NORTH Clare councillors have reacted angrily to the redrawn electoral area boundaries announced last week.

 

The North Clare Electoral Area has been abolished in the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report 2013, which splits the old Ennistymon Area between the Kilrush Electoral Area and Killaloe Electoral Area.
Under the existing system, North Clare has five councillors and its southern border includes Miltown Malbay, Annagh, Formoyle, Ballyea, Dysert, Ruan and Crusheen. For next May’s local elections, Crusheen, Ruan, Carron, Boston, New Quay and Aughinish will all be part of the Killaloe Electoral Area.

Councillor Michael Kelly, who will retire from the council at the next election, lambasted the redrawn boundary, labeling it a fiasco.

“A lot of discussion has taken place regarding the scrapping of the Ennistymon Electoral Area and rightly so. In my opinion, it is a total fiasco to have an area extending from Aughinish, which is six miles from Kinvara to Killaloe and from the outskirts of Ballyvaughan – New Quay to Mountshannon,” he said.

“I cannot understand on what basis the commission saw fit to leave New Quay, Carron, Tubber and Boston out on a limb. This is political reform to the detriment of rural people,” he added.
The new West Clare constituency now stretches 100km from Loop Head in the south-west to Ballyvaughan in the north-east and a further 80km to the south-eastern border at Kildysart.
According to the report, the committee was mindful of “the particular local identities in the county based on community and geographic location”.

Local councillors dispute this, saying the identity of North Clare, and the Burren in particular, is not recognised in the new boundaries.
“The terms of reference were difficult to start with, given the geographical layout of Clare. That said, had they given a crayon and a map of Clare to a child in junior infants, they would have done a better job of it,” said Ruan Councillor Joe Arkins, who now finds himself in the Killaloe area.

“I think it is unfortunate that the Burren is split in two, with half in the Kilrush and half in the Killaloe area. We have a ridiculous situation where the parish of Ruan has one part in the Ennis Electoral Area, some of it in the West Clare area and more in the Killaloe area.

“Some entity of a community should remain and people in Carron would find it difficult to relate to being in the Killaloe area and likewise from Corofin to identify with Kilrush, so the question of identity and pride of place and all that is lost,” he added.

Councillor Michael Hillery agreed, saying the new division of the constituency will “disenfranchise people in Carron and New Quay. They are all North Clare and the Burren and I don’t know if they have any connection with East Clare so it will be hard for them to be in that area”.

Councillor Hillery is based in Spanish Point. On the face of it, the redrawn boundary should be beneficial to him, given his peripheral location in the existing area. It should open up potential votes south of Miltown Malbay.
However, in the current area, he has not had to contend with popular independent Councillor Christy Curtin. The redrawn boundaries see the two go head-to-head.
“With the town councils being disbanded, the possibility is that some people that were in Kilkee and Kilrush Town Councils will try to get elected to the West Clare area. The big population is around Kilrush and that area.

“For North Clare, unless someone is very strong in Ennistymon and Liscannor that get a very strong vote, there won’t be enough votes above that to elect a person,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said.
Councillor Hillery confirmed he would run in next year’s elections but added that “with only eight seats going and the area so vast now, it will be very hard to get elected”.

Councillor Richard Nagle finds himself in a more fortunate position than some of his colleagues, with the bulk of his North Clare vote base remaining with him in the new West Clare area.
“I think it is very disappointing for what is the Ennistymon Electoral Area, in the sense that it has been abolished. We have area officers in Ennistymon, who have provided an excellent service to the people of North Clare and we have no idea what the future holds for that service. Other than announcing the formation of the new electoral areas, the minister hasn’t provided details of how these municipal districts are going to operate.

“On the basis of what we have seen so far, it has nothing to do with providing better local services or local democracy but effectively a diminution of the service that was there,” Councillor Nagle remarked.

Councillor Bill Slattery labelled the new electoral area as “absolutely ridiculous”. He said the area is too big and will put people off taking part in local democracy.
“It was extended too far down. Bringing it from the Shannon Estuary to Galway Bay is absolutely ridiculous.

“We don’t know yet if the area meetings will go to Ennistymon or Kilrush. Some are afraid the area office in Ennistymon will close. That would be a total disaster for the North Clare area.

“If councillors from the north of the electoral area have to go to Kilrush and Loop Head for ordinary meetings, like tourism meetings or farm meetings where contentious issues are being discussed, we will get no mileage for that and it will be very expensive.

“I would encourage the minister to reconsider the situation. I don’t think people will be queuing up to stand for election in a sparsely populated area with a large electoral area to cover if the remuneration package wasn’t increased significantly,” he commented.

 

New Killaloe area stretches to Aughinish

CHANGES to the Killaloe Electoral Area arising from the boundary committee report will see areas of South-East Clare subsumed into the Shannon Electoral Area, with a substantive land gain to the north-west, taking in areas from Crusheen to Abbey.

The proposed electoral area will stretch more than 80km from its most southerly point in Clonlara to its most northerly point in Abbey, something councillors believe will put a huge strain on them both financially and in terms of workload.
The boundary change will also mean two current Killaloe Electoral Area councillors, Pascal Fitzgerald and Cathal Crowe, now find themselves in the Shannon constituency. On the North Clare side, Councillor Joe Arkins will fall into the new Killaloe Electoral Area.

Despite the expansive territory, the number of seats will not change from six. The electoral area’s population stands at 22,940, equating to 3,823 per county councillor. This is the least population-to-representative ratio, with the Ennis Electoral Area the closest with a ratio of 4,126 people per representative.

Commenting on the boundary changes, Councillor Michael Begley, who is based in the parish of Clonlara, said while he will remain in the Killaloe Electoral Area, he loses some of his constituency to the Shannon Electoral Area.
“The other half of my circumference is gone. Nonetheless, every councillor’s starting strength is their local polling station and if we can keep things there, then hopefully we’ll get there. It’s also going to be tough on new people entering the scene because they’re faced with a major rural sprawl to cover,” he said.

Councillor Begley added that this is the first time Clare has had four constituencies, two of which are distinctively urban and two distinctly rural.
He stressed that for the candidates who contest in the two rural constituencies, “It will cost them a lot more in the long run due to the vast area to cover on their canvass”.

“It is a disadvantage in any case but it is the hand that we’re dealt,” he said.

Another issue for Councillor Begley is the distance, which will put huge pressure on local representatives.
“You are supposed to be able to represent all constituents, no matter where they are and that will certainly put pressure on those elected. The workload will be much higher in the west and east because of the travel alone, going to things like residents’ meetings, or a local meeting, for which there are no expenses. They will be travelling a lot further,” he said.

Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald said running next year in the Shannon area will be “a fresh start”.
“My own neighbours can’t vote for me because the road where I live is split with the new boundary. All the hard work you’ve done in the last eight or nine years for people in these areas and I won’t be knocking on their doors the next time around. All councillors will have to start afresh and we will need to see what else comes down from this package, what way funding will work and how they will split the money,” he said.

Councillor Fitzgerald said a plus for him is that areas he previously represented, such as Cratloe, Meelick and Drumline, will form part of the new Shannon Electoral Area.
“One of my issues has always been Shannon and I believe in working with Shannon Airport and building it back up to where it once was. It’s a new challenge and I’ll be looking forward to it,” he said.

Councillor Joe Cooney believes it is a very extensive area for just six county councillors.
“It’s a massively big area for six councillors. The population is spread out and a big population in a small area makes it a lot easier to get work done. Whoever gets elected, they will be busy councillors. You’ll nearly have to be a full-time councillor,” he said.

Councillor Cooney said he will contest the next election but hopes there will be no further changes to the electoral area boundaries.
“It’s my third election and in all three I’ve had different electoral areas. I would be hoping they’d leave the boundaries in one place,” he concluded.

Councillor Pat Burke, based in Whitegate, said being from a farming background he is more comfortable with the rural/urban divide. However, he said while he expected an expansion of the area into North Clare, he did not expect it to stretch as far as New Quay.

He described the new area as being “very diverse and very rural” but said while the area is very large, it has 3,857 fewer people than the new Shannon area.