13 electoral districts in West Kilkenny such as Urlingford, Johnstown, and Tullaroan will be joining a new Tipperary North Constituency under the electoral commission’s recommendations published this morning.
Meanwhile, in an unexpected turn of events the Carlow Kilkenny constituency will remain as a five-seater rather than the two counties splitting into two three-seater constituencies which was expected.
There had to be changes locally due to population growth and the constitutional requirement for one TD to represent every twenty to thirty thousand people.
Nationally, there will be 14 extra TDs in the next Dáil, with the number of constituencies increasing from 39 to 43.
Speaking to KCLR News Local TD and Minister for Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan says people in West Kilkenny may feel “disenfranchised”:
“I think people will feel disenfranchised, it’s an intrinsic part of county Kilkenny and people feel deeply connected to their communities and to the county in terms of the local sports, etc. But I do think that it’s an independent piece of work that the commission has carried out and this is happening up and down the country. So it’ll take time for people to get used to it and get to know that there will be different political representation for them after the next Dáil elections.”
