Fine Gael Dep John O’Mahony has called for the newly restructured Galway West constituency to change its name to Galway West-South Mayo. Dep O’Mahony was speaking in last Thursday’s Dáil debate on the restructuring of constituencies around the country and made his case for the renaming of the constituency, even though he admitted that he did not agree with the redrawing of the boundaries for counties in the west and northwest. He told the house: “To leave things as they are is not an option. I do not object to the proposed reduction in the number of deputies. However, I fail to see the logic in the changes to the constituency boundaries in the western and northwestern regions, in particular.” The Fine Gael TD commented that after speaking to a number of people in the area they had raised a concern that Mayo was not even in the title of the new constituency. “I have spoken to people on all sides of the political divide in the south Mayo region who say they are confused and angered by the new electoral boundaries. Many of them have pointed out that south Mayo is not even included in the name of the new Galway West constituency. Other deputies have also contacted the Minister about the naming of the new constituency. I ask him to address this matter and to have the constituency renamed as Galway West-South Mayo.”
Speaking about the movement of 10,000 constituents from Mayo into Galway West, Dep O’Mahony said: “Galway West is not the natural hinterland for the people of south Mayo, and the electorate in that region will now elect local authority members in county Mayo and deputies for Galway. I am aware that the new boundaries were drawn by an independent commission. I checked the criteria supplied to the commission and note that they stated the breaching of county boundaries was to be avoided in so far as practical, and that each constituency should be composed of contiguous areas, which means sharing a common border. The outcome in the case of the new Galway West constituency is anything but the sharing of a contiguous border.”
Dep O’Mahony also said that he could foresee problems arising for constituents who were electing county councillors to one local authority while their local TDs would have ties to another. “If a constituent needs assistance in dealing with an issue to do with road resurfacing or pot holes, the local councillor will deal with the problem. However, in the case of a town such as Ballinrobe or a parish such as Garrymore, the local councillor will sit on Mayo County Council but their local deputy will have links to Galway city and county councils.
“This outcome makes life more difficult for the public who are the most important in this instance, the councillor, and the deputy. It lacks cohesion.”
