Boundary review: Here are the changes to the Cork constituencies

In Cork, the county has seen the biggest change around the city, with Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central seeing an increase in seats.

Cork is now set to elect 20 TDs to the Dáil, with two new seats being added to the county.

It comes as the Electoral Commission has recommended there be an additional 14 seats across the country following a jump in population. 

The population of Ireland has hit almost 5.15 million people so a redraw of boundaries was needed. This is due to a law in the Constitution which says there needs to be one TD to represent every 20,000 to 30,000 people.

The Electoral Commission has recommended the current number of 160 TDs increase to 174 after the review recommended the creation of 14 new seats. Four new constituencies have also been recommended by the commission.

Cork changes 

In Cork, the county has seen the biggest change around the city, with Cork North-Central and Cork South-Central seeing an increase in seats.

The two constituencies have increased from four-seaters to five-seaters.

In Cork North-Central in particular, the constituency has seen Ballincollig transferred into it from Cork North-West. Three electoral districts in Cork East, including Mallow, are also being transferred into the constituency.

In Cork South-Central, there have been 12 electoral districts moved into the constituency from Cork North-Central. With the commission considering the River Lee was a natural boundary between the two constituencies, these areas are being transferred into Cork South-Central. This includes Bishopstown, increasing the population of the constituency by 22,000.

The rural constituency of Cork North-West is due to remain a three-seater, with electoral districts from Cork East and Cork North-Central being moved into the constituency. Cork East, despite losing territory, will remain a four-seat constituency.

Cork South-West, a three-seater constituency, is one of just seven constituencies that remain unchanged.

Labour TD Seán Sherlock has described the transfer of Mallow from Cork East to Cork North-Central as a “seismic shift” in the political landscape in the county.

The Cork East TD said that he was still examining the situation and would not be making a detailed comment on the matter at this time.

“I’m still assessing what is a seismic shift in the political landscape,” Mr Sherlock told the Irish Examiner. “It’s too early to make any detailed comment. I need some time to analyse this.” 

The removal of Mallow, where Mr Sherlock has a significant amount of his voter base, may potentially change the constituency he choses to run in the next General Election.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Electoral Commission chief executive Art O’Leary accepted Cork was a difficult county to redraw.

“I think there’ll be a number of peoplef who think we think have redrawn the entire county. Cork was difficult for us because it was one of the counties where we did consider many, many options in relation to the configuration,” Mr O’Leary said.

He said the starting point for the redraw was Cork city centre, due to the population growth being highest there.

He said the transfer of Ballincollig into Cork North-Central was not the biggest change, but the “biggest call” was moving 20,000 people from Bishopstown into Cork South-Central.

There are 20,000-odd people in Bishopstown who will move from Cork North-Central back to where they feel they belong in Cork South-Central.

Mr O’Leary added the commission was “pleased” it did not have to make any changes to Cork South-West.

“We suggest and strongly recommend that this is the best option for the county because it was something that gave us many sleepless nights.”

Munster changes 

In the rest of the Munster constituencies, there are no changes Clare, Kerry, Limerick County and Waterford.

As had been widely speculated, the commission has recommended Tipperary be separated into two constituencies — Tipperary North and Tipperary South.

Both will be new three seater constituencies.

There will be one new county boundary breach in the western part of Co Kilkenny by the new Tipperary North

The Tipperary North constituency will comprise of 13 electoral divisions (EDs) from the western part of Co Kilkenny along with three EDs from the Limerick City constituency.

The Commission recommends that the Tipp South constituency should consist of the southern part of the county.

The constituency of Limerick City will remain a four-seater, with the exception of the three EDs being transferred to Tipperary North.

The country is due to hold local council elections and a European Parliament election next summer.

A general election is heavily rumoured to be planned for November next year, after the final budget of the three-party coalition Government is officially confirmed.