That big ole elephant in the Dáil
Article 16.2.3 of Bunreacht na hEireann (Irish Constitution) goes something like this ...
Put simply, all constituencies should have a similar ratio of TDs to population. According to the preliminary results of the latest census however, there are 30,933 people for every TD in Dublin West. In the Dun Laoghaire constituency, there are only 22,787 people per TD.
The recent population surge has thrown these figures out of synch. What has resulted amounts to an inequality of representation in the Dáil. What does this mean? Well for one, people in the less affluent constituency of Dublin West have fewer representations made in the Dáil for issues such as housing, water, crime etc while leafy Dun Laoghaire is over represented.
Changing constituency boundaries at this stage will throw the bigger political parties' plans up in the air before next July's election. But will they continue to ignore this problem? If they do, election results in the affected constituencies can be challenged.
The cynic in me (that's around 90%) suspects that if the government decides to do something to rectify this, wholesale gerrymandering will take place over the next year.
tags:election
Published by Colm.
"The ratio between the number of members to be elected at any time for each constituency and the population of each constituency, as ascertained at the last preceding census, shall, so far as it is practicable, be the same throughout the country."
Put simply, all constituencies should have a similar ratio of TDs to population. According to the preliminary results of the latest census however, there are 30,933 people for every TD in Dublin West. In the Dun Laoghaire constituency, there are only 22,787 people per TD.
The recent population surge has thrown these figures out of synch. What has resulted amounts to an inequality of representation in the Dáil. What does this mean? Well for one, people in the less affluent constituency of Dublin West have fewer representations made in the Dáil for issues such as housing, water, crime etc while leafy Dun Laoghaire is over represented.
Changing constituency boundaries at this stage will throw the bigger political parties' plans up in the air before next July's election. But will they continue to ignore this problem? If they do, election results in the affected constituencies can be challenged.
The cynic in me (that's around 90%) suspects that if the government decides to do something to rectify this, wholesale gerrymandering will take place over the next year.
tags:election
Published by Colm.
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