Divided We Fall?

X marks the spot…

atest press release from John Brady TD, issued on Wednesday, August 30th 2023…

Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has described the decision by the electoral commission to shear south Wicklow from the rest of the county in order to create a new constituency which would also comprise north Wexford as disappointing.

Wicklow will now be a 4-seat constituency, while the new Wicklow-Wexford constituency will be a 3-seater.

With seventeen other constituencies which are above the 1 TD to 30,000 ratio as prescribed under the constitution – some even more so than Wicklow, he questioned as to whether Wicklow was the victim of a hatchet job designed to accommodate Wexford’s needs at the expense of the Garden County.

Brady said: “The first thing that I want to do is to offer reassurance to the people of south Wicklow who learned today that they will now form part of a new constituency alongside the north of Wexford, that I will be continuing to represent them. As far as I am concerned nothing has changed in this regard.

“I am disappointed that the decision was taken to divide the county of Wicklow, to create a new 3-seat constituency out of part of the county along with a part of Wexford. Particularly as one of the objectives of the Electoral Commission was to reduce the number. Instead, we see that the number of 3-seat constituencies has increased from nine to thirteen across the state.

“It is a fact that seventeen constituencies across the state will exceed the constitutional required of 1 TD per 30,000 voters. In a number of instances, the disparity is much greater than that in Wicklow.

“The question really needs to be asked was it really necessary to split the county with difficulties that that will entail. It is effectively a hatchet job on Wicklow.

“The fact is that the Boundary revision means that the Municipal Districts of Wicklow and Baltinglass will be split, which is not a good outcome, and has the potential to unnecessarily complicate the business of local government in the area. County Councillors in these areas will have to deal with seven TDs. While the TDs in the new Wicklow-Wexford constituency will also have to deal with two Councils with a total of sixty-six councillors.

“I am arguing that there was no need to split Wicklow. Our county should have remained as it was, like the 17 other constituencies which fell into the same category. In an ideal situation the whole of county Wicklow would be reunited in a 6-seat constituency. Obviously that option is not currently available. Although, members of the Electoral Commission have admitted that it would be the favourable option in a number of constituencies and is something that must be looked at in the future.

“South Wicklow is an area that requires national intervention and assistance. The big fear here now is that this decision will mean that the needs of the south of the county will be lost amidst the administrative confusion as officials attempt to navigate their way in this artificial constituency.

“My hope is that the changes that have been announced today will be remedied in five years, when another Boundary review will have to take place, and that Wicklow will again be unified, with an increased number of TDs.”