Galway East constituency butchery even worse than feared

BYâ€Ë†TONYâ€Ë†GALVIN POLITICIANS in Galway East are this week coming to terms with the findings of the Constituency Review report, which looks set to transform the face of political representation in the constituency. Major changes have created very real difficulties for two of the best-known names in local political circles, Deputies Connaughton and Kitt. Not only do sitting and aspiring TDs have to contend with the loss of a seat, Galway East will be downgraded from a four to a three-seater, with a huge swathe of territory lopped off the north-eastern end of the constituency and transferred into a newly created Roscommon-Galway three-seat constituency. Most speculation this week centred on whether Mountbellew-based TD Paul Connaughton Jnr will opt to remain in Galway East or follow his soon-to-be divided support into the new Roscommon constituency. All he is saying at this stage is that he will definitely be standing in one or the other constituency at the next election. The support base built up by his father, former TD Paul Connaughton Snr, has been effectively cut in two. This is a hard blow for a politician so early in his Dáil career, as he only won his father's old seat at the last election. Deputy Michael Kitt also finds himself in a similar predicament with even his home base of Castleblakeney going into the new Roscommon constituency. As the next general election is not due until 2016, when Deputy Kitt will be 66, it is expected he may consider retiring from politics, something he told the Herald he has not given any thought to yet. The focus is now on whether the Kitt name will continue in East Galway politics. Deputy Kitt's father, Michael, was first elected to the Dáil in 1948 but so severe are the boundary changes that Deputy Kitt is not sure if he will be able to vote for himself in East Galway. Deputy Connaughton is also in a similar position in Mountbellew. Tuam-based Labour TD Colm Keaveney is not as severely impacted by the boundary changes as his two constituency colleagues but he has lost some support east of the Dunmore, Mountbellew, Ballinasloe line. He has vowed to fight to retain his seat. The diplomatic inclusion of Galway alongside Roscommon in the name of the new constituency has done little to assuage the anger felt in many communities over what is being viewed as the cannibalisation of Co Galway's population to make up the numbers for the new Roscommon three-seater. The business community in Ballinasloe is understood to be very concerned as are those campaigning on local issues, such as the retention of health services. The fear is Roscommon-based services will get preferential treatment from Roscommon-based TDs with little affinity to Ballinasloe or its hinterland. There is also considerable disquiet in the Ballinrobe area over the transfer of about 10,000 people from Mayo into Galway West which means they will no longer be represented by Mayo TDs. The feeling on the ground is that Galway City-based TDs will have little interest in the issues concerning those living on the southern Lough Mask shore. The review is based on the findings of the 2011 Census. The constitution dictates that there must be a TD to represent every 20,000 to 30,000 people. The population in Galway East increased by ten per cent according to the 2011 Census and this would, under normal circumstances, have secured the four Dáil seats. Instead the figures were used to make up the numbers for the new Roscommon constituency. The findings appear to fly in the face of the Commission's remit, in particular a recommendation that the breaching of county boundaries should be avoided as far as practicable. Essentially, to solve a problem created by uniting the Leitrim constituency, the problem was passed down to Galway East. South Leitrim was taken from Roscommon and to keep Roscommon a three-seater, Galway East was stripped of a seat and 20,000 people in order to justify a third seat in Roscommon. If, as had been widely expected, the rump of Galway West, taking in Oranmore, over to the walls of Athenry, Claregalway, Turloughmore and Corrandulla, had been transferred to Galway East, then four seats could have been retained, with Galway West dropping to a four-seater. But this apparently more equitable divide was not to be and so the West holds onto five seats while the East drops to three. See page 13 for maps and analysis