counties Offaly and Laois were residing in the constituency of South Kildare.

"This is unsatisfactory on a number of counts, not least by being reflected in a lower than average turn out in the parts of Offaly and Laois that no longer can vote in the Laois/Offaly constituency," said the Fine Gael TD.

"The Midland counties of Offaly and Laois have little in common with County Kildare, the latter being regarded as an Eastern County and never classified as being in the Midlands."

He went on to say that the people of Offaly and Laois wished to vote in Offaly and Laois.

"My contention is therefore that either the two administrative counties of Offaly and Laois remain together as one constituency or in the alternatives that the counties be classified as separate and apart as two distinct county constituencies of Laois and Offaly," he stated.

A submission from Bryan Corrigan on behalf of the Laois Offaly Labour Party proposed that the constituency boundaries "remain intact and aligned as much as possible".

However, he said that if changes were being made, Labour would favour Offaly becoming a three-seat standalone constituency and Laois becoming a four-seater.

Miriam Uí Cheallacháin of Uibh Fhailí Fianna Fáil, meanwhile, stated that population increases locally meant Offaly was now entitled to be represented by a minimum of three TDs.

The party's submission said Offaly was previously "subjected to breaches of county boundaries" following recommendations from the Boundary Commission Reports of 2007 and 2012.

"It is imperative that the integrity of the county boundaries be adhered to in the interest of living the philosophies of a democracy," the submission argued.

In 2020, voters in the constituency elected three TDs in Laois - Charlie Flanagan (FG), Sean Fleming (FF) and Brian Stanley (SF), and just two from Offaly, Barry Cowen (FF) and Carol Nolan (Ind).

The Electoral Commission said the 556 submissions it received on the Dáil and European Parliament constituencies was a record. The submissions received have been published on the Commission's website.