Westmeath should be united for election purposes

Westmeath's only government minister has said that it is now time for the parts of the county currently in the Meath West constituency to be returned to Longford Westmeath.

Minister for European Affairs Peter Burke, who has made a submission to the Electoral Commission, this week said splitting the county for Dáil elections ahead of the 2007 election was a mistake and he is hopeful that the commission will now be in a position to right this wrong due to recent population change.

“It has been an anomaly since 2007 that large parts of Westmeath were not contained in the Longford Westmeath constituency, but instead people in these areas must vote for TDs who represent Meath West. Due to constitutional rules which say there must be one TD for every 20,000 to 30,000 citizens, the previous boundary commissions decided that it was not possible to have a three or four seat constituency in Westmeath, or a five seat constituency for all of Longford and Westmeath as the population was too low."

Minister Burke added that the "arbitrary" separation of Westmeath has been a "disaster, with many people unaware which constituency they live in".

"Many of the people that live in Delvin, Castlepollard, Clonmellon, Raharney and Collinstown look naturally to Mullingar as their county town and avail of services and shops here.

“We all unite behind the Westmeath flag for GAA and other sports and there is a great sense of community. They elect councillors to Westmeath County Council and children and young people attend schools and clubs in Westmeath.

“As a councillor for the Westmeath Coole area from 2009 and a TD for Longford Westmeath since 2016, I have seen first-hand that the current division is completely dysfunctional. I receive a huge volume of queries from people not in the constituency and many people visit my clinic who do not live within the boundary. I don’t mind and am always happy to offer assistance to anyone who asks, but this places a burden on staff and means there is a democratic deficit. There continues to be a lack of awareness from people in the east of the county who their TDs are, which is natural.

“Also contained in the Constitution is a provision that county boundaries should not be altered with in relation to creating constituencies where possible.

“This was obviously done in our case due to the population, but now as we have seen the population has increased, the commission should be in a position to review the numbers and return these areas back to Longford Westmeath.

"The population in Westmeath has increased by 7,000 based on the recently published preliminary census data which strengthens the argument to unite the county again.

“Due to population changes, there is now a need to add at least 11 new TDs to the Dáil, with a lot of the growth concentrated in the east of the country.

“Up to now, a boundary commission was set up every five years to review the constituencies.However, last year the new independent Electoral Commission was established, and they have a board which now will oversee this review.

“The commission have asked for submissions from the public so I would urge interested parties to write to them at An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2 or by email to constituencyreview@electoralcommission.ie by May 10, 2023. I have made my submission already and am happy to share this with constituents.”

Noting that the commission is expected to report by late summer, Minster Burke said "time is of the essence".

“We cannot miss this opportunity to reunite our county.”